Norwegian Wood from award-winning director Tran Anh Hung is the adaptation of Haruki Murakami’s novel about Japanese students in the 1960s experiencing love and loss, and one of the titles selected In Competition at this year’s Venice Film Festival.
There are already some reports describing this movie as “a passionate story of nostalgia, loss and awakening sexuality”, check out the rest of this report to see why…
Norwegian Wood follows “…childhood friends Watanabe and Naoko reunited in Tokyo in 1969 when they meet by chance at a museum. Their friendship is rekindled, but they are both haunted by a shared tragedy that they would prefer remain shrouded in distant memory. As their affections for each other begin to grow, so too does the spectre of the past.
The more their love blossoms, the more the shared history that unites them threatens to tear them apart. Meanwhile, Tokyo is awash with the spirit of political protest. Watanabe is both intrigued by the changing social mores and a bit skeptical. Following the lead of bon vivant Nagasawa, he is lured into a new world of sexual freedom.
Taken on a seductive journey through after-hours Tokyo – replete with sex, debauchery and rock and roll – Watanabe meets the beguiling Midori, an outspoken and mysterious young woman. Captivated by all she represents, Watanabe’s growing interest in Midori begins to threaten his future with Naoko, forcing him to choose between his passion and his principles…”
“What I like about the book is the fact that it’s about young people, about love, about lust, about mourning, and about sorrow,” director Tran Anh Hung said, and added:
“There is a sense of melancholy, which you can feel from beginning to end.”
Norwegian Wood stars Kenichi Matsuyama as the young college student, Rinko Kikuchi and Kiko Mizuhara as the romantic interest.
