He showed me the trailer.

The music, the Japanese man… as soon as I saw him sitting at the cold, clinical kitchen table eating that salad I thought… “Murakami!”.

Then a second later the credits announce: “Based on the story by acclaimed novelist Haruki Murakami”. Haha! I couldn’t believe I spotted the style so easily given I wasn’t expecting it or hadn’t heard of a film based on his work… I haven’t been in a Murakami mood recently (by which I mean I haven’t indulged in any of his books) so he wasn’t on my mind. I suppose the theme is easy to spot though, as is common in many of Murakami’s books; lonely single Japanese male, penchant for simple, clean food (often pasta or a light salad), overly clean apartment… and so on.

I can’t wait to get a chance to watch it, but I only hope that it really will capture the magic of Murakami!