La ballade de l'impossible

Those were the best years of our lives. Every once in a while when the weather gets melancholic, we would reminiscence those years when loss and sexuality meant a whole lot more. Every once in a while when we hear a morose tune on the radio, we would recall those moments when relationships mattered a whole lot more. And every once in a while when we watch a moody film, we would remember those times when life played out like a cinematic feature.

All that remains now is nostalgia.

And that is why, critically acclaimed Japanese writer Haruki Murakami's novels spoke to so many people. His works poignantly captures the spiritual emptiness of the modern generation and explores the loss of human connection in the bustling society we live in today. And just when detractors thought that Murakami's bestselling 1987 novel was un-filmable, along comes Tran Anh Hung, whose past works include the award winning Cyclo (1995) and The Scent of Green Papaya (1993).

Set in Tokyo during the late 1960s, the film's male protagonist is Toru, a quiet and serious college student. He loses his best friend to suicide, and his personal life is thrown into turmoil. He becomes emotionally closer to his friend's ex-girlfriend Naoko, who shares the same sense of loss. Circumstances bring Naoko to a sanatorium, and Toru becomes devastated. Another girl, Midori, enters his life, and he realises that she is everything Naoko isn't. Torn between two women and feeling empty about life's past and future, what ensues is Toru's nostalgic journey of loss and sexuality.

The above synopsis probably doesn't do justice to Murakami's writing, which is known to be humorous and surrealistic. While we haven't read the original novel which this 133 minute film is based on, we have chanced upon Murakami's other works, and we must recognize Tran's decision to adapt the story into a feature film.

The first thing which grabs you is the hypnotically mesmerizing cinematography by the award winning Lee Ping Bin (In the Mood For Love, Three Times). The breathtaking mountainous landscapes of Japan are captured on Lee's lenses like gems. You can imagine yourself wandering through the green grasslands and the snowy grounds, letting the spectacle engulf your senses. To replicate the mood of 1960s, production designers Norifumi Ataka and Yen Khe Luguem have painstakingly created scene after scene of the film's characters journeying through life's alleys against backdrops of intricately decorated cafes, workshops and hostel rooms. The result is a visually pleasing mood piece which displays the director's eye for details. The soundtrack composed by Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood completes the viewing experience with an enigmatic score.

Also commendable are the cast's performances. Playing Toru is Kenichi Matsuyama (Death Note's "L"). He has an empathetic vulnerability which leaves a lasting impression with viewers. Rinko Kichuki (Babel) displays the much needed frailty of Naoko's character without becoming overly melodramatic, while newcomer Kiko Mizuhara is charming as the charismatic Midori.

Like most literary adaptation, this film loses some of the novel's poignancy when it comes to character and plot development. Emotions are conveyed through convenient voiceovers, and the exploration of sexuality may appear preposterous to those who uninitiated to Murakami's works. Furthermore, the slow and meandering pacing of the two odd hour film may be a test of patience to some.

It will take audiences who are familiar with the postmodern writer's work to appreciate this film. If you are an individual who often indulges in poetic wistfulness, this may just be the perfect film for you on a contemplative evening too.

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If you have read the book by Haruki Murakami this film won't spoil it, but you will be frustrated at what it failed to achieve. Sometimes with adaptations you hate the way they change key details, and take away the meaning of the original work. Here, its a different problem. The film was too languid and reserved. The story of Naoko and Watanabe was generally well done. But it really failed to tell the relationship of Midori and Wantanabe. In the novel she is far more quirky and sparky than was shown , and it would have lifted the film to have portrayed that. Similarly, it would have made it more lively had we seen Wantanabe's strange room mate Stormtrooper. And again it would have been more interesting, if we had seen Watanabe and Nagasawa on their nights out hunting for girls. Norwegian Wood was beautifully filmed, and I loved the sets which resonated with the descriptions in the book. I apologise for mentioning the book so much, but I don't think this film carries its own weight if you haven't read it. I can't imagine I would have felt emotionally drawn into without knowing the book, as the characters weren't developed properly. To sum up - not a disaster, but very much a missed opportunity.

When I was a university student, one of my close friends told me that novels by Haruki Murakami were good, and recommended me to read them. I was 19 years old then, and it was the first time for me to read "Norwegian Wood." The novel captured my interest, and I have read it again and again since then, and I still read it even now. "Norwegian Wood" is one of my favorite books.

The novel "Norwegian Wood" depicts the university days of the main character, Watanabe Tohru. In the novel, he lives in Tokyo, and goes to university. He likes reading American modern literature. He did not have any friends except for one best friend during his high school days, but the friend killed himself at the age of seventeen. Watanabe has several relationships with women between the age of 18 and 21. Some characters in the novel, other than Watanabe's best friend, have also killed themselves. The novel consists of sex, death, literature, and intelligence.

I went to university, and had some close female friends. In addition, I liked reading classic literature. Furthermore, I did not belong to a sport clubs at university, so the scope of my friendship was limited. In essence, I felt a sense of intimacy with Watanabe while reading the novel. (In fact, I learnt "The Catcher in the Rye" by J. D. Salinger and "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald from Norwegian Wood, and both books were the first English novels which I completed reading in their original language.) Norwegian Wood is an important book for me, so I was glad to hear, 2 to 3 years ago, that the movie version of this novel would be screened. The movie was released about one week ago, and I went to see it today.

Locations shot in the movie were beautiful, and the music sounds good. In particular, I was moved by one scene in which Reiko sang "Norwegian Wood" by the Beatles with a guitar, and Naoko lost her mental stability during Reiko's performance. In addition, the cast members in the movie were also good, especially Mizuhara Kiko, who played Midori, was very cute and vivid.

Since I have read the novel over and over, and remember the whole story in detail, I can go so far as to say that I do not need any explanation for the story in the movie. Because I know the story, I was purely interested in how the film director, Tran Anh Hung, had expressed the novel through the media of a movie.

The movie version of "Norwegian Wood" was not solely a converted version of the novel, but represented its originality and creativity with the help of movie techniques, such as music, voice (cry, laugh, or angry), facial expression, and scenery.

However, it is certain that those who have never read the novel will not enjoy the movie.

(The above comment is forwarded from my blog at http://metropolitantokyo.blogspot.com/)

Its hard to review a film like this when you've been looking forward to it so much. While its not my favorite of his books, I'm a big Haruki Murakami fan, and I love Anh Hung Tran's earlier films - I thought this was potentially a match made in heaven.

The film is good - very good. Just not the great film I'd hoped it would be. There are wonderful scenes and great acting, and the cinematography is beautiful. But I think there are some major flaws. The flow of the film is oddly disjointed at times - while the book is very much written from the perspective of an older, wiser man looking back at his immature youth, the film seems unsure of its own perspective. The voice-over is poorly structured, seemingly aimed at filling in narrative gaps rather than giving us the older narrators overview. Oddly for Tran, a director who has been extremely minimalist in the past, some scenes are far too overwrought, not helped by the intrusive and anachronistic score. The casting is also uneven - Rinko Kikuchi is a marvelous actress, but is simply too old to play a convincing 20 year old. The character of Reiko is also played by an actress much younger than the character in the book, but the part hasn't been changed accordingly. That said, Kenichi Matsuyama as Toru and in particular Kiko Mizuhara as Midori are terrific.

I really don't know how someone who doesn't know the book will react to this. I suspect that if you are a romantic at heart, you will like it, even if you find it a bit overlong and some of the characters too thinly drawn. Fans of the book will mostly love it as it is quite faithful (maybe too faithful) to the story.

The poet Rilke said, "There is only one journey. Going inside yourself. Here something blooms; from out of a silent crevice an unknowing weed emerges singing into existence." The unknowing weed takes its time to sing but sing it does in director Tran Anh Hung's film Norwegian Wood, his first since Vertical Ray of the Sun in 2000. Based on the best-selling 1987 novel of Haruki Murikami (which I haven't read), the film reflects the inner journey of 19-year-old Toru Watanabe (Ken'ichi Matsuyama), a journey that embodies the pain of love and loss, the tantalizing embrace of death, the end of dreams, and the beginning of adult responsibility.

Scored by Jonny Greenwood with some narration by Watanabe, the film takes place in Tokyo in 1967 in the midst of student protests against the War in Vietnam. Trying to ease the pain of the shattering loss of Kizuki (Kengo Kora), a close friend from high school, Watanabe immerses himself in his studies at school where he is majoring in drama and, with Nagasawa (Tetsuji Tamayama), an older and more experienced friend, is able to release his tension by going to bars and picking up girls for sex. Things change, however, when Kizuki's former girlfriend, the beautiful but emotionally fragile Naoko (Rinko Kikuchi), shows up in Tokyo and reaches out to Watanabe for consolation. Though their language is exceedingly frank and sexually explicit, it is vital to understanding the characters and never used to titillate.

Their deepening relationship, however, only brings the feelings of loss closer to the surface and Naoko's ensuing emotional breakdown causes her to leave Tokyo for psychological rehabilitation at a mountain retreat where she is only able to see Watanabe intermittently. Even on occasional meetings, however, they embrace a dark ecstasy that inures them, at least temporarily, from their mutual grief, but when Naoko's roommate, music teacher Reiko (Reika Kirishima), sings the Lennon and McCartney song "Norwegian Wood" at Naoko's 20th birthday party, the line "and when I awoke, I was alone, this bird had flown," evokes tears that flow naturally.

Paralyzed by her sadness and feelings of responsibility for Kizuki's death, Naoko sinks deeper into despair and Watanabe's vows of lifelong fidelity are compromised by his attraction to Midori (Kiko Mizuhara), a smart, outgoing student who also has had to overcome a troubled past. Norwegian Wood is not a film about "teenage angst," or any other of the favorite catch phrases that substitute for empathy, but about the essence of life itself and the anguish of having to let go of attachments. More of a tone poem than a free-flowing narrative, the film creates an indelible experience of both exquisite beauty and aching pain, perhaps two sides of the same coin. Like the under-appreciated Tony Takitani, another film based on a story by Murakami, Norwegian Wood unfolds like a dream, evoking a mood of serenity and contemplation.

Supported by the stunning cinematography of Ping Bin Lee, much of the film's power takes place in the silences that allow us to simply observe the sublime beauty of the countryside, its forests, waterfalls, and the purity of its winter landscapes. While some may try, the film's emotional roller coaster cannot be filtered out and, in the process of assimilating it, it builds a quiet power that ensnares us and leaves us to explore its meanings long after the final credits. In spite of those who want to attach the label of "boring" to every film that moves slowly and requires concentration, Norwegian Wood will be remembered as one of Hung's best films and a work that brought cinema to a new level of artistic achievement.