Murakami’s Norweigan Wood – the movie

The adaptation of Haruki Murakami’s novel to the big screen is now complete and the film will be released in Japan later this month. The Beatles song Norwegian Wood is used in the trailer, and very little words (the trailer is Japanese with no subtitles so I couldn’t understand the little that was said).

The trailer is short and doesn’t tell much, but you get the feeling this is a film with less words and more action, and lots of nature. They shot the film in Tonomine highlands, Mineyama highlands, and Kasumi coast. It seems to be a movie to watch if only for the beautiful images from Japan. Norweigan Wood is set in Japan in 1969, and I believe this is also another reason why this movie is one of the more visually-interesting film of the year.

The director is Anh Hung Tran, that also made The Scent of Green Papaya, and it seems this movie is going to save his career. One of the actresses is making her debut in this movie, in the role of Midori. Before taking part in this film Kiko Mizuhara was a japanese model.

The movie was shown in Venice film festival 2010 , and will be released in the USA in 2011. Until then, here’s the official synopsis:

“I once had a girl, or should I say, she once had me.”

The melancholy tune and sentiment of this classic Beatles song seems to have taken the life of Toru Watanabe (Kenichi Matsuyama), who is similarly uncertain as to how he should view his relationships. At heart, a quiet and serious young Tokyo college student in 1969, Watanabe, is deeply devoted to his first love, Naoko (Rinko Kikuchi), a beautiful and introspective young woman. But their mutual passion is made by the tragic death of their best friend years before. Watanabe lives with the influence of death everywhere, while Naoko feels as if some integral part of her has been permanently lost. On the night of Naoko’s 20th birthday, they finally made love to each other. However, shortly thereafter Naoko decided to quit college and become a recluse. It is at that time Midori (Kiko Mizuhara) – a girl who is everything that Naoko is not !X outgoing, vivacious, supremely self-confident – marches into Watanabe!|s life and he has to choose between his future and his past.

And here are some still from the movie: