to see such a horrible translation from an excellent novel to a miserable film to watch. I can't believe how much was changed and left out from the novel. In fact, the story makes little sense on the screen. There are central characters that are simply omitted and for what reason? To add a stronger sense of questionability to a weak telling of a story and an inept director? The original novel is a scathing criticism of Japanese culture and the role of women in their society. It also examines Japan's sense of superiority and racism in a way that is only dealt with by Ryu Murakami, but without being so strange. These women are made out to be so real in the print version, but on-screen they are caricatures. Pass and only hope that the U.S. version follows the book more closely.
