Many filmmakers say the difficulties of adapting a best-selling novel to the screen can be daunting. How about the challenge of adapting a story by a foreign best-selling author ("All God's Children Can Dance" by Haruki Murakami) from a country one had never visited (Japan) and to choose the project as a feature debut?
"As a first-time feature director, just the idea of taking on Murakami might not have been such a bright move," says Robert Logevall, who had nurtured a career in TV and film production design in LA before embarking on this project. "It is a tall task to use such layered and beautiful material to craft your film, on top of it being your first."
Logevall completed "All God's Children Can Dance" in 2007 — and the film finally makes it to Japanese shores this week, perhaps to set the scene for "Norwegian Wood" (directed by Anh Hung Tran), which opens Dec. 11.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.