Blind Willow Sleeping Woman

Pierre Földes previously worked as a classical pianist, composer, and painter. His debut animation feature film is a synthesis of six short stories by Haruki Murakami. The term auteur is truly deserved for Pierre Földes who wrote the screenplay, created the key storyboard, obtained the rights to adapt Murakami’s work, directed the actors for the live-action film, and helped work on the 3d heads created for the main characters. These heads and the live-action films informed the work of the forty-distance working animators.

Földes wrote the music, chose the typeface for the credits, and voiced one of the most engaging characters that of Frog. This whole process took several years. Much of which happened over COVID times. Like all good fairy tales, this time of darkness helped bring something rather beautiful into the light. There is a fairy tale quality to the film also as Kyoko, Komura, and Katagiri learn to be careful of what they wish for as they deal with loneliness and alienation. The storyline is laid out in a series of intersecting vignettes. The muted colour palette and the stunning use of transparencies bring a dream-like quality to this film.

Kristina McElroy