Tony Takitani

a JUN ICHIKAWA picture

Go to the synopsis.

Title

Tony Takitani

Director

Jun Ichikawa

Producer

Ishida Motoki, Naoki Hashimoto

Nationality

Japan

Year

2004

Duration

75'

Language

Japanese

Format

Dolby Digital

Ratio

1.85

Original Title

Toni Takitani

Synopsis

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.

Synopsis

Trailer

Stills

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
Miyazawa Rie
Shinohara Takahumi
Hidetoshi Nishijima
Director and Writer Ichikawa Jun
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

Releases

Singapore - Cathay-Keris Films

31.08.2006

Taiwan - Pandasia Entertainment

24.02.2006

US - Strand Releasing

13.10.2006

Japan - Tokyo Theatres K.K.

05.11.2005

UK - Axiom Films

29.09.2005