Review of Norwegian Wood (2010) by Jj M — 24 Aug 2011

Haruki Murakami is an outstanding novelist but I feel his writing is, in any way, shape or form, very difficult to adapt for a film. Norwegian Wood is perhaps his most accessible book but having said that, I was astonished at how differently I interpreted it in comparasion to how Anh Hung Tran interprets it.

I suppose it happens a lot when it comes to film adaptations of your favourite novels but it's still disappointing nevertheless. It's mainly due to the deep consideration and focus of the director on dispair and grief.

..the long, sad and lonely violin strings are painful to listen to in many of the drawn-out and intensely melodramatic scenes. The pluses include some beautiful natural and urban photography as well as some good late 60s music choice (thanks mainly to Murakami's tastes, which obviously Tran borrows from).

In short, this is a long, drawn-out film about a tragic young love triangle and it's not very enjoyable to watch.