The film adaptation of Norwegian Wood takes an artistic and quietly emotional approach to moving the story from the novel to the screen. Firstly, I was struck with the depiction of Kizuki's suicide, as in the novel, I could not really picture how he killed himself through his methods, but the movie visually showed how it happened and I realized that it must have taken longer for him to pass away than I previously thought, which also makes Toru's comment that he was not sure how long it took for Kizuki to die more clear to me. However, much less time was spend on Naoko's suicide, and though the movie shows a grim scene of her hanging, more time is spent showing Toru's reaction to her death which highlights his emotional response but leaves out the complexities of her character. That being said, the scenes of him crying amongst the rocks and other moments of scenery/landscape enhanced the cinematography, adding in visual elements that highlights feelings of hopelessness, loss, grief, beauty, etc. that aligns with the tones of the novel. I also thought the movie score contributed to the overall atmosphere of the movie, especially in the high-intensity orchestral background at the end. As is usually the case, the movie adaptation left out some scenes from the novel, but I do think the omissions watered down the story so the character development and plot progression didn't make as much sense. This had the consequence of me connecting less with the characters and I felt that I sympathized with them more while reading the novel. I also felt that the inclusion of the sex scenes didn't fit as well, as they left out Toru's inner thoughts and physical descriptions. It was interesting to see visual adaptations of the characters as they work through loss and love in their comings of age, but the movie didn't really resonate with me well and I found that some scenes were hard to get through.
- Alice Liao
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