This movie was fantastic the first time I watched it, even if only for the intriguing story and the excellent cinematography. The mood that this movie creates is just fantastic, and very similar to the mood of Murakami’s books. This movie creates this perfect trancelike dreamy world that completely captures me. On rewatch I liked it even more. I saw the metaphor, this isn’t just another character study, or mystery. This is a reflection on modern society as a whole, and it handles it perfectly with its ambiguity. This works very well even when you are watching it straight, but is utterly genius when you take the metaphor into account. I don’t want to reveal exactly how the metaphor works as it it better to deaf over it yourself to get the full effect. This may be the quintessential post-post-modern masterpiece.