Just finished ready Harkuki Murakami's Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World and Kafka on the Shore, back-to-back. They totally straddle the line between what's real and imagined in a brilliant way. Murakami loves to put the everyman/woman in otherworldly situations and then take them (and you) to fantastically imagined planes of reality. I would recommend his books to anyone who loves detective stories that go deeper than the standard Raymond Chandler or James Elroy crime novels. What I'm trying to say is: his books are modern extensions of what noir masters have set forth. Not for everyone but for those who get Murakami he makes our lives feel a bit more substantial. He writes about Japanese people but from a western point of view. His Japan is informed by the west and isn't some exoticized Eastern netherworld. I need to read his new book After Dark and his biography to completely absorb the entire canon (aside from a few short stories).
Last night we showed our trailer 3 special guests whom gave us many helpful hints. They mostly liked it but they felt it needed some more key points of info. We're up to the task so it won't be a problem. When you seen the final film you won't be disappointed.
3 comments:
Funny - I'm on a massive Murakami bender at the moment. I started with Kafka on the Shore, which I got given as a Christmas present, then moved on to Dance Dance Dance, Norwegian Wood and am now in the midst of Windup Bird Chronicles. I'll be continuing on! When I'm reading them, I sometimes imagine I'm in a David Lynch film or in the middle of an episode Sapphire and Steel (perhaps you never saw this - it was a great British kid's supernatural series, starring Joanna Lumley). Anyway, I haven't been so entranced by one author for a long long time. Can't you just see any one of these as films? I think it has something to do with the detailed descriptions of his characters - what they wear, what they eat, every little thing they do.
There have been two Murakami-esque movies made recently: Tony Takatani and Starfish Hotel. The former is adapted from one of his short stories and the later is not based on any particular book but sounds a lot like the plot synopsis for Wild Sheep Chase/Dance Dance Dance. I think Dance Dance Dance is my favourite. I just loved all the supporting characters in that one.
Yeah, Dance Dance Dance is wonderful. I love the hotel scenes and sheep man. So much wonderful weirdness. I saw Tony Takitani - a beautiful understated film.
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