Adam Walter sees the first Haruki Murakami movie

Adam Walter wants you to know that the first film ever made based on Haruki Murakami’s work is “as good as anything [he’s] seen in the past five years.”

Adam posted this in the comments earlier, but it deserves a post of its own:

I’ll just say watch for Tony Takitani, the first feature film adapted from the work of Haruki Murakami. The film was actually made last year in Japan but has been shown this year at Sundance and S.I.F.F. Hopefully it’ll get a general release soon.

I’m prepared to say this movie is as good as anything I’ve seen in the past five years. It deals with the always-relevant theme of isolation, and the sort of despair it conveys in this modern setting seems deeply spiritual. The film also deals with the issue of rampant consumerism. I’d nominate this film for best narrative film, director, actor, actress, supporting actor (can I nominate the narrator?), cinematography, & adapted screenplay. You can hear more on my blog (or on the IMDb where I’ve posted the only user review so far).