Synopsis
Tony Takitani had a solitary childhood. 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. His life changes, he feels vibrantly alive and for the first time he understands and fears loneliness. But Eiko has one big problem, an all-consuming obsession for designer clothes. When he asks her to resist her compulsions, the consequences are tragic.
Trailer
Press
"A refined, delicately poetic reverie on loss and memory."
VARIETY
"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."
CHANNEL FOUR
"It’s a film for specialized tastes, quiet, delicate. But it suits those tastes beautifully."
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
"Like a cultivated orchid, the delicate product of careful attention and an appreciation for fleeting beauty."
SEATTLE TIMES
"Tony Takitani is an exquisite film, as elegant and precise as an impeccably cut diamond."
LA TIMES
"A gentle breeze of absurdism floats through this lyrically understated story. Its sadness is little short of magical."
NEW YORK OBSERVER
"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."
WASHINGTON POST
"Light on plot but heavy on mood, this Japanese import layers voice-over, fluid photography and a melancholy piano score to create a hypnotic poem about isolation and loss."
E!
"A delicate wisp of a film with a surprisingly sharp sting."
NEW YORK TIMES
"It’s a quiet dream of a movie, a vision of loneliness giving way to love, then to loneliness again; it’s like Vertigo remade in a sedately haunted style of Japanese lyricism."
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
"Tony Takitani conveys a powerfully tangible sense of loss and loneliness. In both concrete and existential terms, it’s a film that dwells on what the dead leave behind and how the living carry on."
VILLAGE VOICE
"A quietly simple fable that hits you hardest after it’s over."
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
"The camera effortlessly glides from scene to scene, revealing faultlessly framed shots that consist mostly of just one or two people, their backs often to the camera."
NEW YORK POST
Festivals
& Awards
Locarno International Film Festival
Special Jury Prize
Fipresci Prize
Sundance Film Festival
Nominated for Grand Jury Prize
Chlotrudis Awards
Nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Visual Design
Independent Spirit Awards
Nominee
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards
Nominee
Busan International Film Festival
London Film Festival
Hong Kong International Film Festival
Istanbul Film Festival
Seattle International Film Festival
Nippon Connection Film Festival in Germany
ERA New Horizons Film Festival
Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival
Vancouver International Film Festival
Film by the Sea Film Festival
Cast & Crew
Issey Ogata | |
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Miyazawa Rie | |
Shinohara Takahumi | |
Hidetoshi Nishijima |
Director and Writer | Ichikawa Jun |
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Based on a short story by | Haruki Murakami |
Producer s | Ishida Motoki, Naoki Hashimoto |
Associate Producer | Koshikawa Michio |
Executive Producer | Yonezawa keiko |
Cinematography | Taishi Hirokawa |
Script Supervisor | Kondo Machiko |
Art Direction | Yoshikazu Ichida |
Sound | Yasuo Hashimoto |
Music | Sakamoto Ryuichi |
Editor | Sanjyo Tomoh |