Tony Takitani
Strand Releasing | Release Date: July 29, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
80
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 22 Critic Reviews
Positive:
19
Mixed:
2
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
The movie's underlying theme is the complex relationship between objects and memories, worked out through a taut, compelling story and superbly understated acting. Ryuichi Sakamoto composed the atmospheric score. Read full review
100
New York PostV.A. Musetto
No adventurous filmgoer will want to miss Tony Takitani. Read full review
100
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
It's a quiet dream of a movie, a vision of loneliness giving way to love, then to loneliness again; it's like "Vertigo" remade in a sedately haunted style of Japanese lyricism. Read full review
100
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
An exquisite film, as elegant and precise as an impeccably cut diamond. It's small in scale but wholly mesmerizing, holding us captive as it demonstrates how much enveloping richness can be conveyed with a minimalist style. Read full review
100
San Francisco ChronicleNeva Chonin
A visual poem. Read full review
91
Portland OregonianMarc Mohan
A haunting, melancholy fable, Tony Takitani is the kind of film that could seem tedious from a mere description. Approached with the right mind-set, however, it's a hypnotic mood piece on love and loss, one that knows -- at 75 minutes -- not to overstay its welcome. Read full review
90
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
Movies can't exactly replicate the feeling of reading a book, but Jun Ichikawa's adaptation of Haruki Murakami's short story Tony Takitani comes remarkably close. Read full review
90
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
The hues are so muted you may remember this as a black-and-white film, but its emotions are as vivid as primary colors. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
It's a film for specialized tastes, quiet, delicate. But it suits those tastes beautifully. Read full review
80
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
A delicate wisp of a film with a surprisingly sharp sting. Read full review
80
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
This is one of those movies where you either give yourself up to its rhythms or give up entirely. It took me a few minutes to get used to it, but I found Tony Takitani absorbing and loaded with emotional power. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
This gossamer work is one of the loveliest examples of minimalist cinema I've seen in a long time. Read full review
80
Washington PostTeresa Wiltz
A marvelously moody meditation, beautiful to look at and beautiful to ponder as the camera slowly pans from one scene to the next, framing life as still life. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarrit Ingman
It recommends itself best to viewers who can appreciate its novelty and roll with the risks it takes. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
The result is a quietly simple fable that hits you hardest after it's over. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
The film itself is also a beautiful work of art, exquisitely framed and precisely envisioned. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Tony Takitani, fablelike and beautiful, requires a certain amount of patience, but its small, peculiar charms work their way into your soul. Read full review
70
Village VoiceDennis Lim
Oneiric as it is, though, Tony Takitani conveys a powerfully tangible sense of loss and loneliness. In both concrete and existential terms, it's a film that dwells on what the dead leave behind and how the living carry on. Read full review
70
The New RepublicStanley Kauffmann
Not many of us, I think, would want to see many films made this way, possibly not one more, but this one is an intriguing glance at the director-as-god, deigning to treat human frailty with imperial sway, assuming that his art justifies this slender material. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
This minimalist meditation on loneliness and loss is so spare and drained of color that it seems always on the verge of fading into invisibility. Read full review
50
VarietyDerek Elley
Ultimately, this is a striking-looking film -- consciously recalling the paintings of Edward Hopper in its architectural use of space -- which, like its protag, is a little short on real feeling. Read full review
20
Film ThreatEric Campos
You really have to be in the right mood to sit through Tony Takitani. You have to be ready to take in a thoroughly depressing story that moves...very...slowly. Read full review
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