Best Foreign Film ISA Nominee - Tony Takitani

Nominated for a Best Foreign Film 2006 Independent Spirit Award, Tony Takitani is finally coming to DVD. A release date has been set by Strand Releasing. This is one of the most acclaimed, and mesmerizing, films of the year, and DVD Confidential has the inside scoop. Here is the press information on Tony Takitani, sure to be one of the most talked about DVD releases in some time:

"A beautiful and fragile Japanese film that is also one of the best reviewed movies of the year, “Tony Takitani” will debut on Strand Releasing Home
Video DVD, streeting January 10, 2006.

“Tony Takitani” is an amazing film like no other. Somber, atmospheric and contemplative, it is a spellbinding and haunting film about loneliness and suppressed sensuality that has riveted audiences and critics alike:

“No adventurous filmgoer will want to miss ‘Tony Takitani,’” raved the New York Post.

“As elegant and precise as an impeccably cut diamond. Mesmerizing. One of a kind,” cheered the Los Angeles Times.

“A dream of a movie,” lauded Newsweek.

“It’s like ‘Vertigo’ remade,” gushed Entertainment Weekly.

“A lyrical film…exquisite,” wrote the San Francisco Chronicle.

“A delicate wisp of a movie,” exclaimed The New York Times.

“An arthouse lover’s delight,” enthused the Boston Herald.

Artful and elegant, the movie’s underlying theme is the complex relationship between objects and memories. Alone and self-sufficient since childhood, Tony shuns emotions as illogical and immature. After finding his true vocation as a technical illustrator, he becomes fascinated with Eiko, whom he marries. His life changes, he feels vibrantly alive, and for the first time, he understands and fear loneliness. But when Eiko’s all consuming obsession for designer clothes ends in tragedy, Tony finds himself alone again, sitting in his wife’s closet, gazing at her treasured couture pieces, the whispering ghosts of her soul. Finally, Tony places an ad in the paper searching for a woman who fits Eiko’s measurements perfectly...leading to darkly satiric consequences.

“Tony Takitani” is based on the short story of the same name by Haruki Murakami, Japan’s most popular writer and major figure across Asia, a novelist whose latest book, Kafka on the Shore, sold nearly half a million copies in Japan in its first two months in stores. This short story appeared in the United States in The New Yorker magazine.

Written and directed for the screen by Jun Ichikawa, whose lyrical sensibilities are well suited to the source material, “Tony Takitani” stars Issey Ogata and Miyazawa Rie. Adding immeasurably to the aura of the film is the excellent and poignant piano score of celebrated Ryuichi Sakamoto, who won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe and a Grammy for “The Last Emperor,” another Golden Globe for “The Sheltering Sky” and a Grammy nomination for “Little Buddha.”

The film had its North American premiere in competition at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Just this week, “Tony Takitani” was nominated as Best Foreign Film for the prestigious 2006 Independent Spirit Awards."