Pierre Földes Animates Murakami's Stories in 'Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman'

Director Pierre Földes's animated feature 'Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman' adapts six Haruki Murakami short stories, blending reality and illusion. The film is set after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, following three characters: Komura, his wife Kyoko, and accountant Katagiri. Földes received permission from Murakami to select any stories, choosing 'Super-Frog Saves Tokyo' (2002), 'Birthday Girl' (2002), 'Dabchick' (1981), 'The Wind-up Bird and Tuesday's Women' (1986), 'U.F.O. in Kushiro' (2001), and the title story from 2006. While Murakami's female characters have been critiqued by writer Mieko Kawakami for limited roles, Földes gives Kyoko more agency. Art director Julien De Man creates backgrounds with a muted palette, using an experimental animation technique that combines live-action filming with 3D models. The film explores liminal spaces between waking and dream states, with Frog telling Katagiri 'What you see with your eyes is not necessarily real.' Földes described his adaptation approach as playful rather than formulaic in an interview with Cineuropa during the film's festival run.