Before watching the film, I thought that translating Norwegian Wood from a book into a movie would be an impossible task. This is a story so dense that I truly didn't think it could be done. After watching it, I fear that that assumption remains. There are definite improvements made to the book in the movie, but overall I feel as if the story is hurt by this change in medium.
One of the things I feel that the film improved greatly upon was the setting of the story. The University protests provided a very interesting background to the beginning of the film that didn't feel very important in the novel. I also think that some of the scenes in the story were better understood in a visual medium. For instance, one of the most initially pivotal scenes in the story, Naoko's birthday party, felt much more impactful in the film. For one thing, it seemed much clearer that Toru took advantage of Naoko in her vulnerable state, which really changed the way I viewed a lot of his actions later in the story as well.
I feel that most details in Murakami stories matter greatly, and although some scenes absolutely had to be cut in order to meet a time limit, it hurts the story. For instance, Stormtrooper's importance, in general, is significantly curtailed, to a point that he hardly seems relevant at all. This also means that the firefly scene isn't present, which I feel marked the first big shift in the narrative.
Ultimately, I enjoyed watching the movie a lot. If it had one thing, it was an atmosphere, and I think that is one of the most important things to nail if you are adapting Murakami to film.
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