Norwegian Wood Reviews

The acting in the film is key. Every moment by Ken'ichi Matsuyama as Watanabe and Rinko Kikuchi as Naoko is valid yet seems distilled by memory rather than presented raw.

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Director Tran Anh Hung would much rather show than tell but he never wants to brag about what he's showing.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5

... 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.

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Like an old memory that never loses its hold, "Norwegian Wood" stays with you.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4

As melancholy and fragile and at times even as lovely as the John Lennon composition from which it borrows its name...

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4

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.

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5

An angsty (albeit sensual) tale of great love and great loss.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5

It doesn't hit you head on so much as seep into you, and its effects linger.

Full Review | Original Score: B+

A master of mood and visuals, Tran proves an inspired choice.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4

The mood is downbeat and the characters are slow to warm to the audience, yet Hung creates some visually striking imagery.

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It's sweet all the way up, wavers in dread and slides down to doom.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4

This lush, eventually torpid adaptation of Haruki Murakami's more nuanced 1987 cult-favorite novel considers youthful love, loss, and eros...

Full Review | Original Score: B-

The juxtaposing of nature and three young lovers make this film a feast for the eyes and the heart.

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10

A visually stunning and moving piece of storytelling bolstered by searing performances and a standout score by Jonny Greenwood.

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Maybe this was the project Tran has been waiting for. I rate this the best film of his non-prolific career by far.

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"Norwegian Wood" is a restrained portrait of liminal moments, a coming-of-age tale that feels more like a moody ghost story than a neatly contained chronicle of beginnings.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4

The gently diffuse light and color and the compositions by cinematographer Mark Lee Ping Bin, create a delicate, almost watercolored world, fading like a memory.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4

Outstanding performances blend beautifully with a sharp, unsentimental script, stunning cinematography and evocative score to make Norwegian Wood a haunting, mesmerizing symphony of heartache, love, loss and hope.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5

Low-key and sweeping, intimate and classically melodramatic.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4

The script doesn't possess all of the answers, but there's enough here to leave the movie sporadically stunning and consistently perceptive.

Full Review | Original Score: B+