TOKYO. Renowned Japanese author Haruki Murakami expressed his joy over the animated adaptation of several of his short stories in the film “Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman,” directed by American filmmaker Pierre Földes. Murakami praised the film and expressed his desire to see more unique interpretations of his work.
The Japanese language version of the 2022 film will be released in Japan on July 26. This marks the first time Murakami’s work has been adapted into an animated film.
After a screening at his alma mater, Waseda University in Tokyo, Murakami joined Földes in a talk session. Despite not being a fan of animated films, Murakami admitted he watched this one twice.
The film is inspired by six of Murakami’s short stories: “Super-Frog Saves Tokyo” and “U.F.O. in Kushiro” from the “After the Quake” collection, written after the 1995 Kobe earthquake, as well as “Birthday Girl,” “Dabchick,” and “The Windup Bird and Tuesday’s Women.”
Set in Tokyo after the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and Fukushima nuclear disaster, “Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman” follows three main characters: Katagiri, a lonely banker who teams up with a giant talking frog to save Tokyo from another quake; his unenthusiastic younger colleague; and his wife Kyoko, who, depressed and fixated on earthquake news, leaves him. Through dreams and memories, the characters eventually find peace and a new beginning.
Murakami praised the animated depiction of the intelligent green Frog, voiced by Földes, saying it matched his vision of the character. “What I would like to see is not a mere film version of what I wrote, but something added to it and becoming something new,” Murakami remarked during the talk.
Földes explained his approach: “My approach is to be faithful to my interpretation of things of my inspiration,” a method that resonated with Murakami. The filmmaker mentioned that he didn’t have a definitive plan when selecting the six stories he loved, but the connections between them developed naturally over time, leading to a cohesive narrative.
Murakami’s works have previously inspired several award-winning films, including Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s 2021 “Drive My Car” and Lee Chang-dong’s 2018 thriller “Burning.” Murakami cited these films, along with Földes’ animation, as successful examples of blending his vision with directors’ creativity.
“Making a film based on short stories requires directors’ creativity to add their own materials, which tends to help create an interesting product,” he said, noting that adapting a full-length novel often requires condensing content to fit a two-hour production.
Murakami also mentioned that his non-fiction work “Underground,” based on interviews with people affected by the 1995 Tokyo subway gas attack, would make a fascinating film.
“Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman” has been nominated for Best Animated Film at the 2024 Lumieres Awards.
Paraluman P. Funtanilla
Paraluman P. Funtanilla is Tutubi News Magazine's Marketing Specialist and is a Contributing Editor. She finished her degree in Communication Arts in De La Salle Lipa. She has worked as a Digital Marketer for start-up businesses and small business spaces for the past two years. She has earned certificates from Coursera on Brand Management: Aligning Business Brand and Behavior and Viral Marketing and How to Craft Contagious Content. She also worked with Asia Express Romania TV Show.
