You really have to be in the right mood to sit through “Tony Takitani”. You have to be ready to take in a thoroughly depressing story that moves…very…slowly. On that note, anyone suffering from depression or fits of violence due to overwhelming boredom should probably steer clear from “Takitani.”
The film opens with a good ten minute back story on our title character as he grows into a man constantly dealing with loneliness. We finally get to present time and middle-aged Tony is a technical illustrator, pining away for a woman 15 years younger than him. His wooing of her is a success and the two end up getting married, finding Tony the happiest he’s ever been in his life, but the loneliness is still there, scarier than ever, as he hates to think about what he would do if he were ever to lose her. So, I said that this was a depressing story, right? Well, knowing that, I think you can kinda figure out what happens next.
Based on a short story of the same title, Jun Ichikawa’s film is a classic example that not all literature is capable of making the transition to film, especially when the filmmaker tries to keep as true as possible to the source material. What I can see being a calming read, becomes painfully dull in this cinematic translation.
