Saw today's matinee, and it doesn't really work for me.
What was once small, studied and atmospheric is now large, unwieldy and melodramatic, the piercing focus of the original film, on two characters, now expanded all over the place.
There are still poignant moments, but, for me, this production forgets what made the film special and does the opposite.
Some spoilers follow. . .
Take the running time, for instance: the original film was 46 minutes, including credits. Of that 46 minutes, half of it was silent cinematic visual metaphors: rain as a metaphor for being stuck and taking shelter; shoemaking as a metaphor for helping the emotionally paralysed "walk"; walking barefoot as a metaphor for taking independent unaided action.
Thus, in reality, the running time of actual scripted scenes in the movie, at an unscientific estimate, is about 20 minutes.
The running time of this production, consisting mostly of scripted scenes, was 1hr 45 minutes, with an additional 15 minute interval.
And the extra scripted material is mostly about characters we couldn't care less about in the original, engaging in angst-filled arguing.
For example, and I confess this bit works, the tormented bully who triggers the whole plot gets a whole arc (as does every other peripheral character you barely care about in the movie). As an aside, Shoko Ito, who plays the Heathers style bully with her own secret problems, is actually very good, and really made me care about her predicament.
But what about the precious quiet atmosphere, involving two lonely people saving each other, that was the USP of the film? Simply put, it's gone.
In truth, Frank and Percy, with McKellen and Allam saving each other through quiet private conversations, has more in common with the original film than this work.
Anyway, there is an OK metaphor about a bird (operated excellently by various actors, in small and large forms), needing to fly, which fills in for the purely cinematic visual metaphors of the film.
But overall, I didn't need the noise of this production. I'd have been happier just to watch the two principals sharing space, saying nothing, than watch extraneous characters angsting effusively.
Perhaps "The Garden of Words" is too cinematic and atmospheric to be adapted to the stage. If Shinkai's work is to be adapted successfully, I think that his wonderful blockbuster, "Suzume" is a better candidate (a girl and a talking chair chase a talking cat all over Japan, for reasons), to be adapted by the same mischievous souls who gave us the recent "My Neighbour Totoro" at the Barbican. That could be a big hit, making the mischief and wonder of that story theatrical.
For me, I'd give this 2 and a half stars for a valiant effort that reminded me of the wonders of the film.
PS: This preview started at 3pm and ended at 5pm, with a 15 minute interval.
