Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman
Zeitgeist Films | Release Date: April 14, 2023 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
69
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 13 Critic Reviews
Positive:
8
Mixed:
5
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
Los Angeles TimesCarlos AguilarApr 15, 2023
Porous enough in their philosophical intent though as not to impose a strict meaning, and yet sufficiently potent to make us reassess our priorities, the array of interpersonal conflicts floating in the idiosyncratic “Blind Willow” feel like elegantly animated lucid dreams full of poetic imagery: far from realistic but viscerally truthful. Read full review
83
Paste MagazineNatalia KeoganApr 14, 2023
By embarking on a truly unique creative path and embracing the facets of Murakami’s work that seemed unfilmable, Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman is an elegant tribute to a literary powerhouse whose signature brand of fantasy deserves to be embraced across artistic forms. Read full review
83
IndieWireChristian ZilkoApr 12, 2023
Földes’ movie succeeds as both a tribute to a living legend and a reminder that nothing is ever quite as unfilmable as it seems. Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman is far from the definitive Murakami movie. But for now, it’s one of the best ones we’ve got. Read full review
80
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeApr 3, 2023
Földes’s matter-of-fact approach to storytelling balances the tendency towards quirkiness in the material. Dream logic coexists with the crushingly mundane, in a picture that also showcases the director’s musical talents with an intricate and involving score. Read full review
80
The GuardianPeter BradshawMar 28, 2023
It has the ruminative lightness, almost weightlessness, the watercolour delicacy and reticence of the emotions, the sense of the uncanny, the insistent play of erotic possibility and that Murakami keynote: a cat. Read full review
80
Screen DailyWendy IdeOct 27, 2022
Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman is an impressive achievement, a piece of storytelling which balances moments of flighty whimsy against deeper existential questions, marking Foldes as a talent to watch in the world of adult-skewed animation. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerMay 30, 2023
Földes manages to balance the potentially dissonant tones of the diverse source material and create something akin to a story, one with diversions created as side characters relate elements of some of the smaller chapters within the books as anecdotes and memories. Read full review
70
PolygonChris PlanteApr 28, 2023
This isn’t a Murakami movie; it’s the Murakami movie. Read full review
60
Little White LiesDavid JenkinsMar 31, 2023
The film does well to capture the probing literary spirit of Murakami, even if it doesn’t quite manage to channel the intense emotional aspect of its work, instead coming across as dryly ironic and detached. Read full review
58
The Film StageAlistair RyderMay 4, 2023
I can’t fault Földes in his ambition, but where other filmmakers have found even deeper veins of emotion in Murakami’s rich prose, he doesn’t read further between the lines, reinventing them only on the surface. Read full review
50
Washington PostPat PaduaMay 30, 2023
Somehow, for all the work that went into the film, it comes across as something that may have worked better as an audiobook. Read full review
50
The New York TimesClaire ShafferApr 13, 2023
It works well as a visual companion for fans of the author’s work, and as a flawed enigma for everyone else. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineDavid RobbApr 10, 2023
Some pleasingly odd visuals and a sustained off-kilter mood will likely please many animation fans who haven’t had any exposure to the source material, but Pierre Foldes’s film ultimately fails to create any clear identity of its own. Read full review
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