Movie Adaptation of Norwegian Wood: Constraints of Time

        When watching Norwegian Wood, I felt that it was overall a faithful adaptation of the film, despite several major plot points being omitted, as mentioned by others. Despite these omissions, the film did not add any major plot points or change the overall story arc, so I felt it was a good summary film. However, my major complaint with the film was the pacing of it. Though I know a lot of it is due to constraints of the limited time a film has to cover the events of an entire book, I felt that in an effort to stay faithful to the book, the overall feeling that the writing conveys, which is where I felt the power of the book lies, was lost.  

        What struck me the most while reading the book was the sense of the passage of time. In the beginning scenes, the description of Toru’s life when he is first reencountering Naoko seems to pass by very quickly, which feels very similar to how one perceives time in the exciting stages of meeting and falling in love with someone. In later scenes when Toru waits for Naoko to send him letters, first before she enters the sanitorium, and later when her mental health begins to decline once in the sanitorium, Murakami describes the agony Toru is going through by dragging out the descriptions of his days as he spends his time fixating on a response. Again, this distorted sense of time felt very realistic and made Naoko’s death even more jarring. However, in the movie, I felt that this aspect of time and endless waiting without a clear indication of when a response will come was completely omitted, reducing Naoko’s death to a plot point from which several consequences are shown. 

        I also found the emphasis on Kizuki’s suicide to be very interesting. In the book, it was described offhandedly in a few sentences, whereas it was much more overt in the film. I did not expect them to show in such detail how he set it up, as in the book it was described as occurring in the past without anyone knowing the specifics. Despite this being a departure from the book, I actually enjoyed this addition because you could really get a feel for the passage of time and suffering felt by Kizuki as he sat there dying. However, I am not sure if this was the ideal choice for a scene to drag out and emphasize the passage of time, especially considering this was not an emphasized scene in the book.

        For example, one scene I wish they spent more time on and expanded was the scene with Midori’s father. This was one of my favorites and the quietness of the scene sets up the relationship they form. When this is removed from the film, this buildup of the relationship, and the relationship altogether, is removed. Without this important plot point and the quiet hours spent at the hospital, the relationship between Midori and Toru is completely shifted and it seems like Midori forced Toru to see her dying dad, without any indication of Toru’s active interest. Though we get to see her devastation at her father’s death more clearly in the movie, Toru’s reaction to the news is not as significant and seems only to be because of his interest in Midori. 

Sarah