Norwegian Wood (film)

Plot

Toru Watanabe is a quiet and serious young man in 1960s Tokyo whose personal life is in tumult, having lost his best friend Kizuki after he inexplicably commits suicide. Seeking an escape, Toru enters a university in Tokyo. By chance, during a walk in a park, Toru meets Kizuki's ex-girlfriend Naoko, and they grow close. Naoko continues to be devastated by the loss of Kizuki and spirals into a deep depression.

Toru sleeps with Naoko on her 20th birthday. Shortly afterwards, Naoko withdraws from the world and leaves for a sanitarium in a remote forest setting near Kyoto. Toru is anguished by the situation, as he still has deep feelings for Naoko, but she is unable to reciprocate. He also lives with the influence of death everywhere, while Naoko feels as if some integral part of her has been permanently lost. He continues with his studies, and during the spring semester meets an attractive girl and fellow student Midori, who is everything that Naoko isn't — outgoing, vivacious, and supremely self-confident. The story then follows Toru as he is torn between the two women in his life, and choosing between his past and his future.

Cast

Release

This film debuted in the 67th Venice International Film Festival where it competed for the Golden Lion. It was then subsequently released in Japanese cinemas on 11 December 2010.

Europe

In the UK, it was released on 11 March 2011, while in Russia, it was released under the name of Норвежский лес on 16 December 2010.

North America

In the US, the film had a limited release on 6 January 2012 in New York City and Washington D.C. In Canada, the film was released on 2 March 2012.

Critical reception

The Daily Telegraph said that director Tran Anh Hung was "brave" to attempt to bring Haruki Murakami's 1987 novel to the big screen but mentioned that "the film comes across as a mere summary of Murakami's book". Stephen Holden of The New York Times wrote that the film "registers less as a coherent narrative than as a tortuous reverie steeped in mournful yearning".

Soundtrack

The score for the film's soundtracks was composed by Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood. An original soundtrack album for the film was released on 10 November 2010, containing pieces from Greenwood's score, along with three songs used in the film by German Krautrock band Can, all originally released between 1969 and 1971.

Track list: