Norwegian Wood (2012)
Average Rating: 6.5/10
Reviews Counted: 59
Fresh: 44 | Rotten: 15
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 6.7/10
Critic Reviews: 19
Fresh: 14 | Rotten: 5
No consensus yet.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.2/5
User Ratings: 5,470
My Rating
Movie Info
Tokyo, the late 1960s...Students around the world are uniting to overthrow the establishment and Toru Watanabe's personal life is similarly in tumult. At heart, he is deeply devoted to his first love, Naoko, a beautiful and introspective young woman. But their complex bond has been forged by the tragic death of their best friend years before. Watanabe lives with the influence of death everywhere. That is, until Midori, a girl who is everything that Naoko is not - outgoing, vivacious, supremely
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Cast
-
Ken'ichi Matsuyama
Toru Watanabe, Watanabe -
Rinko Kikuchi
Naoko -
Kiko Mizuhara
Midori -
Reika Kirishima
Reiko Ishida -
Kengo Kora
Kizuki -
Eriko Hatsune
Hatsumi -
Tetsuji Tamayama
Nagasawa
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Norwegian Wood Trailer & Photos
All Critics (59) | Top Critics (19) | Fresh (44) | Rotten (15)
We cover years at a bound, but when we light, we tend to spend long, lingering moments through the camera's loving eye. This is a beautiful film to see.
Top CriticTran has drained the life right out of the novel.
It becomes a film that, like its characters, remains elusive in its motivations and therefore detached from its audience.
A master of mood and visuals, Tran proves an inspired choice.
It's sweet all the way up, wavers in dread and slides down to doom.
This lush, eventually torpid adaptation of Haruki Murakami's more nuanced 1987 cult-favorite novel considers youthful love, loss, and eros...
Director Tran Anh Hung would much rather show than tell but he never wants to brag about what he's showing.
... suffused in melancholia, with imagery as delicate as the lives it presents and atmospheres so fragile they look like they'd shatter under too much emotional pressure.
Like an old memory that never loses its hold, "Norwegian Wood" stays with you.
As melancholy and fragile and at times even as lovely as the John Lennon composition from which it borrows its name...
An angsty (albeit sensual) tale of great love and great loss.
It doesn't hit you head on so much as seep into you, and its effects linger.
It's most likely to appeal to fans of the Haruki Murakami novel on which it's based, and they're the least likely to enjoy it.
The mood is downbeat and the characters are slow to warm to the audience, yet Hung creates some visually striking imagery.
The juxtaposing of nature and three young lovers make this film a feast for the eyes and the heart.
It takes no significant liberties with the plot, and it captures the novel's delicate, half-hopeful, half-mournful tone. So why, unlike its source material, does it feel only half-alive?
Audience Reviews for Norwegian Wood
Super Reviewer
Filmed beautifully with effective soundtrack. I really liked both of the damaged females here, particularly Midori. Hard to explain the story, it's not hard to follow, but sometimes hard to understand the characters motivations.
I haven't read the book, so I don't know if that's why the negative reviews, but on its own, this is an excellent movie.
Super Reviewer
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Latest News on Norwegian Wood
January 6, 2012:
Critics Consensus: Guess The Devil Inside's TomatometerHappy New Year! This week at the movies, we've got just one new wide release -- The Devil Inside, a...
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Foreign Titles
- Naokos Lächeln (DE)
- Norwegian Wood (Noruwei no mori) (UK)
