Norwegian Wood

Name: Norwegian Wood
Genre: Drama, Romance
Released: January 6, 2012
Duration: 133 min
Rating: 58

2012

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Mixed or average reviews based on 19 Critic Reviews

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Generally favorable reviews based on 14 Ratings

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7.2

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7.2	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 14 Ratings

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Norwegian Wood

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Movie Details & Credits

Red Flag Releasing (RFR) | Release Date: January 6, 2012 | Not Rated

Summary: 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 yearsTokyo, 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 self-confident - marches into his life and Watanabe must choose between his past and his future. (Red Flag Releasing)… Expand

Director: Tran Anh Hung

Genre(s): Drama, Romance

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 133 min

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Critic Reviews

Andrew O'Hehir

Jan 7, 2012

This is a wonderful, passionate, well-nigh unforgettable adaptation of a great novel about the horrors of love, and the wonderful fact that at least some of us live through it and come back for more. Read full review

Roger Ebert

Jan 18, 2012

There is something in the nature of director Tran Anh Hung, however, that seems to resist happy endings. In the emotional arc of his art, the high point seems to be bittersweet. It's sweet all the way up, wavers in dread and slides down to doom. Read full review

IndieWire Eric Kohn

Jan 5, 2012

Admittedly lovely and heartfelt, Norwegian Wood is also hollow. Read full review

Empire Andrew Male

Dec 31, 2011

Murakami's 'unadaptability' for the screen is self-evident to fans of his books, but this is a noble if bleak first stab. Read full review

Deborah Young

Jan 3, 2012

The fact that Norwegian Wood is based on Haruki Murakami's 1987 international best-seller should encourage many viewers to give this long, elegantly shot, sporadically involving Japanese film a try. Read full review

Rick Groen

Mar 1, 2012

This is the one Murakami work that would seem an ideal candidate for the leap from page to screen. It should be a good movie. But it isn't. Read full review

Mark Holcomb

Jan 3, 2012

Despite Hung's obvious gifts as a filmmaker, he has ditched this raw immediacy in favor of a drifty, overstuffed, ultimately dull melodrama. Read full review

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DawdlingPoet

Jan 26, 2022

This is, in a way, a pretty frank film about sex, well, adolescents talking about it, moreso than lots of explicit sex scenes but I wouldn't say this is the most comfortable film to watch in front of your parents, put it that way!. It features some nice cinematography, scenic shots in ruralThis is, in a way, a pretty frank film about sex, well, adolescents talking about it, moreso than lots of explicit sex scenes but I wouldn't say this is the most comfortable film to watch in front of your parents, put it that way!. It features some nice cinematography, scenic shots in rural areas, which I liked. The dialogue shows how curious and perhaps naive the main female character (Naoko) is, which perhaps tells you all you need to know. There is something a bit touching about it, in a good way but it didn't entirely sit well with me overall, due to the bleaker elements present in the plot I suppose. I think its made clear that the female character has more to lose from investing in her relationship. Some scenes feature little in the way of dialogue - the dialogue being quite sparse but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I wasn't so keen on this film overall - it does a decent job at highlighting some cultural issues perhaps but its not one of my favourite Japanese films, though its still a reasonable film, for what it is. I imagine an adolescent audience may enjoy it more than someone 20 years older, such as myself(!) (as of 2022, in my later 30s). Overall I wouldn't expressly recommend this film as such, no. It is perhaps thougtful and perhaps there's a poignancy to it at times but its also somewhat tacky and like I say, didn't sit entirely well with me, so it's not one I'd entirely recommend.… Expand

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babjengi

Jan 19, 2012

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I can understand the confusion of a lot of reviewers after having seen this movie. The thing is, the atmosphere and the feelings painted so elegantly in the book are very difficult to apply to the screen. Still, a consistent narrative would have really helped, in a similar fashion to how, say, Edward Norton's character in fight club not only had dialogue, but also an outside narrative. With how quickly the movie progressed, there was little to no time to fall in love with the characters, and fully understand Toru's love for either Naoko or Midori. Ishida Reiko is also a severely underdeveloped character in the movie, especially for how big a role she played in the book.
The entire depth of the feelings involved is lost as the director tries to move the story along quickly in order to cover major points in the book within just two hours.

Some issues that could have been addressed (MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD):

The initial setting of the book where he is much older and on a plane in Germany when he begins to write the story would have been a great way to introduce the background narrative. Also, I think the last line of that first chapter really helps a lot in setting a tone for the story, as you watch his love for Naoko form and strengthen while in the back of your mind you already know she never loves him.

I feel his roommate in college could have been cut out entirely in order to make more time developing the reason Kizuki was so special to both of them, giving a greater sense of tragedy when he commits suicide.

The time before Naoko's institutionalization is also too short to let you understand why Toru would spend so much time and effort to hold onto her despite the time and distance they spend apart (not to mention that aside from the switch to winter, there's no sense of the amount of time that passes). There's a lot of movement and very little dialogue leading to the very important 20th birthday scene.

The 20th birthday scene, though accurate, looked very different in my head. I think this had to do in part with the actress who played Naoko. I feel that the actresses who played Naoko and Hatsumi should've been switched, as their descriptions in the book would have been more accurate. The lighting also made the scene look sickly rather than deeply romantic.

Midori's introduction could have had a little more lead-in. For instance, the main reason she approached him in the book is because he was always too distracted by thoughts of Naoko to call his name during roll in their class. This way, her introduction better models what was in the book, and it doesn't look like just a random "Oh, hey, yeah, we have a class together" as the only way you know they have a connection.

Midori's tragic past story is also totally ignored. Despite being as beautiful as she is, the reason she's so odd, perverted, and yet strong is because of her history. If they weren't going to reveal that, then why even include those lines? They just make her seem like a random, weird girl instead of someone who's the product of a life of misery.

The sexuality of the movie is also played in a strange manner. There is more intimacy with Naoko and less intimacy with strangers and Midori than was in the book. If they had built up their relationship before her institutionalization, they could have made their physical relationship as passive as it was in the book without sacrificing his developing affection for her. This could have saved more time for developing his relationship with Midori.

Nagasawa's character is also horribly underdeveloped, and his influences and the things he teaches Toru are entirely neglected except the last part where he give him the advice that only **** feel sorry for themselves (which later becomes part of his motivation to come back home after mourning Naoko's death).

There are a lot of other things that could have been tweaked, but all in all, compared to the vividly developed imagery of the book, the movie falls very short because of how rapidly it all progresses. While it's obvious that not all of Murakami's prose can be captured in the movie, tossing it entirely out the window just makes you feel frustrated as you watch each scene zip past without feeling anything for any of them.

tl;dr Go read the book. Though people always say the book is better than the movie, the book is a real story with all these amazing descriptions and feelings. The movie is a cold statement of the events.… Expand

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