X
  • 2023
  • Zeitgeist Films
  • 1 h 48 m
  • 2023
  • Zeitgeist Films
  • 1 h 48 m

Summary Tokyo, a few days after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Kyoko suddenly leaves her husband after spending five days in a row glued to unfolding earthquake footage on TV. Her helpless husband Komura takes a week’s leave from work and heads north to deliver a box and its unknown contents to two young women. His colleague Katagiri, a simple...

Directed By: Pierre Földes

Written By: Haruki Murakami, Pierre Földes

  • 2023
  • Zeitgeist Films
  • 1 h 48 m
  • 2023
  • Zeitgeist Films
  • 1 h 48 m

Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman

Metascore Generally Favorable Based on 13 Critic Reviews
69
User Score Mixed or Average Based on 5 User Ratings
5.0
My Score
Hover and click to give a rating Saved

Where to Watch

Summary Tokyo, a few days after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Kyoko suddenly leaves her husband after spending five days in a row glued to unfolding earthquake footage on TV. Her helpless husband Komura takes a week’s leave from work and heads north to deliver a box and its unknown contents to two young women. His colleague Katagiri, a simple...

Directed By: Pierre Földes

Written By: Haruki Murakami, Pierre Földes

Where to Watch

Top Cast

View All
View All Cast & Crew

Critic Reviews

 View All
Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 13 Critic Reviews
69
62% Positive
8 Reviews
38% Mixed
5 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews

Critic Reviews

 View All
Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 13 Critic Reviews
69
62% Positive
8 Reviews
38% Mixed
5 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
90
Apr 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.
By Carlos Aguilar FULL REVIEW
83
Apr 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.
By Christian Zilko FULL REVIEW
80
Mar 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.
By Peter Bradshaw FULL REVIEW
78
May 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.
By Richard Whittaker FULL REVIEW
60
Mar 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.
By David Jenkins FULL REVIEW
50
May 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.
By Pat Padua FULL REVIEW
50
Apr 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.
By David Robb FULL REVIEW

User Reviews

 View All
User Score
Mixed or Average Based on 5 User Ratings
5.0
40% Positive
2 Ratings
40% Mixed
2 Ratings
20% Negative
1 Rating

User Reviews

 View All
User Score
Mixed or Average Based on 5 User Ratings
5.0
40% Positive
2 Ratings
40% Mixed
2 Ratings
20% Negative
1 Rating

There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.

Details

 View All
Production Company Miyu Productions, Cinémadefacto, Doghouse Films, micro_scope, Productions l'Unite Centrale, An Original Picture, Studio MA, Arte France Cinéma, Auvergne Rhône-Alpes Cinéma, ARTE, Ciné+, Eurimages, MEDIA Programme of the European Union, Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée (CNC), Téléfilm Canada, Société de Développement des Entreprises Culturelles (SODEC), Crédit d'Impôt Cinéma et Télévision, Gestion SODEC, Luxembourg Film Fund, The Harold Greenberg Fund, Crédit d'Impôt pour la Production Cinématographique ou Magnétoscopique Canadienne, Nederlands Filmfonds, Région Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, La Région Île-de-France, Région Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Cinéventure 5, Cinémage 14, Cinéaxe, Arte Cofinova, Fondation GAN pour le Cinéma, Agence Nationale de Gestion des Oeuvres Audiovisuelles (ANGOA)
Release Date Apr 14, 2023
Duration 1 h 48 m
Genres
Website https://www.gebekafilms.com/fiches-films/saules-aveugles-femme-endormie/
View All Details

Awards

Annecy International Animated Film Festival
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
Les Arcs European Film Festival
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
The Guardian's Best Films
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination

Related Movies

Pinocchio

99
Universal Acclaim

Dumbo

96
Universal Acclaim

Spirited Away

96
Universal Acclaim

Toy Story

96
Universal Acclaim

Ratatouille

96
Universal Acclaim

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

96
Universal Acclaim

Fantasia

96
Universal Acclaim

Beauty and the Beast

95
Universal Acclaim

WALL-E

95
Universal Acclaim

Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

94
Universal Acclaim

Inside Out

94
Universal Acclaim

Sita Sings the Blues

93
Universal Acclaim

Toy Story 3

92
Universal Acclaim

Tower

92
Universal Acclaim

The Triplets of Belleville

91
Universal Acclaim

Flee

91
Universal Acclaim

The Boy and the Heron

91
Universal Acclaim

Waltz with Bashir

91
Universal Acclaim

Bambi

91
Universal Acclaim

Only Yesterday (1991)

90
Universal Acclaim

It's Such a Beautiful Day

90
Universal Acclaim

Finding Nemo

90
Universal Acclaim

Related News

2024 Movie Release Calendar

2024 Movie Release Calendar

Jason Dietz

Find release dates for every movie coming to theaters, VOD, and streaming throughout 2024 and beyond, updated weekly.

  • movie
Every Zack Snyder Movie, Ranked

Every Zack Snyder Movie, Ranked

Nick Hyman

With the arrival of Zack Snyder's latest Rebel Moon chapter on Netflix, we rank every one of the director's films—from bad to, well, less bad—by Metascore.

  • movie
Every Guy Ritchie Movie, Ranked

Every Guy Ritchie Movie, Ranked

Nick Hyman

We rank every one of the British director's movies by Metascore, from his debut Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels to his brand new film, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.

  • movie
April Movie Preview (2024)

April Movie Preview (2024)

Keith Kimbell

The month ahead will bring new films from Alex Garland, Luca Guadagnino, Dev Patel, and more. To help you plan your moviegoing options, our editors have selected the most notable films releasing in April 2024, listed in alphabetical order.

  • movie
DVD/Blu-ray Releases: New & Upcoming

DVD/Blu-ray Releases: New & Upcoming

Jason Dietz

Find a list of new movie and TV releases on DVD and Blu-ray (updated weekly) as well as a calendar of upcoming releases on home video.

  • movie