A man who has lived a life of emotional isolation discovers the dark side of falling in love in this drama from Japanese filmmaker Jun Ichikawa. Tony Takitani (Issey Ogata) is the son of a Japanese musician with a passion for jazz who spent most of World War II in Shanghai, and was later sentenced to a stretch in prison following the war. Tony was named in honor of an American serviceman who befriended his father, but his name also earned him the suspicion of his classmates, and he had few close
friends as a child, a situation aggravated by the death of his mother. While Tony displayed great technical skill as an artist, his work lacked feeling, and he ended up pursuing a successful career as a technical illustrator. One day, Tony meets Eiko Konuma (Rie Miyazawa), a beautiful woman working with one of his clients, and he is immediately entranced. Feeling as if he's found his soul mate, Tony becomes fully inspired for the first time in his life, and soon asks Eiko for her hand in marriage. Eiko accepts, but before long Tony discovers she has a financially ruinous fondness for expensive designer clothes. When Tony asks Eiko to cut back on her shopping sprees, it triggers a series of events which show Eiko isn't all Tony imagined her to be, and throws his new satisfaction with life into turmoil. Tony Takitani received its North American premiere at the 2004 Vancouver Film Festival, and was also screened as part of the World Cinema series at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
An ethereal modern fable without a moral, Tony Takatani seeps into the soul and lingers. For filmgoers in search of a quietly absorbing escape, it might be the perfect holiday-movie antidote.
It's a marvelously moody meditation, beautiful to look at and beautiful to ponder as the camera slowly pans from one scene to the next, framing life as still life.
Whether you view it as a metaphor for a country or a singular study of the human condition, Tony Takitani explores the borders between solitude and loneliness, hunger and consumption, memory and loss.
Ichikawa brilliantly captures Murakami's blend of whimsy, irony and melancholy, while finding intelligent and inventive ways to convert the author's verbal idiosyncrasies to a visual medium.
Jun Ichikawa's adaptation of a short story by celebrated Japanese novelist Haruki Murakama is a quiet ode to isolation, loss, and our human desire to love and be loved.
Filme de construção poética e delicada, encanta pelo tocante estudo de personagens e por discutir, através de seus quadros reveladores, temas complexos como a solidão, a natureza da memória, fetiches e obsessões.
I couldn't imagine how one of Murakami's stories could be captured on film. But I must say, that Jun Ichikawa did a great job! I loved how the characters seemed to belong in the clean and simple surroundings they were in. It was consistent with the way Murakami describes his characters and their surroundings. I don't
know man, I'm not a critic, I'm a fan, and Ichikawa can count on my support :)
An extremely quiet movie, so if you're into action, this isn't for you. This one captures best the mix of loneliness, discovered love, and missed opportunities for connection -- all hallmarks of Haruki Murakami's fiction. The very last telephone hang-up touches the very core of Murakami's vision of modern life and
love. Although this film is less "magical" than Murakami can be at the height of his stories, there is at least quirkiness which could easliy turn magically into something surreal. Good examples are the car accident that results from an obsession with clothing, or the empty closet dream sequence. Putting Murakami on film with any kind of truth to the text must be a daunting task.
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