Nonureva Really Surprised!

FeistyUpper If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

WILLIAM FLANIGAN Viewed on DVD. Far from a classic. Inferior script and direction--it seems to have confused gold diggers with Geishas. Muddy sight and sound (although the print seems to have been restored significantly). Sound is so bad that dialogue is about 95% unintelligible (even for those who can understand a bit of Japanese)--but subtitles are clear and concise. Shot like a stage play with predominance of medium and long shots (there are, maybe, 2-3 close-ups showing what the actors really look like!). "Exterior" shots look phony and likely to have been shot on a sound stage. Film ends abruptly--money problems or saving the rest for a sequel? This film is more a historical curiosity than entertainment. However, restoration enthusiasts should consider adding it to their "things to do" list. The film is historic and could greatly benefit from further restoration efforts. I encourage the film restoration community to give this film further consideration. WILLIAM FLANIGAN, PhD.

mevmijaumau Sisters of the Gion is a story about two geisha sisters making a living in the Gion district of Tokyo. It's inspired by Aleksandr Kuprin's novel The Pit (Yama) and is directed by Kenji Mizoguchi, who became famous for the films of this kind, windows into the lives of people of lower social classes, specifically women, often prostitutes. This is among his more well-known films dealing with the topic. It was remade in 1956 by Hiromasa Nomura.This movie sort of reminds me of Ozu's films, in the sense that the camera is often positioned low, there's no action and the film appears to be a character study or a slice-of-life movie. Later it even becomes a mild revenge tale, which is admittedly a bit more passionate than Ozu's stories. The two sisters' conflicting opinions reflect the Japanese identity crisis between tradition and Western influences. That's why Umekichi is a submissive, traditionally raised geisha while Omocha is considerably more modern, wears Western clothing in her free time, and is more practical. Although she's shown to be a manipulative intrigant, she isn't seen in a negative light, but instead Mizoguchi places the blame on society itself.The image quality is foggy as is to be expected from a film this old, but despite that you can easily sense Mizoguchi's talent for framing shots and painting an interesting picture of the Gion district. The soundtrack, which is played only during the credits, is unusually lively and playful for a serious film like this.I honestly don't think this is one of Mizoguchi's better films. In fact, even though the runtime is just about over an hour, I found it to be a bit of a bore. However, you can't take away that it was a bold film in its day and age, and that the theme of conflict between Japanese traditions and Western influences seemed to be ahead of their time. This movie is from 1936, while movies by Ozu and Kurosawa, who often dealt with the same topic, are from the '50s and '60s.

gavin6942 Umekichi, a geisha in the Gion district of Kyoto, feels obliged to help her lover Furusawa when he asks to stay with her after becoming bankrupt and leaving his wife. However her younger sister Omocha tells her she is wasting her time and money on a loser.Here we have another film by Mizogucki looking at "fallen women", much like "Street of Shame" twenty years later, and to some degree "Osaka Elegy". But we also have a tale of the old and the new -- looking to the West and also sticking with tradition. This is especially interesting given the radical shift in Japanese culture after World War II.I have not seen the remake and thus cannot compare them, but how do you top the work of Mizoguchi? You simply cannot.

rufasff In the early days of film writing "Sisters" was often cited as one of the great films EVER; it is probably right that this quiet, measured film is now not viewed as such.Still, I found it held my interest easily and was effecting. The acting is admirable, and the sadness of the women's plight are expressed without sentiment. Well worth seeing; 8 out of 10.