User Reviews

For the audience who have not read the book, this movie could be a satisfying cinematic experience if artsy romance is their cup of tea. For people who have read and liked the book, it is bound to be disappointing, and it is hard to blame them. To be fair, Vietnamese director TRAN Anh Hung who made his mark with his stylish, languid indie "The scent of green papaya" (1993), endorsed by Murakami himself, has delivered some of the moods and emotions of the novel through minimalistic direction, fluid editing, mesmerising cinematography and rich background music (from classic to pop). But so much that is so important in the novel have been left out that what you see on screen is only a small fraction.

Most disappointing is the character Midori. Despite Kiko Mizuhara's good performance, what we see on screen is only a pale shadow of the rich and endearing character. This is not the actress's fault as she has been given little material to work with. The "neighbourhood fire" scene during Watanabe's first visit to his bookstore-cum-home, so vital in cementing her character and their relationship, is completely cut. Similarly, the episode with her dying father in the hospital is so miserably trimmed that the scene amounts to nothing where it should do a lot. Another complete omission is the story of Reiko, which in the book takes up a good part of a long chapter (about one-fourth of the entire length of the book), through a flashback account by the protagonist herself. Without it, her role is much diminished and the meaning of her sexual liaison with Watanabe at the end of the movie is completely lost and even looks ridiculous. I can only find one reason for these huge omissions – yes, I know there is a commercial consideration (a 4-hour movie is not a feasible proposition) but I don't mean that – it is assumed that the majority of the audience have read the book.

Credit should be given when it's due. The roles of both Nagasawa and Hatsumi are well performed, particularly in the confrontational dinner scene. Casting of the main protagonist Watanabe is excellent as Kenichi Matsuyama brings out the charm of this superficially unenthusiastic, layback character. The role of Naoko is probably one that triggers much debate, from what I've read. In that Naoko is the most enigmatic character in this story and therefore subject to different interpretations by different people, it is not surprising. Rinko Kikuchi is acclaimed internationally for her performance in Babel (2006) which made her one of the only eight Asian actors ever nominated for an acting Oscar. My reaction after watching the movie is that she does manage to capture at least part of the Naoko in my mind, but if you ask a hundred people you'll probably get a hundred different answers.

So here's the dilemma. If you haven't read the book, you wouldn't be able to appreciate the movie in a way it is meant to be appreciated. But if you have, you are bound to be disappointed.

I can see that many fans of the book have reviewed this movie, I will add to that list, as I am a fan of the book and Murukami's writing in general. I would also like to add that I am a fan of Tran Anh Hung's work, and feel that his movie Cyclo is the finest example of Vietnamese cinema to date. Now that leaves me in a difficult situation regarding his interpretation of Norwegian Wood, and I have to emphasise his movie as an interpretation as he is a director who's work is very much characterised by his distinctive use of colours and camera angles and plot. And it is with this that I feel this movie fails in delivering fans and non fans alike with a satisfying visualisation of a brilliant story of young love and adulthood.

Hung's direction is very much in keeping with his visual style, with a powerful emphasis on the natural world and the austere beauty of the everyday. However I feel as though by emphasising on the surroundings, the movie has forgotten that the story requires some time to develop. Hung's has an accomplished eye for shots, and every scene in this movie could be free zed framed and shown in a gallery as a work of art, but what this movie has in visual flair it lacks in story telling, as very little is done to develop the plot, even going so far to omit the pivotal opening scene in the novel of the protagonist on an air plane listening to Norwegian Wood through the air plane's sound system and then recounting his walk through the woods with Naoko. This scene alone is the crux of the novel and sets up the doomed love between the protagonist and Naoko, yet it is strangely missing from the movie. Instead we have a flashback scene placed in the middle of the movie rendering this scene as irrelevant and confusing.

Also I would have to agree with other critics here who felt that the character of Midori was grossly underwritten. Though I would go further to say that all of the characters are underwritten, none of whom are given much characterisation leaving the already stifled script with an even more foreboding sense of incompleteness.

Hung's direction was also a little misguided. What I felt the director was trying to convey was an inner sadness and yearning within all of the characters, which is definitely keeping in tone with the novel, but what he seemed to neglect was the energy of the characters. The sweeter moments that comes with youth like say meeting random girls in a bar, or sharing a flat with an absolute psycho, or waiting for someone you love to call you. These bittersweet moments were all in the novel yet were strangely omitted in the movie, which seemed to dwell on the sexual aspects of youth yet not in anyway on the joys of youth.

All in all this is an unsatisfying package and the sole reason is that the direction is not in keeping with the tone of the book. While I applaud the interpretation and the directors vision I feel that the movie failed to deliver a story with the same emotional highs as the novel. Tran Anh Hung was the wrong man for the job, what he has created is an overly stylised, guilt ridden reworking of what should have been a bittersweet coming of age romance story with a dose of tragedy.

*SPOILER ALERT , DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED THE MOVIE , OR SEEN THE BOOK* __________________________________________

"Norwegian Wood" was a movie adaption for one of the best-sellers , and arguably one of the finest works of Haruki .

First of all , the visual was gorgeously beautiful , just as what you can expect from a romantic Japanese film , the atmosphere was very calm and reflective , combined together it makes the movie look very gentle and peaceful , which created the necessary depth for this tragedy-themed title .

The acting was fantastic , there was no overacting in this movie , their tenderly expressions totally synced well with the pace & atmosphere of this film . Overall they did an excellent job

But here's one serious problem in my opinion : The movie failed to connect the movie as a whole , i know there's no way anyone can fully bring in every detail in a book to a 2-hours movie , but they could have done better . *Spoiler alert again* For example , i was okay with them skipping some of the interesting dialogues in the book , but they should have replaced that void with something else , like a more talk-active narrator . There are scenes that don't truly fit to the next scenes , and if you never read the book you may feel a little bit confused , and for people who had read the book , i've seen many of them feeling frustrated after they watched the movie .

Also they neglected Reiko's story , which i think that it was a bad decision . At near the end of the movie , her appearance and what she did just seemed so out of place , it was so random and doesn't make good sense . And Midori was supposed to be more lively than that , i remember me and some other guys were a bit surprised when we watched it for the first time , at one point one random dude in the cinema yelled "wtf" when Reiko asks Toru to sleep with her . If only there was a more well-detailed narrative , the movie would be so much better .

Despite the flaws , i'd still recommend you to watch this movie if you are into light , gentle , bittersweet depressing type of love stories . This movie is not for everyone , but i'm damn sure it's worth a try !

p/s : The name is "Norwegian Wood" but the movie doesn't actually set in Norway , or within a wood . WATCH WITH CAUTION

The novel Is relatively long, and for people who have read it, you cannot satisfy everybody. However, from seeing this movie, what I felt the director did was took a pair of scissors, snipped bits from the book and did a movie from that, without any connection made between the snippets. Somehow the sex scenes was a larger snippet than the others, impressed?

Watching this movie was like watching a hell of a long trailer, and the characters were reduced to the three basic denominators, Naoko, Toru and Midori. Everybody else is just blank background. The sad thing is in the final scene, Reiko could be substituted with a mushroom and you would not see the difference. You don't see, or know, for non-novel readers, what the emotional sickness has done to her appearance, and not knowing of her story, she is another background, like the sofa and the curtains.

I am not sure who made this decision, anh hung tran or whoever else. The story is shattered into bits and pieces, but emphasis was put in all the wrong places. Scenes of Toru's life are just insignificant intersections to his next sex scene. The story is not only about a spaced out kid growing up, but about the particular era he was living in, how people around him had plans of their own in that era, and how it seems he, as such an ordinary person that he is, has to make a living, even though he had to think of Naoko constantly. Even if the director don't have this part of the story in mind, could he have at the very very basic level, make a comprehensive piece of story, for the non-novel readers? Why spend some 5 minutes on Kizuki's suicide, when the details were not mentioned in the book, and spoils the audiences' imagination, and certainly the shock, of his death? You could've spent that time on showing something else that is more crucial to the character development, considering how little there are already.

On an end note, the scenes are beautiful, and almost every 20 minutes of the film the audiences are treated with a beautiful scene. But that doesn't save the movie as a whole, it is not just an ornamental vase to be looked at. So many characters are sacrificed for showing 10 minutes of splashing waves (probably all filmed in one afternoon, which doesn't explain or show how long Toru has actually been living his wasted life in solitude?)

If there is a 5 hour version, for hell of it show the 5 hour version, instead of this shattered piece of thing. I feel the movie is meant for those who have read the novel as the audience has to fill in most of the gaps, so what about those who haven't read the novel? The movie gives the novel a bad name...

First and foremost, I am a Haruki Murakami Fan. So far I have read nine of his novels and still going. Although of me being a fan of his work, Norwegian Wood is NOT one of my all time Murakami favorites despite of having enjoyed reading it (To each his own). In fact after reading it I wondered whether if being named after a Beatles song had maybe something to do with this novel's popularity. Still once I heard it was being made into a movie I had to see it! Before seeing this I had previously seen Tony Takitani which is also a Haruki Murakami short story that was made into a movie, and also enjoyed. So needles to say I am a die hard Murakami fan.

The movie itself was wonderfully filmed. Ping Bin Lee, the cinematographer behind Hou Hsiao-Hsien's movies (Millenium Mambo, Three Times, Café Lumière........) did a stellar job on this film. He shot wonderful strong visual scenes making the scenery, and all other locations look beautiful throughout the movie. Needles to say this movie visually stands out.

The music also sets the tone for this film. Jonny Greenwood from Radiohead was hired to do the score, and although I am familiar with the music from Radiohead (not a big fan though) I could tell it was done by him.

Anh Hung Tran's direction keeps up with his previous film "I Come With The Rain" which in my opinion was quite successfully presented even though it was highly criticize among movie goers. Whether you enjoy his works or not, this guy piques my interest and I will keep an eye out for whatever he makes next. In my opinion he honestly did his best keeping the story true to the novel. Of course there are a few things that he did not get into telling; like Reiko's back story(though was briefly referenced), Watanabe's roommate antics(there were some minor moments though but whole scenes), Nagasawa and Watanabe's escapades were kept to a minimum.......etc. Also the first ten minutes of the film rushes easily through about a third of the novel. It's a movie so not everything from the book will make it on screen. And YES, the ending on the movie is just like on the novel, although the novel describes the underlying Murakami ending which you only get through reading some of his novels, so if you're interested in understanding the "abrupt" ending you might just read the novel just for that (in case you we're put off by it and did not understand what was actually going on on the final scene which there's much more to it). There are also much more that you don't get from watching the movie so you're interested in knowing what wasn't told on screen you might want to read it.

Overall, I enjoyed the movie more than the novel. I still love Haruki Murakami novels. All His works are very straight forward which I always enjoy. Whether your a fan of his works or not watch the film and compare it with the novel. Worth checking out!

I give 3 out of 10 mainly because I feel that all the casts are well chosen, it is close to my depiction of physical appearance of all the characters in the novel (except for Rinko Kizuki, I think). That aside,I label this movie as simply annoying and an insult for Murakami's great work. I don't want to go analyzing it into detail as I've read other reviews that had explained it better than mine would have been, but one major off thing for me is how the director chose to change each characters personality,take away their energy, their point of view to what happened around them to a completely different, undeveloped characters. He did it in such extent that I feel the movie just borrow the novel's main plot, and characters name.

I'll give you one example: In the novel, Reiko and Toru decided to give a more happier, brighter funeral ceremony for Naoko to compensate the sad one with her family, they sang, laugh then had sex, joking and laughing while doing it. It is different story in the movie. It seems that emotionless Toru and awkward Reiko decided to give Naoko even SADDER funeral, Reiko sang while Toru sat there with his mind in God knows where, they indeed had sex but instead of joking and laughing Reiko broke into tears, given that the director didn't give any p explaining of Reiko's past prior to this scene this is simply unforgivable.

The Elephant Vanishes and other short stories is the only book I've read from Murakami. Well, I'm 1/4 way through Dance, Dance, Dance when I had to pack it away and move. Elephant had some interesting short stories, one in particular loops back in itself in kind of a hallucination affect if I remember it correctly.

This is different. Supposedly the 1st novel, and that's why the director choose it too. It is about firsts - first love, first friendship, and first lost. Mainly a growing up story - by encountering the most tragic of tragedies - death of a close friend or relative. In which the protagonist finds true love - in a way, and distinguish the physical from the emotional - as a confused, naive yet solid young man with a sense of responsibility and ideals. Where that came from I can't tell. He is not perfect, and he knows he is not - but there are times the physical overcomes the emotional. And there are time the emotional overcomes the physical.

The women does most of the talking, and he tries to related. There are many extreme close-ups showing the tiny reactions. One of the best scene is from a 2ndary actress - the girl friend of a playboy that the main character Watanabe knows. She goes through a breathtaking range of emotions in one sitting.

And the dialogue passages are direct - not sure how many ppl actually talk this way. And for that matters in Japanese films. But I remember as such too in some of the Elephant short stories. Very frank - like between real friends.

The film is beautifully shot. And emotions are clear. It deals with depressing subjects but somehow it outshines it - just barely. Because we have to as it explains. And maybe that's all it needed.

The movie captures the beautifully scenes described in the book, and somewhat also "the mood", but fails developing the characters, i.e. the protagonist can be seen as dull, specially if you haven't readed the book. Also it fails to show enough of Midori's cheerfulness and somewhat sweetness, and also showing the friendship (maybe shallow but still friendship) from the main character with Nagasawa.

The soundtrack backs up the movie, and the photography is quite beautiful. Also, Rinko Kikuchi's performance is quite good, since the character is difficult to interpret.

The weak point (as you can see) is the adaptation. Is not bad, but it has significant fails, specially developing the characters, their relationships, and making the spectator to identify or at least care about the characters (but the book manages this issues amazingly) The big fail is that the movie doesn't talk almost nothing about Reiko (forgeting about the friendship with Watanabe, and making her last scene strange) Finally, and also related with Reiko, the movie doesn't shows why it's called "Norwegian Wood" (the book starts with Watanabe listening this song in the airport, and remembering the story) Still, a good very movie and enjoyable, but not all the viewers that didn't read the book will like it, and it can make a lot of Murakami's fans disappointed.

Well... This is my first review, but I try to keep it short.

SPOILER!!

This movie is not for everyone, but not because of the sex-scenes, or the suicides. You can not get the whole picture of the story, after seeing it, 'cause there are really big holes in the plot. Holding back information from the viewer is not making it more mysterious, only confusing everything up. The ending of the movie is slightly different from the book. It's a bit more direct, but it's also leaves you to imagine future of the main character.

SPOILER OFF

Do not watch this film, before reading the original book, from Mr.Murakami Haruki. Trust me, you'll need it, because the cast of the film is not so good, to channel all the emotions of the story.

BUT, don not read the book, or watch the film, if you're not into sad, romantic dramas. It's the best, if you're going to watch it with you boy/girlfriend, some hugs at the end should come in handy :)

Disappointing... Tran Anh Hung took off all the lightness and funny parts of the book (Reiko is so plain, guitar playing scene made cheesy), only to illustrate the angst of the characters, i.e, with looong shots of them yelling, drooling, crying over beautiful landscapes sceneries. And had I not read the book, the story would have seem to me like a classic cliché three-sided love with dull soppy moments (The amount of "I love you" scenes) . Plus, for once, Hung focused too much on the sexual aspect of the relationships, the scenes are indeed sensual, but it gets tiring after a while. Tran Anh Hung's hand immediately recognizable and what bothers me is that it seems to be exaggerated on purpose. "Let's make him cry with some flashbacks of her, and let's put long shots of waves crushing rocks to show the internal turmoil inside him, in case the yelling/drooling/unshaved look wasn't enough". Beautiful, subtle, yeah. Shallow, over-melodramatic, vapid and gloomy, hell yeah !

"Norwegian Wood" is dreary, unfocused, and unreasonably slow-paced. It involves characters so dour and unlikeable that investing in them takes nothing less than sheer will power. They each find themselves in relationships so emotionally complicated that never once do we see a process of connection at work; we can only marvel at the fact that these people have somehow found their way into each other's lives. Not only do we not understand their reasons for being together, but on the basis of what unfolds, no one is the better for it. Here is a coming of age drama so confused and needlessly drawn out that we're anxious for the moment when the hero finally grows up – which, in this case, has nothing to do with witnessing a beautiful act of transition and everything to do with ending two miserable hours sitting in a theater.

Adapted from the novel by Haruki Murakamki, the film has been structured by writer/director Tran Anh Hung in the most curious of ways, namely to make every single scene play like the finale. When you have a movie filled with ends, you will inevitably invite speculation as to how it all began, and it's incredibly unfair to deprive audiences of answers. Some scenes are just plain awkward in their length, pacing, and exploration of characters that have no bearing on the central plot. It's almost as if clips from an entirely different movie had been randomly spliced in by editor Mario Battistel, perhaps because he was feeling a bit mischievous and wanted to get audiences off of what narrow a trail there was to follow. If that was his intention, he succeeded. This story leads us nowhere in particular, except in circles.

It takes place in Japan during the late 1960s, the era of the Vietnam War and a time of great social unrest. You'd think that, given this rich history, the filmmakers would actually make it a part of the plot. But no – history is reduced to a handful of brief shots, all of disorganized student protests that immediately fade into the background. Because it's barely a backdrop for a soapy story of love and loss, this movie could have taken place anywhere at any time. It's told from the point of view of nineteen-year-old Toru Watanabe (Ken'ichi Matsuyama), who moves to Tokyo and enters college following the inexplicable suicide of his best friend since childhood, Kizuki (Kengo Kora). Why this is left unexplained, I have no idea. I, for one, would have appreciated knowing what made Kizuki so unhappy that he felt the need to poison himself with exhaust from his own car.

Toru forms a relationship of sorts with Kizuki's girlfriend, Naoko (Rinko Kikuchi), who also knew him since childhood. Ever since his death, she has not only fallen into a deep depression, she has also lost all traces of her sexuality. She will make repeated attempts to find it throughout the movie, at first by submitting herself to Toru on the night of her twentieth birthday, the rest of the time through sexual advances she initiates. Alas, it's to no avail; she's incapable of feeling anything physically, while emotionally she retreats further into herself. Her mental state has landed her in a sanitarium buried in the forested mountains of Kyoto. I use the word "sanitarium" loosely, as it isn't made to seem like one. If anything, it comes off as a spiritual retreat for the musically inclined.

Toru occasionally visits Naoko, and will even exchange letters with her. He might even have feelings for her, although you'd never know it by looking at him; as Toru, Matsuyama gives a performance so statuesque and soft-spoken that never once does an emotion leap off the screen. Regardless, Toru finds himself torn between Naoko and one of his classmates, a young woman named Midori (Kiko Mizuhara), equally as soft spoken but far more outgoing. At times, she's developed to the point of oddness, and if you watch the scene where she calls Toru after the death of her father, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. The worst thing about this character is that her interest in Toru stems from nothing made clear to the audience; she, like everyone else in this movie, has no clear purpose apart from being doing and saying miserable things.

In spite of the characters, the plot, the structure, and the performances, a connection still might have been possible had it not been for the horrendous soundtrack. On the one hand, we have samples of sleep-inducing folk rock hits of the era, including the Beatles song the film derives its title from. On the other hand, we have Jonny Greenwood's score, which is comprised of depressing and emotionally manipulative violin dirges. Most of it plays during the latter half of the movie, at which point the story goes from solemn to outright devastating. Listening to both the score and the songs, one wonders if anyone involved in the film has ever laughed, or even knows what laughing is. For films like "Norwegian Wood," joy and happiness are treated as foreign concepts that get lost in translation.

-- Chris Pandolfi (www.atatheaternearyou.net)

'Norwegian Wood' is based on Haruki Murakami's 1987 international best-seller, a coming- of-age story set in Tokyo during the late 1960s. Set in the university years of student Toru Watanabe (Kenichi Matsuyama) and his relationship with Naoko (Rinko Kikuchi). Both friends are struggling to deal with a mutual loss. Their relationship grows, eventually becoming lovers. But a mistake by Watanabe forces Naoko to retreat, growing more unstable she abandons college and enrols into a sanitorium. Over the next few years, Watanabe is torn between his unresolved feelings towards Naoko and his growing affection for the free- spirited Midori (Kiko Mizuhara) who is pursuing him. Does Watanabe choose to live in the future or the past?

Watanabe's relationship with Naoko is certainly unusual, a painful event and mutual loss from the past binds them but imprisons them both. Their relationship is fraught and unfulfilled, Watanabe's desire not to give up on Naoko because of his own sense of responsibility only causes more pain for the both of them. Their relationship is more akin to a suicide pact in reverse where both are left to live. All the main characters share a sense of despair, Watanebe's other girlfriend Midori may on the surface seem playful but underneath there is a pain and loss of her own that affects her. Naoko's friend Reiko, a music teacher who looks after her in the sanitorium, also has issues herself after a breakdown. Symbolism is evident throughout this film, the twin forces of life and death which confront Watanabe are played by Midori and Naoko. Norwegian Wood is fabulously shot by Mark Ping Bin Lee, the shots of the changes in seasons was worth the price of a cinema ticket alone. The director Anh Hung Tran uses the elements superbly to envelope the changeable emotions running through Watanabe. One particularly memorable scene follows Naoko and Toru as they walk back and forth, on a cold and windy day in a field of tall grass. Naoko argues with herself and Watanabe is literally battling the elements in his attempts to control her, while she remains as erratic and unfathomable as the wind itself. I haven't read Murakami's book, so I don't know how faithful an adaptation the film is. The unrelenting doom throughout the film made for an arduous experience, the film may be about young adults struggling to cope with love, life and death but it was hard not to shout 'Oh come on, get over it!'. It's difficult to engage with any of the characters, especially the two leads where Watanabe is so self-absorbed and Naoko so riddled with grief and neuroses. Midori's strangely misplaced dirty talk and Watanabe's room-mate's strange habits were some of the few light-hearted moments. The acting is very good from a strong cast, I was particularly impressed with Kiko Mizuhara who played Midori, a very clever performance. Jonny Greenwoods score was fine in the first half of the film but became too overpowering, and by the last third of the film, as emotions grew, Greenwood's score became too intrusive. The directing was a departure for Anh Hung Tran, who is renowned for his minimalism. Most shots are close-up and claustrophobic, especially the sex scenes which were tense and awkward, apart from the environmental shots which were more expansive. Norwegian Wood reminds me of Wong Kar-Wai's 'In the mood for love', a romantic tragedy with wonderful acting, period detail and superb cinematography but ultimately leaves you wondering if the experience was really worth it.

"I once had a girl, or should I say, she once had me . . . And when I awoke, I was alone, this bird had flown . . . ."

Now here's the way to tell a love story: Take attractive but flawed lovers, stir the pot with coming of age and depression, add some sub textual commentary on the absurdity and complexity of finding love, nurturing it, and letting it go. Yet, most importantly, begin with a renowned author like Haruki Murkami, and you will be guaranteed to produce brooding, aloof, postmodern heroes, the most romantic kind.

All the time during this sturm and drang is the specter of death, that reality and metaphor for the terminal nature of anything we attempt to build such as enduring and enriching love. Toru (Ken'ichi Matsuyama) has a Jules-and-Jim relationship with Naoko (Rinko Kikuchi) and Kizuki (Kengo Kora), all just shy of 20 years old, until Kizuki inexplicably commits suicide. Thus death comes to loving teens, whose lives will forever be colored by Kizuki's violence.

As Toru tries to come to grips with Naoko' growing depression and the affections of at least two other lovely ladies, as must happen to handsome, mysterious young men, he witnesses the vagaries of love, some of it tied to the changing nature of youth and some to fate. Although he seems slow to realize that the mystery is also lethal, he grows in a healthy way to expressing and negotiating love as adults eventually learn to do.

Japanese director Anh Hung Tran gives an understated lyricism to his landscapes and seasonal changes, serving themes of loss and recovery as the seasons exact their emotional responses. In fact most of the film is like a tone poem, punctuated by impressionism tied to the reality that death so successfully brings to the most romantic setups.

". . . The melancholy unity between the living and the dead." James Joyce