Tony Takitani
Jun Ichikawa / JP, 2004 / 105 min.
Tony Takitani’s lonely life is turned upside down when he falls head over heels in love with a woman who turns out to be a compulsive buyer. Her addiction means he may end up lonely again. Ryuichi Sakamoto composed a minimalist score that perfectly fits the film’s taut and restrained colour palette.
Director Jun Ichikawa (who unexpectedly died in 2008) made a thoughtful and tightly designed film based on a short story by Haruki Murakami. In the film, Tony Takitani is a lonely man whose life is overturned when he finally falls in love. His muted struggle with his father (a jazz trombonist), his wife, and a tragic accident which he manages to resolve in a surprising way, all rendered in subtly toned and beautifully designed sequence shots.
Intriguing choices were made from a cinematographic point of view to recreate the subtle aloofness of Murakami’s world. Sakamoto provided a score that is a perfect companion for the film and mainly consists of repetitive solo piano pieces which occasionally seems to foreshadow his acclaimed solo album async (2017).
With an introduction by Eye on Sound programmer Thijs Havens.
This is part of
Details
Director
Jun Ichikawa
Production year
2004
Country
JP
Original title
Tony Takitani
Length
105 min.
Language
Japanese
Subtitles
ENG
Format
35mm
Part of
Holland Festival 2021
This year, Eye puts the spotlight on Ryuichi Sakamoto, one of the associate artists of the Holland Festival 2021. Sakamoto's latest work Time will premiere during the festival, an unconventional wordless opera he made together with visual artist Shiro Takatani. Eye will organise seven accompanying programmes in June focusing on Sakamoto's illustrious career.
Planning on having a drink or a bite to eat? Book online for Eye Bar Restaurant.