Every movie based on a Haruki Murakami novel
If you don’t know the name Haruki Murakami, then you’ve got some serious explaining to do. The Japanese writer is a living legend, one of the most celebrated authors of this age, and his name will surely be remembered among the literary greats long into the future.
Along with 15 novels, Murakami’s bibliography includes numerous short stories, essays, and collections, all of which have proven fertile ground for adaptation into movies. There have been ten films produced based on his work, spanning decades, languages, and genres. For those looking to immerse themselves in this world, the place to start is, rather fittingly, an adaptation of his very first novel.
Hear the Wind Sing was first published in 1979 in Japanese, then translated to English eight years later. It follows a young college dropout who returns to his hometown and reconnects with an old. The 1981 film adaptation, directed by Kazuki Ōmori, is light on plot, but big on vibes, not too dissimilar from Richard Linklater’s ‘Before’ trilogy. It’s also in black and white, which earns it some serious pretence points.
Next came two short films from director Naoto Yamakawa, both based on two of Murakami’s short stories. Attack on a Bakery details just that – two men who rob a bakery after succumbing to hunger. As for A Girl, She is 100%, that is about a lonely man who spots a girl in the street and then thinks about how he should talk to her. This marked a drought in Murakami adaptations that wouldn’t end until 2004, when Jun Ichikawa made the movie Tony Takitani.
Based on another short story, this film captures the lives of two loners who fall in love, but their relationship becomes complicated when one of them develops an obsession for expensive clothes. Next came All God’s Children Can Dance, the first Murakami adaptation not set in Japan. Robert Logevall’s 2008 film follows a man around LA as he tracks a man he thinks is his father. It takes some liberties with the original story, but it’s still Murakami at its core.
2010 saw an adaptation of Murakami’s most famous work to date, Norwegian Wood. This tale of star-crossed was directed by Trần Anh Hùng and scored by Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood, opening many people’s eyes to Murakami for the first time. Fans had to wait another eight years for something new, but then two films came along at once, Daishi Matsunaga’s Hanalei Bay and Lee Chang-Dong’s Burning.
Director Ryusuke Hamaguchi received widespread acclaim for his 2021 take on Murakami’s short story Drive My Car, which centres on a grieving actor’s relationship with his personal driver. Hamaguchi’s vision was good enough to earn him a nomination for Best Director at that year’s Oscars and the film was also in the running for Best Picture. Finally, the most recent Murakami adaptation, Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman, was released in 2022. An animated piece from director Pierre Földes, this anthology film takes the six stories in Murakami’s original collection of the same name and beautifully brings them to life.
10 movies based on a Haruki Murakami novel:
- Hear the Wind Sing (風の歌を聴け) (Kazuki Ōmori, 1981)
- Attack on a Bakery (パン屋襲撃) (Naoto Yamakawa, 1982)
- A Girl, She is 100% (の女の子) (Naoto Yamakawa, 1983)
- Tony Takitani (トニー滝谷) (Jun Ichikawa, 2004)
- All God’s Children Can Dance (Robert Logevall, 2008)
- Norwegian Wood (ノルウェイの森) (Trần Anh Hùng, 2010)
- Hanalei Bay (ハナレイ・ベイ) (Daishi Matsunaga, 2018)
- Burning (버닝) (Lee Chang-Dong, 2018)
- Drive My Car (ドライブ・マイ・カー) (Ryusuke Hamaguchi, 2021)
- Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman (Pierre Földes, 2022)
