You Will Be Disappointed If You Loved The Murakami Novel

Haruki Murakami's landmark Japanese bestseller is my favourite novel of all time, so going into this movie I had reasonably high expectations. When I finished the film, I sat and wondered for a moment. The film struck me as an optional, if unnecessary companion to the novel. Many key moments of the novel (the riveting opening scene, for example) are cut out and the main plot points of the story are kind of wafted over, as if only glancing at the surface level.

The novel left a lot of room for ambiguity and analysis, as every moment and idea was so perfectly realised. This film is, metaphorically speaking a shade of what the original story was.

That all said, this is a beautifully shot, edited and directed film, with an excellent, haunting score by Jonny Greenwood. On a technical and cinematic level, this film is a 8 or 9 out of 10.

I gave it a 7/10 on IMDb, taking in mind my issues with the adaptation.

If you read the book, I would still recommend the film, but also to proceed with caution, and to not have the film change your opinion on Murakami's masterful novel.