Norwegian Wood Reviews
Luke B
Super Reviewer
January 5, 2013
A lovely adaptation of Murakami's astonishing novel. Norwegian Wood is the Murakami book that I think shouldn't be used as an introduction to his worlk. So seeing it as a film I can perfectly understand the film's mixed reviews. This isn't the most approachable film in the world. At times it has a strong story going on, but then becomes more of a visual feast, before jumping long distances of time while trying to maintain the chemistry between characters. It is a story of change, loss, and moving on, with a sense of emptiness that is very haunting in the most meditative kind of way. Matsuyama and Kikuchi are a gorgeous couple both in terms of their looks, and the passion they clearly hold for each other. The film's biggest drawback is the sporadic use of voiceover, which can only hint at the involving narrative it is taken from. With its absence throughout the majority of the film, the fairly blunt dialogue and explorations of sexuality can seem in your face. More of a visual companion to the novel than a stand alone film, it's still a very interesting piece which will hopefully inspire more adaptations of Murakami's works.
Nicki M
Super Reviewer
January 7, 2012
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.
I can't believe the ratings for this movie are so low! I found it quite lovely and very sad. I was in tears by the end of it.
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.
Emil K
Super Reviewer
August 23, 2011
Hung's film does capture the doom and angst of this dramatic story but it does not really connect when it comes to characters. It is so very hard to care enough of anyone to truly be move about these peoples lives. There are also times when the majestic, loud and overblown music by Jonny Greenwood almost captures all the attention from the story and leaves only a hollow shell to admire.
The further this film goes the more sillier sulking in it gets. Within final twenty minutes this film reaches epic heights for it's melodramatic scenes which goes overboard and turns almost Norwegian Wood into self parody.
Lead actors Kenichi Matsuyama, Rinko Kikuchi and Kiko Mizuhara are all beautiful to watch but their performances does not actually capture the true feel of loss, pain and longing for love. Especially Kikuchi does have tendency to go overboard here.
I admire this film's ambition but Hung cannot really make this film nothing more than a fragmented series of beautiful and grim moments.
Tran Anh Hung's adaptation of Haruki Murakami's book is often poetic and visually spectacular film to watch. There is so much to admire here but Norwegian Wood is not without it's flaws and those flaws become extremely problematic after a while.
Hung's film does capture the doom and angst of this dramatic story but it does not really connect when it comes to characters. It is so very hard to care enough of anyone to truly be move about these peoples lives. There are also times when the majestic, loud and overblown music by Jonny Greenwood almost captures all the attention from the story and leaves only a hollow shell to admire.
The further this film goes the more sillier sulking in it gets. Within final twenty minutes this film reaches epic heights for it's melodramatic scenes which goes overboard and turns almost Norwegian Wood into self parody.
Lead actors Kenichi Matsuyama, Rinko Kikuchi and Kiko Mizuhara are all beautiful to watch but their performances does not actually capture the true feel of loss, pain and longing for love. Especially Kikuchi does have tendency to go overboard here.
I admire this film's ambition but Hung cannot really make this film nothing more than a fragmented series of beautiful and grim moments.
LorenzoVonMatterhorn
Super Reviewer
August 8, 2011
Upon hearing the song "Norwegian Wood," Toru (Matsuyama) remembers back to his life in the 1960s, when his friend Kizuki killed himself and he grew close to Naoko, Kizuki's girlfriend. As the two try, in very different ways, to contend with their grief, Toru forms a bond with another woman, Midori.
REVIEW
Its hard to review a film like this when you've been looking forward to it so much. While its not my favorite of his books, I'm a big Haruki Murakami fan, and I love Anh Hung Tran's earlier films - I thought this was potentially a match made in heaven.
The film is good - very good. Just not the great film I'd hoped it would be. There are wonderful scenes and great acting, and the cinematography is beautiful. But I think there are some major flaws. The flow of the film is oddly disjointed at times - while the book is very much written from the perspective of an older, wiser man looking back at his immature youth, the film seems unsure of its own perspective. The voice-over is poorly structured, seemingly aimed at filling in narrative gaps rather than giving us the older narrators overview. Oddly for Tran, a director who has been extremely minimalist in the past, some scenes are far too overwrought, not helped by the intrusive and anachronistic score. The casting is also uneven - Rinko Kikuchi is a marvelous actress, but is simply too old to play a convincing 20 year old. The character of Reiko is also played by an actress much younger than the character in the book, but the part hasn't been changed accordingly. That said, Kenichi Matsuyama as Toru and in particular Kiko Mizuhara as Midori are terrific.
I really don't know how someone who doesn't know the book will react to this. I suspect that if you are a romantic at heart, you will like it, even if you find it a bit overlong and some of the characters too thinly drawn. Fans of the book will mostly love it as it is quite faithful (maybe too faithful) to the story.
"The grief over a death of someone you loved can never be healed. We can only live with the sorrow and learn something out of it."
Upon hearing the song "Norwegian Wood," Toru (Matsuyama) remembers back to his life in the 1960s, when his friend Kizuki killed himself and he grew close to Naoko, Kizuki's girlfriend. As the two try, in very different ways, to contend with their grief, Toru forms a bond with another woman, Midori.
REVIEW
Its hard to review a film like this when you've been looking forward to it so much. While its not my favorite of his books, I'm a big Haruki Murakami fan, and I love Anh Hung Tran's earlier films - I thought this was potentially a match made in heaven.
The film is good - very good. Just not the great film I'd hoped it would be. There are wonderful scenes and great acting, and the cinematography is beautiful. But I think there are some major flaws. The flow of the film is oddly disjointed at times - while the book is very much written from the perspective of an older, wiser man looking back at his immature youth, the film seems unsure of its own perspective. The voice-over is poorly structured, seemingly aimed at filling in narrative gaps rather than giving us the older narrators overview. Oddly for Tran, a director who has been extremely minimalist in the past, some scenes are far too overwrought, not helped by the intrusive and anachronistic score. The casting is also uneven - Rinko Kikuchi is a marvelous actress, but is simply too old to play a convincing 20 year old. The character of Reiko is also played by an actress much younger than the character in the book, but the part hasn't been changed accordingly. That said, Kenichi Matsuyama as Toru and in particular Kiko Mizuhara as Midori are terrific.
I really don't know how someone who doesn't know the book will react to this. I suspect that if you are a romantic at heart, you will like it, even if you find it a bit overlong and some of the characters too thinly drawn. Fans of the book will mostly love it as it is quite faithful (maybe too faithful) to the story.
5 o´clock coffee .
Super Reviewer
April 29, 2011
I´ve never seen such a terrible and painful adaptation like this Norwegian Wood. Haruki Murakami´s novel, even if full of literary references, is still an easy or accessible book what, I knew, could be used for the best or for the worst. The thing is that what I expected of worst was a sort of pretentious indie film and not that Anh Hung Tran would kill the main points and characteristics of the story to transform it in a beautiful and acceptable garbage. Who claims that the film is faithful to the novel, probably have not read it, unless the English translation is really that different from the original in Japanese.*
If you haven´t read Murakami´s novel, you can like this film. If you did, you´ll feel like killing youself and right in the first scenes. Nagazawa would never, never, say that "Life is short. There's no sense in wasting time on books in a sense of time is absent."
When I did finally meet the one person in my world who had read Gatsby, he and I became friends because of it. His name was Nagasawa. (...) He was a far more voracious reader than me, but he made it a rule never to touch a book by any author who had not been dead at least 30 years.
"That's the only kind of book I can trust," he said. "It's not that I don't believe in contemporary literature," he added, "but I don't want to waste valuable time reading any book that has not had the baptism of time. Life is too short."
"What kind of authors do you like?" I asked, speaking in respectful tones to this man two years my senior.
"Balzac, Dante, Joseph Conrad, Dickens," he answered without hesitation.
How to take it serious and keep watching a film that visibly pretends nothing but please the mass? Perhaps, everything is allowed in an adaptation, but to completely change the story is going too far. Nagazawa is only one of the many faults. Naoko and Midori are played by very beautiful girls, but Midori is too far away of the "complexity" of her character. The fact that she is always smiling when Naoko has her dark moments doesn´t say anything at all. Simplistic justifications, simplistic and naïve love stories when Toru´s relationship with both Naoko and Midori and even with life itself was much more complex. Oh, and I will not even mention Reiko that simple and totally loses all her importance here.
Shallow chords and a trivial course.
*I just got a PDF copy of the English translation and now I can say with conviction that no, it´s not that different from the one I read. Those who think that the film is faithful to the book, or did not read it or really don´t have any sense of anything.
** The Beatle´s Norwegian Wood was Naoko´s favorite song that Reiko only played when she asked her to because the song put Naoko very sad.
I´ve never seen such a terrible and painful adaptation like this Norwegian Wood. Haruki Murakami´s novel, even if full of literary references, is still an easy or accessible book what, I knew, could be used for the best or for the worst. The thing is that what I expected of worst was a sort of pretentious indie film and not that Anh Hung Tran would kill the main points and characteristics of the story to transform it in a beautiful and acceptable garbage. Who claims that the film is faithful to the novel, probably have not read it, unless the English translation is really that different from the original in Japanese.*
If you haven´t read Murakami´s novel, you can like this film. If you did, you´ll feel like killing youself and right in the first scenes. Nagazawa would never, never, say that "Life is short. There's no sense in wasting time on books in a sense of time is absent."
When I did finally meet the one person in my world who had read Gatsby, he and I became friends because of it. His name was Nagasawa. (...) He was a far more voracious reader than me, but he made it a rule never to touch a book by any author who had not been dead at least 30 years.
"That's the only kind of book I can trust," he said. "It's not that I don't believe in contemporary literature," he added, "but I don't want to waste valuable time reading any book that has not had the baptism of time. Life is too short."
"What kind of authors do you like?" I asked, speaking in respectful tones to this man two years my senior.
"Balzac, Dante, Joseph Conrad, Dickens," he answered without hesitation.
How to take it serious and keep watching a film that visibly pretends nothing but please the mass? Perhaps, everything is allowed in an adaptation, but to completely change the story is going too far. Nagazawa is only one of the many faults. Naoko and Midori are played by very beautiful girls, but Midori is too far away of the "complexity" of her character. The fact that she is always smiling when Naoko has her dark moments doesn´t say anything at all. Simplistic justifications, simplistic and naïve love stories when Toru´s relationship with both Naoko and Midori and even with life itself was much more complex. Oh, and I will not even mention Reiko that simple and totally loses all her importance here.
Shallow chords and a trivial course.
*I just got a PDF copy of the English translation and now I can say with conviction that no, it´s not that different from the one I read. Those who think that the film is faithful to the book, or did not read it or really don´t have any sense of anything.
** The Beatle´s Norwegian Wood was Naoko´s favorite song that Reiko only played when she asked her to because the song put Naoko very sad.
Harlequin68
Super Reviewer
May 6, 2013
Enter Midori(Kiko Mizuhara).
On the one hand, "Norwegian Wood" could be considered a thoughtful meditation on young people's first encounter with death, finding out the hard way that there is no way to compete with the dead. On the other hand, the characters talk a great game when it comes to sex but are less able when it comes down to doing the deed or falling in love for that matter. Just as Toru uses books to keep the chaos of the outside world at bay, others use recent trauma to keep emotions at bay. Sadly, this movie is simply too long for such an intimate story, especially with its many digressions that help to slow the pace to a crawl in places.
In "Norwegian Wood," Toru(Ken'ichi Matsuyama) is best friends with Kizuki(Kengo Kora). With Kizuki and Naoko(Rinko Kikuchi) being well-nigh inseparable, Toru does not mind playing third wheel to them. After Kikuchi's suicide, Toru migrates to the side of Nagasawa(Tetsuji Tamayama), a ladies' man, in search of more knowledge about the opposite sex.
Enter Midori(Kiko Mizuhara).
On the one hand, "Norwegian Wood" could be considered a thoughtful meditation on young people's first encounter with death, finding out the hard way that there is no way to compete with the dead. On the other hand, the characters talk a great game when it comes to sex but are less able when it comes down to doing the deed or falling in love for that matter. Just as Toru uses books to keep the chaos of the outside world at bay, others use recent trauma to keep emotions at bay. Sadly, this movie is simply too long for such an intimate story, especially with its many digressions that help to slow the pace to a crawl in places.
John B
Super Reviewer
March 1, 2012
Lots of haters for this film out there but I thorough enjoyed it. The theme unfortunately is death, death, death and our human responses to it made all the more poignant with the fact that those impacted are so early in their own lives. Genuinely touching.
PantaOz
Super Reviewer
February 18, 2012
Main character Watanabe (Kenichi Matsuyama), an earnest and somehow naïve Japanese college student, and Naoko (Rinko Kikuchi), the onetime sweetheart of his best friend, Kizuki, who committed suicide, are meeting after seven years... they celebrate Naoko's 20th birthday, and her loss of virginity is an event deepened by their shared but unspoken grief. Everything seems fine after that until Watanabe brings up Kizuki's name for the first time, and Naoko collapses in tears and confesses that her sexual unresponsiveness to Kizuki, whom she had known since childhood, was a source of anguish. She appears to blame herself for his suicide... and is solemnly fixated on the obsessional, morbid aspects of her youthful passion.
Written and directed by Tran Anh Hung ("Cyclo," "The Scent of Green Papaya"), this is an adaptation of Haruki Murakami's novel and in this movie, like in the novel, the story is narrated by Watanabe, who looks back 17 years to his days as a college freshman. I have to say that the loose narrative structure of a dreamy and poetic personal journal that is more a series of reflections than a cohesive story, gives the director freedom of expression but sometimes is without the structure and vanishes in the mood of seething emotional turmoil... OK - it's not a perfect movie, but very enjoyable and different from most of the movies you'll see this year... spare over 2 hours to watch this tragedy of love!
This movie will divide the audience with its slow pace and dreamy, protracted love scenes and especially purposely created imbalance between the main characters. But, I'll suggest to be patient, and that patience will be rewarded with almost forgotten doomy romanticism which is reflected in attenuated, beautifully photographed scenes of tragic ending love lives.
Main character Watanabe (Kenichi Matsuyama), an earnest and somehow naïve Japanese college student, and Naoko (Rinko Kikuchi), the onetime sweetheart of his best friend, Kizuki, who committed suicide, are meeting after seven years... they celebrate Naoko's 20th birthday, and her loss of virginity is an event deepened by their shared but unspoken grief. Everything seems fine after that until Watanabe brings up Kizuki's name for the first time, and Naoko collapses in tears and confesses that her sexual unresponsiveness to Kizuki, whom she had known since childhood, was a source of anguish. She appears to blame herself for his suicide... and is solemnly fixated on the obsessional, morbid aspects of her youthful passion.
Written and directed by Tran Anh Hung ("Cyclo," "The Scent of Green Papaya"), this is an adaptation of Haruki Murakami's novel and in this movie, like in the novel, the story is narrated by Watanabe, who looks back 17 years to his days as a college freshman. I have to say that the loose narrative structure of a dreamy and poetic personal journal that is more a series of reflections than a cohesive story, gives the director freedom of expression but sometimes is without the structure and vanishes in the mood of seething emotional turmoil... OK - it's not a perfect movie, but very enjoyable and different from most of the movies you'll see this year... spare over 2 hours to watch this tragedy of love!
Chihoe H
Super Reviewer
July 14, 2011
To catch only occasional brilliance in this film adaptation of one of my favourite Haruki Murakami novels is undoubtedly disappointing. It is by no means the fault of the cast, who adeptly impersonates their characters and displays the heavy-hearted emotions; rather, the film's editing lacked focus and flow. Director Anh Hung Tran use of wide, panning shots of beautiful imagery is visually stimulating yet there is a disconnection between these scenes. Still, "Norwegian Wood"'s lessons on love, responsibility, life and death, deserves a chance, even a second one when the right time comes along.
George N
Super Reviewer
November 12, 2011
A harrowing loss begins this epic tale of harrowing redemption. Toru's (Ken'ichi Matsuyama's) friend Naoko (played pitch-perfectly by Rinko Kikuchi) seems lost after her best friend's suicide, and it forces Toru (called by his last name throughout the film) to become a young adult in a microcosm of strange and contrasting ideas about sex and love. The film isn't trying to be quick or quickly explained. Take it on its own meditative terms, and it becomes a beautiful portrait of being a young adult and falling in love during difficult times. Powerful, deep, but light and funny enough to keep a smile on your face. Personally, this is my favorite film of 2011 so far. I LOVE THIS FILM!!!
mvieaddict
Super Reviewer
January 5, 2012
Based on the novel Norwegian Wood, by Japanese author Haruki Murakami, Vietnamese director Tran Anh Hung directed this story to the big screen with Kenichi Matsuyama and Rinko Kikuchi ( Babel) in lead roles.But somehow this failed and turned into a typical story of a love triangle, loss and sexuality without much emotional depth. Set in the late 1960s in Japan during the student turmoils, this story focused more on Watanabe (Matsumaya) and the women in his life. Hung's direction was very much in keeping his visual style, with attention on the natural world. However the story required some time to develop and even though director Hung had accomplished for the best cinematographic surroundings which could be framed as a work of art, the film itself lacked in storyline,Norwegian Wood was a great looking film but not well written or acted, and since it was so slow paced I don't think it will be for general audiences who had not read the book.
MOVEECRITIC
Super Reviewer
December 31, 2011
"Norwegian Wood" is based on Haruki Murakami's 1987 worldwide best-seller which ought to persuade various audiences to give this lengthy, sophisticatedly directed Japanese film a go. Nevertheless, not all viewers will have the patience to allow themselves be entangled in this excellent cinematography by Mark Lee Ping Bin of young love, sex and the emotional passage of an attractive dramatis personae.
natureandgrace67
November 12, 2011
A harrowing loss begins this epic tale of harrowing redemption. Toru's (Ken'ichi Matsuyama's) friend Naoko (played pitch-perfectly by Rinko Kikuchi) seems lost after her best friend's suicide, and it forces Toru (called by his last name throughout the film) to become a young adult in a microcosm of strange and contrasting ideas about sex and love. The film isn't trying to be quick or quickly explained. Take it on its own meditative terms, and it becomes a beautiful portrait of being a young adult and falling in love during difficult times. Powerful, deep, but light and funny enough to keep a smile on your face. Personally, this is my favorite film of 2011 so far. I LOVE THIS FILM!!!
May 27, 2013
nothing special, nothing great. It's just a lustful movie about a complicated 60's love story that has a Beatles' theme song.
Harlequin68
Super Reviewer
May 6, 2013
Enter Midori(Kiko Mizuhara).
On the one hand, "Norwegian Wood" could be considered a thoughtful meditation on young people's first encounter with death, finding out the hard way that there is no way to compete with the dead. On the other hand, the characters talk a great game when it comes to sex but are less able when it comes down to doing the deed or falling in love for that matter. Just as Toru uses books to keep the chaos of the outside world at bay, others use recent trauma to keep emotions at bay. Sadly, this movie is simply too long for such an intimate story, especially with its many digressions that help to slow the pace to a crawl in places.
In "Norwegian Wood," Toru(Ken'ichi Matsuyama) is best friends with Kizuki(Kengo Kora). With Kizuki and Naoko(Rinko Kikuchi) being well-nigh inseparable, Toru does not mind playing third wheel to them. After Kikuchi's suicide, Toru migrates to the side of Nagasawa(Tetsuji Tamayama), a ladies' man, in search of more knowledge about the opposite sex.
Enter Midori(Kiko Mizuhara).
On the one hand, "Norwegian Wood" could be considered a thoughtful meditation on young people's first encounter with death, finding out the hard way that there is no way to compete with the dead. On the other hand, the characters talk a great game when it comes to sex but are less able when it comes down to doing the deed or falling in love for that matter. Just as Toru uses books to keep the chaos of the outside world at bay, others use recent trauma to keep emotions at bay. Sadly, this movie is simply too long for such an intimate story, especially with its many digressions that help to slow the pace to a crawl in places.
April 6, 2013
Being a big fan of Murakami's work I was somewhat disappointed with the minimal accuracy to the novel. But in saying that, the movie did offer a great retelling of the troubles from 1960's Japan and the protest with the US peace treaty. All in all its a good movie I give it 3.5 out of 5
March 10, 2013
Had a hard time getting into this. I just never felt a real emotional attachment with any of the characters. I'm sure it resonates more with people who have read the novel.
