Review of Norwegian Wood (2010) by Keenan C — 04 Mar 2013

80% of Norwegian Wood is a lecture on how not to make a film. First, do not misapply Jonny Greenwood's gorgeous dramatic soundtrack to your dramatic scenes. If a woman just killed herself, do we really need dissonant music accompanying a 2-minute scene of a man crying? What does that exactly prove? That the scene is dramatic? Next, do not spin the camera as a character ascends a spiral staircase simply to show that you can spin cameras, and do not place your characters in beautiful scenery simply to show that you have a well-paid cinematographer.

Don't get me started on Naoko's histrionic performance. Perhaps the most important lesson here is that you should never adapt a book by Haruki Murakami, especially one where every single character is prone to inexplicable promiscuity and suicide.