When I read that this movie has won awards at Cannes and the Oscars, I realized that I had three hours of torture before me. To endure the boredom, I divided it into three parts, to watch over three days.
Immediately after the movie began, I realized that it is based on the book Men Without Women by Murakami Haruki. The book is actually a collection of short stories, and the movie seamlessly integrates a few of them into a single story.
I was happy to see my favourite, the short story Scheherazade, included in the movie. Unfortunately it is narrated, which is a misuse of the film medium. I was also distraught over the changed ending of this subplot, which changes the feel and even genre of the short story, just to create a cheap shock. So I was already in a bad mood after the first part of the movie.
Contributing to my bad mood was a couple of early scenes without proper buildup, that were included for shock value.
Then the main character went on to direct a play by Anton Chekhov. What is it with Japanese movies and Chekhov? This is at least the third Japanese movie I have seen about some people setting up a play by Chekhov. And at least the fifth Asian movie that is about setting up a play. I'd rather watch the play than a movie about it. At least Chekhov likes guns.
The only interesting character is the driver, who is cool.
Why is it that all books by Murakami Haruki, who is a fun and easy to read writer, are made into boring movies. It's like they think that since he is a famous author, they have to make a pretentious, boring movie. In my opinion, all directors except Sono Shion should be banned from making movies out of his books.
Immediately after the movie began, I realized that it is based on the book Men Without Women by Murakami Haruki. The book is actually a collection of short stories, and the movie seamlessly integrates a few of them into a single story.
I was happy to see my favourite, the short story Scheherazade, included in the movie. Unfortunately it is narrated, which is a misuse of the film medium. I was also distraught over the changed ending of this subplot, which changes the feel and even genre of the short story, just to create a cheap shock. So I was already in a bad mood after the first part of the movie.
Contributing to my bad mood was a couple of early scenes without proper buildup, that were included for shock value.
Then the main character went on to direct a play by Anton Chekhov. What is it with Japanese movies and Chekhov? This is at least the third Japanese movie I have seen about some people setting up a play by Chekhov. And at least the fifth Asian movie that is about setting up a play. I'd rather watch the play than a movie about it. At least Chekhov likes guns.
The only interesting character is the driver, who is cool.
Why is it that all books by Murakami Haruki, who is a fun and easy to read writer, are made into boring movies. It's like they think that since he is a famous author, they have to make a pretentious, boring movie. In my opinion, all directors except Sono Shion should be banned from making movies out of his books.
