It is impossible to deny that Murakami's Norwegian Wood puts a major emphasis on the topics of mental health and the ramifications that improper care for it leads to. Mentions of depression, trauma, suicide, and other struggles of the sort permeate the entire novel, as most of the relevant characters from said book struggle with them in one way or another. Surrounded by characters like Naoko, Midori, Kizuki, Nagasawa, and so on, Watanabe's near neurotypical nature allows the reader to analyze through the protagonist's impartial perspective the progressive downfall of all the friends that surround him. Progressive, however, is a term that should be used extremely carefully, as the suicides of both Kizuki and Naoko are sudden and relatively unexpected. In Kizuki's case, his death is announced after the protagonist enjoys a peaceful game of pool with his best friend. Instead, Naoko's suicide is announced in a letter by Reiko, just moments after the same character had written to Watanabe about the great improvements that Naoko had been making in therapy. Murakami does an excellent job in maintaining the shock factor of their deaths in written form: as with real life, it is extremely challenging to predict and prevent the suicide of a loved one.
Still, Murakami's literary prowess gets lost in translation in the book's movie adaptation, as crucial parts of the story and minute details that greatly contribute to the bigger picture are left out of the movie. The resulting product is a production in limbo between being an adaptation and reinterpretation of the famed story. On the one hand, the movie is technically an adaptation in the sense that it mostly treats dialogues between characters as a script for actors to recite. In such a sense, the adaptation is so truthful to the book that the characters played seem rigid and unexpressive. After all, the realistic nature of Murakami's characters is partially due to the literary medium that brings them to life. On the other hand, the creative freedoms that the director takes separates the original product from the reinterpreted work. Unfortunately, most of the "creative freedoms" taken are usually just the removal of scenes intended to flesh out the psyche of the characters involved.
Take for example the observations made by Watanabe on Naoko's twentieth birthday:
"Naoko was unusually talkative that night. She told me about her childhood, her school, her family. Each episode was a long one, executed with the painstaking detail of a miniature. I was amazed at the power of her memory, but as I sat listening it began to dawn on me that there was something wrong with the way she was telling these stories: something strange, warped even (Haruki Murakami - Norwegian Wood)."
In the novel, the specific wording used by Murakami paints the scene of a girl running off a broken machine. Naoko talks, gleefully, endlessly, without giving Watanabe any chance to contribute to the conversation. The way in which the scene is described makes it seem as if Naoko will never stop. Furthermore, it establishes a certain eeriness in the atmosphere that is reinforced both by the dark room in which the celebration is being held and by the ambiance of the outside rain. The scene is essential for the understanding of Naoko as a character: it makes the reader understand that something within her is broken, thus providing a major plot point for the rest of the story. The movie, however, does not dedicate the time and attention that this scene deserves, instead boiling it down to a rapid interaction which later leads to meaningless sex. In the movie, Naoko does not appear to be broken in any stretch of the imagination. If anything, she is simply crying because she remembers the death of her past lifelong partner.
Naoko's case, while definitely being one of the most relevant examples, is definitely not the only one. For instance, most references of Stormtrooper are completely removed from the movie. In doing so, the director also deprives Watanabe of his most successful conversation starter.
Overall, the cinematic project would have been a success if what it wanted to be had been properly decided. By trying instead to be both an adaptation and a stand-alone movie, the positive aspects of both projects cancel each other out. The viewer is left with a fragmented adaptation with some cinematic elements that only those that have read the book can actually understand.
Daniele
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