Norwegian Wood film

 The film adaptation of Norwegian Wood was certainly an interesting watch. 

As an adaptation of the book, it stands quite well, but unfortunately it does not stand well on its own as a film. Norwegian Wood only works if you read the book alongside it, or have read the book. A lot of the subtext of the film only makes sense if you have the context of the book. The film doesn't make allowances for the fact that storytelling in film is inherently different than storytelling in books, and that changes must be made in order to make a stand-alone film. Things like not establishing that the story is a flashback from an older adult Watanabe's recollections of what happens and then mentioning in the middle of a scene that, oh, this woman ends up committing suicide in like five years don't make for a film that really makes sense.

In a way, even having read the book the film doesn't quite work because the book is in first person. The reader is only privy to Watanabe's inner monologue, and his interpretation of what is happening around him. He is biased, and an unreliable narrator in a way because of his own lack of understanding of the people (women) around him. So when you watch the movie, you get to have an objective look because you are no longer looking through Watanabe's eyes. Suddenly things can be interpreted very differently because they seem one way to the viewer, but having read the book, you know how it seems to Watanabe. For instance, to me personally it seemed incredibly obvious that Naoko was planning her suicide from the moment that Watanabe starts mentioning plans for his and Naoko's future. She seemed to take a 180 in terms of how well she was doing, suddenly seeming much happier and smiling at plans from the future when she was struggling immensely before. Typically for suicidal people, this sudden wave of happiness is because they feel a sudden freedom from having made the decision to commit suicide. However, Watanabe is surprised, and suddenly the viewers of the movie are able to make their own conclusions about Naoko's mental health where we weren't in the book.

It also honestly felt like there was a gaping hole in the movie where Reiko's backstory should've been. Her backstory with her piano student added a really sinister aspect to her character, but in the movie she still remains this positive force with no real nuance or character detail added. Therefore her decision to leave the sanatorium at the end doesn't feel as impactful as it did in the book.

I also found it a lot easier to connect with the characters emotionally in the movie. I didn't feel nearly as impacted when Naoko dies in the book compared to watching it in the movie. That isn't to say I found the book flat or that the characters were particularly hard to connect with, but apart from the shock that was intended, my emotional reaction didn't go much further than that. When she died in the movie, my stomach rolled and I literally got nauseous and had to stop watching the scene for a little while, and it honestly affected the rest of my day.

Juliana