Haruki Murakami’s Tony Takitani in theaters July 29th
Hey all, I’m a huge fan of Haruki Murakami, The Wind Up Bird Chronicle being my favorite book of all time. I had often wondered about the possibility of film adaptations of his books. I realized that for the romantic stories this would be feasible, but for the most part, for example with the aforementioned Chronicle, Dance Dance Dance, Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World the detours into the surreal and bizarre might not translate all that easily to film.
Thus, to say I was jazzed to hear about a Murakami film adaptation would be an understatement. The film is adapted and directed by Jun Ichikawa, who previously handled the literary adaptation, Tugumi, and stars Issey Ogata (Yi Yi) and Rie Miazawa (The Twilight Samurai). It just had its New York premiere July 20th, and will be experiencing a limited US release starting this Friday, July 29th. I personally haven’t read the Tony Takitani narrative, but I am definitely looking forward to it.
Here’s the story synopsis directly from the Tony Takitani website:
Tony Takitani had a solitary childhood. Being alone was normal since his mother died young and his father was always away with his jazz band. At school he studied art, but while his sketches are accurate and detailed they lack feeling. Used to being self-sufficient, Tony seems to find emotions illogical and immature.
After finding his true vocation as a technical illustrator, he becomes fascinated by Eiko, a client who in turn is fascinated by high end fashion. Eventually he marries her, and his life changes. He feels vibrantly alive and for the first time he understands and fears loneliness. But her obsession with designer clothes begins to worry him. When he asks her to economize, the consequences are tragic.
Alone again, Tony sits in his wife’s closet gazing at her treasured couture pieces, the whispering ghosts of her soul. Finally, Tony places an ad in the paper searching for a woman who is a perfect Size 7.
Again, check out the official site here, and be sure to track this film down beginning July 29th, 2005.
