First and foremost, I am a Haruki Murakami Fan. So far I have read nine of his novels and still going. Although of me being a fan of his work, Norwegian Wood is NOT one of my all time Murakami favorites despite of having enjoyed reading it (To each his own). In fact after reading it I wondered whether if being named after a Beatles song had maybe something to do with this novel's popularity. Still once I heard it was being made into a movie I had to see it! Before seeing this I had previously seen Tony Takitani which is also a Haruki Murakami short story that was made into a movie, and also enjoyed. So needles to say I am a die hard Murakami fan.
The movie itself was wonderfully filmed. Ping Bin Lee, the cinematographer behind Hou Hsiao-Hsien's movies (Millenium Mambo, Three Times, Café Lumière........) did a stellar job on this film. He shot wonderful strong visual scenes making the scenery, and all other locations look beautiful throughout the movie. Needles to say this movie visually stands out.
The music also sets the tone for this film. Jonny Greenwood from Radiohead was hired to do the score, and although I am familiar with the music from Radiohead (not a big fan though) I could tell it was done by him.
Anh Hung Tran's direction keeps up with his previous film "I Come With The Rain" which in my opinion was quite successfully presented even though it was highly criticize among movie goers. Whether you enjoy his works or not, this guy piques my interest and I will keep an eye out for whatever he makes next. In my opinion he honestly did his best keeping the story true to the novel. Of course there are a few things that he did not get into telling; like Reiko's back story(though was briefly referenced), Watanabe's roommate antics(there were some minor moments though but whole scenes), Nagasawa and Watanabe's escapades were kept to a minimum.......etc. Also the first ten minutes of the film rushes easily through about a third of the novel. It's a movie so not everything from the book will make it on screen. And YES, the ending on the movie is just like on the novel, although the novel describes the underlying Murakami ending which you only get through reading some of his novels, so if you're interested in understanding the "abrupt" ending you might just read the novel just for that (in case you we're put off by it and did not understand what was actually going on on the final scene which there's much more to it). There are also much more that you don't get from watching the movie so you're interested in knowing what wasn't told on screen you might want to read it.
Overall, I enjoyed the movie more than the novel. I still love Haruki Murakami novels. All His works are very straight forward which I always enjoy. Whether your a fan of his works or not watch the film and compare it with the novel. Worth checking out!
The movie itself was wonderfully filmed. Ping Bin Lee, the cinematographer behind Hou Hsiao-Hsien's movies (Millenium Mambo, Three Times, Café Lumière........) did a stellar job on this film. He shot wonderful strong visual scenes making the scenery, and all other locations look beautiful throughout the movie. Needles to say this movie visually stands out.
The music also sets the tone for this film. Jonny Greenwood from Radiohead was hired to do the score, and although I am familiar with the music from Radiohead (not a big fan though) I could tell it was done by him.
Anh Hung Tran's direction keeps up with his previous film "I Come With The Rain" which in my opinion was quite successfully presented even though it was highly criticize among movie goers. Whether you enjoy his works or not, this guy piques my interest and I will keep an eye out for whatever he makes next. In my opinion he honestly did his best keeping the story true to the novel. Of course there are a few things that he did not get into telling; like Reiko's back story(though was briefly referenced), Watanabe's roommate antics(there were some minor moments though but whole scenes), Nagasawa and Watanabe's escapades were kept to a minimum.......etc. Also the first ten minutes of the film rushes easily through about a third of the novel. It's a movie so not everything from the book will make it on screen. And YES, the ending on the movie is just like on the novel, although the novel describes the underlying Murakami ending which you only get through reading some of his novels, so if you're interested in understanding the "abrupt" ending you might just read the novel just for that (in case you we're put off by it and did not understand what was actually going on on the final scene which there's much more to it). There are also much more that you don't get from watching the movie so you're interested in knowing what wasn't told on screen you might want to read it.
Overall, I enjoyed the movie more than the novel. I still love Haruki Murakami novels. All His works are very straight forward which I always enjoy. Whether your a fan of his works or not watch the film and compare it with the novel. Worth checking out!