Tony Takitani
Encyclopedia
Tony Takitani is a 2004
Japan
ese film directed by Jun Ichikawa, based on the short story
by Haruki Murakami
.
, he found a yellow T-shirt that said, "Tony Takitani, House (D)."
At the time, Takitani was running for office. Murakami decided to write the man's life story as this novel.
Shozaburo continues to travel and is away from home most of the time. Because of his Americanised name people often react oddly, or sometimes with hostility to Tony. "Spending time alone was the most natural thing in the world for Tony". He develops an interest in drawing but prefers accuracy over emotion and as an adult gets a job as a technical illustrator.
Tony falls in love with a young female client, Eiko, who is obsessed with shopping for clothes and accessories. On their fifth date he proposes to her but she says she has already been seeing some one else for some time. She says she will think it over. Eventually Eiko accepts and they are married.
Although Eiko and Tony are very happy they both recognise that her shopping is becoming a problem between them: Eiko accumulates so many clothes, and pairs of shoes, that they are given an entire room in the house. One day she decides to drive to her favourite boutique to return a coat and dress. After she has returned the clothes initially Eiko feels a sense of release but, whilst waiting at traffic lights, she begins to think about their colour, style, and texture. The lights change and, possibly because she is distracted, there is an accident in which Eiko is killed.
Tony is completely distraught and sets about hiring a woman, Hisako, as an assistant, with the one condition that she should wear his wife's clothes to work in "as a uniform". When she sees Eiko's clothes Hisako begins to cry. Tony decides not to hire an assistant and sells the clothes instead.
Two years after his wife's death Tony's father also dies, leaving his trombone and a collection of jazz records. Tony keeps the trombone and the records in the room in which Eiko used to keep her clothes. After a year Tony sells the records and the trombone.
One evening at what might be the opening of an art exhibition a young man approaches Tony and introduces himself as the other man Eiko was seeing before she married Tony. He speaks disparagingly of Eiko and Tony challenges him and leaves.
The next scene shows Tony in the empty room and recreates and then cuts to the earlier scene of Tony's father in the prison cell in China. He thinks about Hisako. In the final scene of the film Tony calls Hisako but puts the phone down before she can answer.
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Track listing
2004 in film
The year 2004 in film involved some significant events. Major releases of sequels took place. It included blockbuster films like Shrek 2, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Passion of the Christ, Meet the Fockers, Blade: Trinity, Spider-Man 2, Alien vs. Predator, Kill Bill Vol...
Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese film directed by Jun Ichikawa, based on the short story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
by Haruki Murakami
Haruki Murakami
is a Japanese writer and translator. His works of fiction and non-fiction have garnered him critical acclaim and numerous awards, including the Franz Kafka Prize and Jerusalem Prize among others.He is considered an important figure in postmodern literature...
.
Inspiration
Haruki Murakami was intrigued by the name Tony Takitani when, at a garage sale on MauiMaui
The island of Maui is the second-largest of the Hawaiian Islands at and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is part of the state of Hawaii and is the largest of Maui County's four islands, bigger than Lānai, Kahoolawe, and Molokai. In 2010, Maui had a population of 144,444,...
, he found a yellow T-shirt that said, "Tony Takitani, House (D)."
At the time, Takitani was running for office. Murakami decided to write the man's life story as this novel.
Plot summary
The film starts by telling the story of Tony's father Takitani Shozaburo, a jazz trombonist from Japan, who spends the second world war in China. Shozaburo is imprisoned and many of his fellow inmates are executed. He expects he will be executed one day and he is shown curled up on the floor of his cell. However he survives and in 1946 returns to Japan where he marries a distant relative on his mother's side. A year later they have a child, Tony, but Tony's mother dies three days after giving birth to him.Shozaburo continues to travel and is away from home most of the time. Because of his Americanised name people often react oddly, or sometimes with hostility to Tony. "Spending time alone was the most natural thing in the world for Tony". He develops an interest in drawing but prefers accuracy over emotion and as an adult gets a job as a technical illustrator.
Tony falls in love with a young female client, Eiko, who is obsessed with shopping for clothes and accessories. On their fifth date he proposes to her but she says she has already been seeing some one else for some time. She says she will think it over. Eventually Eiko accepts and they are married.
Although Eiko and Tony are very happy they both recognise that her shopping is becoming a problem between them: Eiko accumulates so many clothes, and pairs of shoes, that they are given an entire room in the house. One day she decides to drive to her favourite boutique to return a coat and dress. After she has returned the clothes initially Eiko feels a sense of release but, whilst waiting at traffic lights, she begins to think about their colour, style, and texture. The lights change and, possibly because she is distracted, there is an accident in which Eiko is killed.
Tony is completely distraught and sets about hiring a woman, Hisako, as an assistant, with the one condition that she should wear his wife's clothes to work in "as a uniform". When she sees Eiko's clothes Hisako begins to cry. Tony decides not to hire an assistant and sells the clothes instead.
Two years after his wife's death Tony's father also dies, leaving his trombone and a collection of jazz records. Tony keeps the trombone and the records in the room in which Eiko used to keep her clothes. After a year Tony sells the records and the trombone.
One evening at what might be the opening of an art exhibition a young man approaches Tony and introduces himself as the other man Eiko was seeing before she married Tony. He speaks disparagingly of Eiko and Tony challenges him and leaves.
The next scene shows Tony in the empty room and recreates and then cuts to the earlier scene of Tony's father in the prison cell in China. He thinks about Hisako. In the final scene of the film Tony calls Hisako but puts the phone down before she can answer.
Cast
- Issei OgataIssei Ogata, is a Japanese actor and comedian. He was interested in plays since childhood. After he graduated from Toyotama High School in Japan, he joined a theatrical company and appeared on the stage. Later, he jumped at the opportunity to be an entertainer when he took the gold medal at the audition...
– Tony Takitani, Shozaburo Takitani - Rie MiyazawaRie Miyazawais a Japanese actress and former model.- Life and career :Rie Miyazawa was born in Tokyo and raised by her mother. Since her debut at age 11 in an advertisement for Kit Kat, she has many films, television shows, commercials, stage appearances and photo books to her credit. She starred in the...
– Konuma Eiko, Hisako - Takahumi Shinohara – Young Tony Takitani
- Hidetoshi Nishijima – Narrator (voice)
Soundtrack
The soundtrack for the film was entirely composed by Ryuichi SakamotoRyuichi Sakamoto
After working as a session musician with Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi in 1977, the trio formed the internationally successful electronic music band Yellow Magic Orchestra in 1978. Known for their seminal influence on electronic music, the group helped pioneer electronic genres such as...
.
Track listing
- "DNA - Intro" 11:37
- "Solitude" 4:55
- "DNA" 6:28
- "Bottom" 0:40
- "Fotografia #1" 3:33
- "Fotografia #2" 3:42
- "Solitude #2" 2:34
- "Harmonics #1" 0:51
- "Solitude - One Note" 3:25
- "Harmonics #2" 1:02
- "Solitude - Theme" 4:00
External links
- Official site
- Tony Takitani at JMDb (in Japanese)
- Special edition book of the short story, Tony Takitani by Haruki Murakami
- Region 2 DVD review
- Web edition of the short story, Tony Takitani by Haruki Murakami