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.
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.