Kazuo Ishiguro’s writing is unique in how it accrues momentum by travelling backwards, rather than forwards. The typical question that comes up when reading a gripping story – “what happens next?” – is inverted to simply become “what happened?”. This factor makes the highly rated Japanese director Kei Ishikawa ideal for adapting his work – in this case, his acclaimed debut novel, A Pale View of Hills [+lee también:
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entrevista: Kei Ishikawa
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Prestige limited series seem to have become the most astute way to adapt novels of A Pale View of Hills’ calibre; you definitely feel the strain of Ishikawa’s adaptation converting the still quite slim text into a briskly paced two hours. Initial critiques of the film also emphasise its relevant and always topical subject matter: its musings on the legacy of the USA’s nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But their highlighting of this element helps explain why the feature is ultimately successful: Ishikawa’s writing and directorial choices give different stress and emphases to facets of the original text, helping make the movie stand as its own valuable artwork. The tone also takes the particular language of cinema into account, the book being spare and cryptic, and the film more full-bodied and emotionally transparent, with beautiful close-ups and attractive faces prioritised.

If the idea of nested narrative timelines in mainstream literary fiction (and the awards-chasing films adapted from them) also feels clichéd now, Ishiguro essentially “got there first”, as his career began to flourish in the 1980s. So, we can attempt to be as succinct as possible about dense exposition: lead character Etsuko (played as a young woman by Kore-eda collaborator Suzu Hirose and in middle age by Yoh Yoshida) has emigrated to the Home Counties in England following her early life in Nagasaki amidst the war. Her bright daughter Niki (Camilla Aiko) – an aspiring writer – returns to their family home, which is about to be sold, from her fast-paced and clearly fulfilling life in London. And yep, you guessed it, a flush of clouded memories comes to the surface.

Etsuko both dreams of and remembers a peculiar woman and her daughter living in a dilapidated shack across from her tenement in 1952, when she was married to her first husband, Jiro (Kouhei Matsushita). This was Sachiko (Fumi Nikaido), and with her struggling to nurture a troubled young daughter herself, there are eerie parallels that she and the audience absorb about their lives.

The 1980s and 1950s timelines are intercut quite gracefully. No question, the English-language sections are both more awkwardly directed and acted – and the film quite briefly almost resembles an evening terrestrial BBC drama – but audiences (and hopefully pedantic critics) should be able to overlook this. Being such an avid film appreciator himself, Ishiguro’s work adapts well to cinema and its demand for visual storytelling, because of its own unashamed love of “pure narrative”. It’s tempting not to reveal the key non-diegetic needle drop, but along with “getting” Ishiguro, this film also truly knows the uplifting rush of New Order’s music.

A Pale View of Hills is a co-production by Japan, the UK and Poland, staged by Bunbuku and Thefool in collaboration with Number 9 Films and Lava Films. Japan's Gaga Corporation is handling sales.