Tanizaki's masterpiece is the story of the extinction of a great family through
pride and over-refinement. It is a loving and nostalgic recreation of the
sumptuous, intricate upper-class life of Osaka immediately before World War Two.
With surgical realism and precision, Tanizaki lays bare the sinews of pride, and
in the finest qualities of the Japanese tradition, brings a vanished era to
vibrant life.