New Film Of Murakami’s Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman Features Groundbreaking Animation Techniques

From the people who brought you the Oscar-winning Drive My Car, comes a brilliant, cinematic interpretation of short stories by internationally best-selling Japanese author Haruki Murakami: Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman; The Elephant Vanishes and After The Quake.

Set in Tokyo, a few days after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the story follows the existential repercussions of the natural disaster on the lives of multiple characters, as they navigate a seismic event both real and internal. Following its World Premiere at the Annecy International Animation Festival in 2022, Modern Films has released Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman, the debut feature film from director, composer and painter Pierre Földes, which will open in cinemas across the UK and Ireland on 31 March 2023. Its theatrical release in the United States will be 14 April.

Featuring a beautiful blend of animation techniques, from a live-action shoot to 3D motion capture to classic 2D animation layouts, the film’s visual style lends itself well to the surreal imagery typical to Murakami narratives. A single narrative links a bank employee without ambition (Komura), his disheartened wife (Kyoko), a delusional accountant (Katagiri), a lost cat and a giant talkative frog. Through memories, dreams and fantasies, Kyoko, Komura and Katagiri, influenced by their visions of earthquakes – which are manifested as evil willow trees, giant earthworms, secret vows, mysterious boxes and a dark, endless corridors – attempt to rediscover their true selves. It follows the lives of multiple characters as they navigate post-Tsunami existence and the existential repercussions of urban life, including an unambitious bank employee, his disheartened wife, a delusional accountant, a lost cat and a giant talkative frog.

Kyoko suddenly leaves her husband after spending five days in a row glued to unfolding earthquake footage on TV. Her helpless husband Komura takes a week’s leave from work and heads north to deliver a box and its unknown contents to two young women. His colleague Katagiri, a simple debt collector by profession and an awkward loner in life, returns home one evening to find a two-metre-tall frog asking for his help to save Tokyo from impending destruction by a giant subterranean worm.

Through memories, dreams and fantasies, Kyoko, Komura and Katagiri, influenced by their visions of earthquakes – which are manifested as evil willow trees, giant earthworms, secret vows, mysterious boxes and a dark, endless corridor – attempt to rediscover their true selves.

With an original score, also composed by the film’s French-English director, Pierre Földes, the film follows the characters through realisations of deep existential truths – surveying themes of loneliness, purpose, and humanity.

Following its world premier at the Annecy International Animation Festival, Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman was an official selection at Toronto International Film Festival 2022, Busan International Film Festival 2022, Film Festival Ghent 2022, Sao Paulo International Film Festival 2022, Cairo International Film Festival 2022 and International Film Festival of India, Goa 2022.