Tran Anh Hung’s (Possibly Feminist) Changes to Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood

I am not quite sure where I stand on the quality of Tran Anh Hung’s Norwegian Wood (2010) in comparison to the novel, but I can say that I do not hate the changes Hung made to the narrative. It became clear that the film was made by a woman as I was watching, because I felt that the changes made were in an attempt to remedy the (possibly) sexist aspects of the novel.

The most apparent change I suppose was the humanization of Midori’s character. Hung seemed to want to give her some more human characteristics, rather than just operating as a spectacle, or a plot device furthering Watanabe’s character. I noticed this in the scene where Midori calls Watanabe to inform him of her father’s death. Though in the novel she seems to compartmentalize most emotions and feelings that might make her too similar to Naoko, in Hung’s version–she cries, and is clearly upset. I also noticed that Hung cut the scene of her purposefully wearing short skirts around the boys dorm and the hospital.

I also liked how Hung changed Hatsumi and Nagasawa a bit. I noticed that she was uninterested in moralizing Nagasawa’s character the way that Watanabe does in Murakami’s novel. Watanabe and Nagasawa do not bond over their love of The Great Gatsby, and instead Nagasawa is shown throwing away Watanabe’s book–stripping him of any possibly redeeming qualities. I also thought that the scene at the dinner table where Hatsumi, Nagasawa, and Watanabe talk about the night that Nagasawa and Watanabe was particularly powerful. The camera stays put on Hatsumi as they have that exchange, and we get to see how the story affects Hatsumi, and insinuating the clear line between who is right, and who is wrong at the dinner table. 

I also noticed that Hung cut out Reiko’s backstory regarding the sexual relations between her and her former pupil. I have never known what to make of that aspect of the novel, and I am not sure that I want to? That being the only queer (although, I hate to even call it queer due to the circumstances surrounding it in the narrative) aspect of the narrative doesn’t quite sit right with me, even if it is there for some metaphysical reason. I kind of liked that it was not included in the film because I’m not really sure what it adds to the story.

In all, I didn’t hate the film adaptation as much as the reviews do. I definitely do not think it was better than the novel by any means, but I do respect that changes Hung made regarding the women in the story.

Lexi Nasse