I hadn't read the book before seeing it at the Toronto Film Fest in September and I was quite pleasantly surprised by it. I was aware of the mixed/negative press from Venice but I personally enjoyed it a lot. In fact, while it definitely its flaws, it's only grown in my mind in the months since I saw it, to the point now where I'd put it somewhere in my Top 10 of 2010 and only under Black Swan of the 30 films that I saw at TIFF.
My initial reaction right after the screening (from my blog):
Norwegian Wood, by contrast, is a film which, despite some minor flaws, is dense with lyrical beauty and examines the gap between love and sex with a perceptive eye. It may be entirely too long and suffocatingly emotional for some, but the film has an honesty in its look at relationships that hits hard.
Based off the widely read book by Haruki Murakami, Tran Anh Hung's film is a coming-of-age story narrated by the main character, Watanabe (Ken'ichi Matsunaya) His best friend Kizuna commits suicide, leaving behind a girlfriend, Naoki (Rinko Kikuchi) who goes into severe depression and whom Watanabe falls in love with, despite her emotional turmoil. Simultaneously, a charismatic young woman, Midori (Kiko Mitsuhara), injects herself into his life.
Norwegian Wood is unusual in the way it lingers where other narratives would cut, leaving the viewer to explore Watanabe's relationships from a focus on sex and its ramifications, rather than love. While it has a bit of an episodic feel to it (no doubt due to the nature of adapting a book), the film builds its case and its power scene by scene, block by block so that it feels like a complete and exhaustive look into the mindsets of young people in love (or what they think is love) and lust.
It balances itself through the contrasts between Watanabe's relationship with the disturbed Naoki as well as the vibrant Midori. The development of all three characters feels honest and realistic throughout which allows the viewer to observe this triangle with a critical eye and see the repercussions it has on Watanabe.
One of the many highlights of the film is its observance of the relationship between one of Watanabe's friends, Nagasawa and his girlfriend Hatsumi. Hatsumi is aware that Nagasawa is cheating on her but continues to stay with him. In a heartbreaking dinner scene, she questions Watanabe's (and all men in general) need for sex despite his love for Naoki as Nagasawa looks on, indifferent to her feelings.
Jonny Greenwood scores the more lyrical shots with a beautiful guitar sound that could be an alternate introduction to Radiohead's Street Spirit (Fade Out). When necessary, his score has a discordant strength that may be overwrought to some but feels appropriate for the inner turmoil of the characters. It is as beautifully violent as the feelings they have, underscoring the dangers of their drowning obsessions with love and how it can affect them in such profoundly disturbing ways. By the same token, the film creates a violent poeticism in its gorgeous look and the camera movements (notably in the walking conversation shots), bringing the viewer into the world of these characters and their drowning obsessions but never leaving us adrift on the tidal waves that are their emotions.
"Little things. There's nothing bigger, is there?"
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