Tony Takitani, the Jun Ichikawa film inspired by Haruki Murakami's short story was released on DVD at the end of last January, 2006. Those of you who weren't able to get to Los Angeles or New York to see it in theaters will be happy to know that it is listed on Amazon.com to buy or on Netflix to rent.

Ichikawa's slick, desaturated commercial-aesthetic film, coupled with the sensitive narration of Hidetoshi Nishijima (possibly a reference to Murakami as the story teller), makes a lot of sense in the context of the film. I took the desaturated commercial-like perfection and the objective camera moving to the right througout the film to be a reference to the inevitability of the influence of American culture in post-war Japan. Maybe that's a cliche idea by now, but this film as a companion to Murakami's short story is indispensable. Murakami's often visual descriptions of women, of food, and of consumer objects translate directly to the screen; some of Ichikawa's footage in Tony Takitani(2004) looks like it's been taken straight out of a Murakami story or novel. Without this (critically well recieved) film, the story is flat and forgettable.

0 Comments Thursday, March 23, 2006, 3/23/2006 11:10:00 AM