![The Makioka Sisters: The Criterion Collection [Blu-ray] (1983)](http://www.theblurayblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/517Ze46avNL._SL500_AA300_-150x150.jpg "The Makioka Sisters: The Criterion Collection [Blu-ray] (1983)")
THE MAKIOKA SISTERS (1983, Blu-ray released June 14, 2011 – MSRP $39.95)
| MOVIE: |  |
| VIDEO: |   |
| AUDIO: | |
| EXTRAS: | |
| BLU-RAY: | |
Kon Ichikawa is the third director to tackle the tale of The Makioka Sisters. And his is an exquisite, moving adaptation, now making its Blu-ray debut in a colourful, if imperfect presentation from The Criterion Collection.
- “This lyrical adaptation of the beloved Japanese novel by Junichiro Tanizaki was a late-career triumph for world-class director Kon Ichikawa (The Burmese Harp, Fires on the Plain). Revolving around the changing of the seasons, The Makioka Sisters (Sasame-yuki) follows the lives of four sisters who have taken on their family’s kimono manufacturing business, over the course of a number of years leading up to the Pacific War. The two oldest have been married for some time, but according to tradition, the rebellious youngest sister cannot wed until the third, conservative and terribly shy, finds a husband. This graceful study of a family at a turning point in history is a poignant evocation of changing times and fading customs, shot in rich, vivid colors. “
At two-hours and twenty minutes, this formal family drama feels a bit imposing at the outset. But in the capable hands of Ichikawa the run-time just sails by. The director, well known for being able to tackle tricky adaptations of this sort, handily overcomes the potential pitfalls of the subtle, staid, period story, sweeping the audience away into the fascinating lives of the four women and their respective husbands and suitors. His camera lingers long on the seasonal changes that inform the rhythms of the narrative, the lush Osaka landscapes and the low-ceilinged, dark interiors of the Makioka homes, viewing the sisters from a distance and invoking an uncanny intimacy with their lives – the viewer as peeping-tom to the delicate, hidden passions of four complicated, beautiful women.
Criterion’s new transfer of The Makioka Sisters is undoubtedly the finest the film has looked on home video. Of this I have no doubt. But the source material here presents the transfer such a host of issues to contend with, it struggles to overcome them, even at its incredibly ample bitrate. Grain and unsightly patterns of what appear to be wear on the print, tax the codec to its fullest, at some points to the extent that it seems to collapse under the weight of the damage, resulting in waves of noise through areas of black or texture. Don’t get me wrong, this transfer is quite handsome, detailed and colourful, providing a wonderful viewing experience but it’s far from the pristine experience many viewers have come to expect from the studio and the format. I get the feeling that Criterion did all they could here, short of a full-on, cost-prohibitive restoration.
From the liner notes:
- “This new high-definition digital transfer was created on a C-Reality Datacine with Oliver wetgate processing from a 35mm low-contrast print struck from the original camera negative. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, warps, jitter, and flicker were manually removed using MTI’s DRS system and Pixel Farm’s PFClean system, while Digital Vision’s DVNR system was used for small dirt, grain, and noise reduction.“
The uncompressed mono soundtrack is clean and clear, as you’d expect but fairly flat and unremarkable. Shinnosuke Okawa and Toshiyuki Watanabe‘s unusual synthetic score sounds dynamic enough here but is clearly a product of its time. Perhaps the sole creative misstep of the production.
From the liner notes:
- “The monaural soundtrack was remastered at 24-bit from the optical track print and the 24-track magnetic stems. Clicks, thumps, hiss and hum were manually removed using Pro Tools HD. Crackle was attenuated using AudioCube’s integrated audio workstation.“
Wow, this is something you rarely see in a Criterion release – there aren’t any bonus goodies on this disc. I mean, there’s a trailer and it looks fine (in fact you can see the YouTube version embedded below). There’s also a pretty nice 20-page booklet included in the package, featuring a well thought out essay by film scholar Audie Bock, author of the books Japanese FIlm Directors and Mikio Naruse: A Master of the Japanese Cinema. But that’s all you get, outside of the film itself.
Special Features:
- New high-definition digital restoration with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- Original theatrical trailer
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film scholar Audie Bock
Discussion
No comments for “The Criterion Collection: The Makioka Sisters Blu-ray Disc Review”