"Norwegian Wood" On Screen

 It is difficult to translate the interiority of a novel into film. This is evident in the 2010 adaptation of "Norwegian Wood" directed by Tran Anh Hung. Part of what makes the novel so compelling is the sense that we know Toru. Through first-person narration the reader has access to his thoughts and feelings which the film lacks.

I enjoyed watching the film, but maybe the close proximity to which I finished the novel and started the film emphasized its shortcomings. Where was Naoko's butterfly barrette, or Reiko's messy hair and wrinkles? Small details start to feel like major omissions with the book fresh in mind.

Music plays a significant role in the novel and its film adaptation. Johnny Greenwood is a prolific composer and I adore his scores for Paul Thomas Anderson's films. In "Norwegian Wood," however, his scoring felt somewhat dissonant. Maybe it would be more appropriate to include particular songs dotted throughout the novel in the track list, though questions of music licensing inevitably come into play. Still, I would've loved to hear Kind of Blue played on repeat like Toru describes in a letter to Naoko. It was great to hear songs by Can and a nice touch that they would have been released during the time period in which the novel is set.

Since film is a time-based medium, its pacing obviously differs from that of a book. Certain things need to be left out and others rushed through. One of my favorite scenes is the book is when Toru offers to sit in the hospital with Midori's father. In the movie it feels rather abrupt and it is Midori who requests that Toru sit with him, not the other way around. I also felt that leaving out Reiko's backstory made her feel like a two-dimensional character on screen.

I think book-to-film adaptation succeed when they take a stance: The director's voice and aesthetic vision resonate clearly in the space of the film while still resembling the original. Maybe "Norwegian Wood" needed to take more artistic liberty instead of merely summarizing its source text. It's always fun to see a book play out on screen instead of just in our minds, but adaptions should provide a different lens into the novel.

Bella