"Norwegian Wood" is a Japanese film directed by Tran Anh Hung that adapts a novel with the same name written by Haruki Murakami. I haven't read the book so I can only evaluate the film as a stand-alone product. The film is the story of Toru Watanabe, who struggles with the unexplainable suicide of his childhood best friend and his later feelings for the late friend's girlfriend, Naoko. As a romance develops between Toru and Naoko, she falls into depression and flees to a mountain retreat/sanitarium. Toru loves Naoko but also feels an obligation not to abandon her as his late friend did. Things get complicated when Toru meets a fellow student at his Tokyo university named Midori, who is almost an opposite of Naoko.
This film was beautifully done. The cinematography is just outstanding and makes the film a visual treat. I felt though that the pacing was a bit slow and the acting/dialogue stilted at times. Since I didn't read the novel I can't say how much of the issues have to do with simply taking a novel and attempting to translate it into a film. The characters other than Toru were underdeveloped and could've used a bit more fleshing out.
Beautiful film with some issues - solid C+
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