Though I found it entertaining, my initial impression of the movie was that it wanted to touch upon key components of the novel without dwelling on any long enough to properly develop them. There was the sense that everything was being rushed through to include all the highlights of the story, which would have made it difficult for me to emotionally connect with the characters had I not already read the book. I conceived of it more as a visual summary rather than an adaptation invoking similar emotional impressions.
One instance of the sacrifice of such fast pacing that stood out to me was Nagasawa’s characterization. In the movie, when delivering the line about not reading books that haven’t had the baptism of time and smacking Toru’s book out of his hands, without the context that him and Toru have bonded over literature and Nagasawa having already been properly established as a character, he comes across as far more childish and obnoxious than he did in the novel. While the statement can still seem pretentious, when the depth of his character has been explored, which is what really fascinates Toru and in turn can interest the reader, this bias towards older literature has the potential to become one of his more sympathetic traits since it’s an example of something he values in his predominantly irreverent life. It reveals that, despite how he treats other people, he does have his own standards. So I found that Nagasawa’s introduction in the film flattened him.
In a similar way, when Stormtrooper moves out in the film, his personality has been shown so little that the sense of loss at his absence isn’t comparable to that felt in the novel. Time and time again, Toru brightens people’s lives with absurd Stormtrooper stories, making him such a staple presence in Toru’s life that his absence is jarring. I really liked Norwegian Wood, and the film made me appreciate the novel more for how well it could build investment in its characters.
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