Blog 3 - Norwegian Wood Movie

I wish I could say I enjoyed the movie version of Norwegian Wood as much as the book, but the two don't even come close. I feel as if the movie simply failed to capture the essence of the story, and I was especially upset with the way the medium handled a couple of what I felt were the most important scenes in the novel. This is not to say the film was bad, just that it felt detached from the book in nearly everything but the names of the characters and overarching plot. Before I delve into what I disliked about the movie, I feel it is only fair to also include the things I did enjoy. I really appreciate having watched the movie purely for the fact that it allowed me to listen and see the characters expressed in the language and setting in which the story takes place. I feel as if the western skew of my subconscious takes over when reading, and my imagination can't help but picture characters and places through the lens of an American. Having watched this movie, though, I feel almost as if I can reassess and rework the mental image I had of places and individuals mentioned in the book. 

In terms of the scenes I was particularly upset with, two stood out to me. Firstly, the scene with Midori's father in the hospital. I really disliked the fact that the directors chose not to have any verbal interaction with Midori's father, and especially disliked the lack of the cucumber scene in which to me, Toru and Midori's father create a very important bond. As I've noted in a previous blog post, I believe that scene with Midori's father is of pivotal importance to the story as a whole, as it is the point at which Toru makes up his mind that he loves and wants to be with Midori. Maybe my interpretation of the story is very different from those that wrote the script for the movie, but excluding this scene from the movie felt almost criminal. The second series of scenes I really disliked were those involving and following the death of Naoko. I felt that the scenes, the atmosphere, and especially the score really mismatched those same scenes in the book. In the novel, I pictured Toru learning of Naoko's death and succumbing to the numbness that would come to dominate his life and travels for the coming month. I did not picture a dramatic scene by crashing waves with him screaming into the emptiness; that simply didn't fit with the rest of his character. I pictured a somber yet quiet Toru trudging along a peaceful coastline with no emotions, and no hope. 

These were only a couple of the scenes I disliked, there is unfortunately a plethora of others that I feel could have been explored to greater lengths and could have better aligned with the source material. Overall, I enjoyed the book far more than the movie, but I do appreciate having consumed the story through another medium and through the script writer's interpretation, unfortunately I disagree quite a bit with that interpretation.

- Sam