Norwegian Wood [DVD]

Norwegian Wood is a subtitled Japanese film, based on the book by Haruki Murakami. For those who don't know the plot, Wantabe is a teenage boy studying in Japan at a time of student protest. His own personal life reflects this turbulent backdrop, as he struggles to overcome the event that kickstarts this book, the suicide of his best friend. With 2 possible love interests, the beautiful and troubled Naoko, the ex of his best friend and an anchor to his past, and the vibrant and vivacious fellow student Midori, Wantabe has to choose between past and future, and life and death, which he seems to be caught in a world between. A notable line from The Beatle's song of the same name is "I once had a girl, or should I say, she once had me" and this sums up the sense of the relationships in the film very accurately.

This film is fairly true to the book. All the key scenes are there and shot in the stunning and vivid way you see them in your mind, giving true justice to the scenes and emotions. There are some noticeable cuts, but overall enough was kept in to keep the plot true to itself and it is only what is to be expected anyway since not everything can be kept in and still make a good quality, none dragging, film. The only real criticism with the adaptation is that we don't get to know the background of the characters in any real way, which was a strong point of the book. It is definitely worth picking up a copy to read after if you see the film first, as so much more is gone into that feeds into the main plot and helps you understand influencing factors.

The actual shooting of this film is excellent. The use of nature juxtaposes with our main character's emotions and provides a beautiful backdrop that doesn't take away from the raw emotion that comes with the film, but rather enhances it. The scenes shot against snowy or coastal backgrounds are perhaps the most effective, as you get the the real core of the characters and nothing else is needed. It is as stylistic and dreamy as the book, but still has real substance and is believable, so makes a lovely adaptation. Music, location and the great acting all come together to make a film that just works.

The DVD had a 'making of' feature, a 'close up with the cast' and a design gallery as extras, allowing you to see more about what went on behind the scenes to be able to retell this story in a good way.

When student Kizuki commits suicide leaving his girlfriend to lose grip of her sanity, his best friend Watanabe meets up with her and they share an intimate evening together. But as she moves away to receive treatment for her psychological issues, their developing relationship is strained and Watanabe is left to try and live a normal life while still thinking of the girl who has gone ...and the one who he is spending more time with.

I've not read the book on which this is based so I had no previous experience of the characters, but the small ensemble means that each can have plenty of screen time to explore and develop them. There's a general assumption that Eastern cultures are very male dominated, this is challenged in Norwegian Wood where the female characters are the ones who are the most edgy and sexually dominant - attitudes towards sex are at the core of the film with issues frankly discussed and fantasies explored. The openness of discussion perhaps reflects the attitude of the 'sixties when this is set, but a strength of the film is the way it manages to look timeless - much of the cinematography takes in the lush rural areas of Japan from snow covered landscapes, misty forests, to vibrant green arable land, it's a beautiful landscape which remains the same regardless of decade.

The film manages to accurately reflect the moods of the central characters, their emotional states are communicated well without ever being simplified. The complexity of their situations mean that this is no fairytale and the very personal stories are as much about loss as love, this is a slow paced film which slowly takes you through the months and the span of time feel real enough for the relationships to develop. The screen time does sometimes feel a little under-used through and although this is a beautiful looking film which provides a fresh look at a celebrated book, if you aren't familiar with the book to start with then it can start to feel a little anaemic at times when you want more powerful, character driven moments.

This Blu-Ray release is a grainy one, it's not noticeable during well-lit scenes, but less illuminated scenes and moments indoors show a lot of film grain. It isn't something which particularly distracts and it helps to add a look of the 'sixties. There's still a decent level of detail but not a breath-taking amount and during `busy' scenes (for instance, when a character walks through a woodland) there is visible artefacting around the human form as it moves across the landscape. Pin-sharp textures doesn't really matter - Norwegian Wood relies more on tone and the strength of the relationships between the characters. The bonus features include a `making of' documentary which runs for nearly an hour, it contains interviews with those involved with the film and is mainly shot on location during filming so you also get to see a lot of the background effort. This is the main extra feature but others on the disk include a bit about the Japanese premiere and opening day, a featurette on the films performance in Venice and some titbits (trailer and poster gallery).

In a nutshell: A moving and often poignant story of several young lives dealing with sex and the emotional intimacy alongside some gorgeous settings and a fab 'sixties soundtrack. A film which very nearly gets four stars from me, but the efforts to develop the characters seem to dip in parts and leave you wanting something more substantial. Fans of the book will benefit from already having gaps filled in and can enjoy the well-crafted cinematic vision that Norwegian Wood benefits from, otherwise the drama feels a bit thin

I am a real Murakami fan. I have read many of his novels over the past few years. Norwegian Wood really struck me and was a very beautiful novel to read. It was very different to most of his other work which is fantasy linked and mentions cats and jazz a lot :-).

Ok, so when I saw that Norwegian Wood was about to be released as a film I went to see it in a really cool art-house cinema in Brighton. The film is very watchable for a Murakami fan. The story has been dissected a little from the book and certain characters are not fully established in the film as they are in the book. That said, the story is great and magical at times. The plot line covers, love, loss and the onset of disabling mental illness. It ends in a typical Murakami way, the viewer, not knowing , but rather intuitively guessing a suitable outcome.

A must to watch, I took my girlfriend to see it. It is subtitled, but you can soon get past that. It is a splendid film and one that I will purchase as a DVD.