Norwegian Wood


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franzoir

-the smooth, the suave, and the shrewd
Sempai
Norwegian_wood_poster.jpg


Plot Synopsis:
Toru Watanabe is a quiet and serious young man in 1960s Tokyo whose personal life is in tumult, having lost his best friend Kizuki after he inexplicably commits suicide. Seeking an escape, Toru enters a university in Tokyo. By chance, during a walk in a park, Toru meets Kizuki's ex-girlfriend Naoko, and they grow close. Naoko is devastated by the loss of Kizuki and spirals into a deep depression.

After Naoko's 20th birthday, which she shares with Toru, she withdraws from the world and leaves for a sanitarium in a remote forest setting near Kyoto. Toru is anguished by the situation, as he still has deep feelings for Naoko, but she is unable to reciprocate. He also lives with the influence of death everywhere, while Naoko feels as if some integral part of her has been permanently lost. He continues with his studies, and during the spring semester meets an attractive girl and fellow student Midori, who is everything that Naoko isn't — outgoing, vivacious, and supremely self-confident. The story then follows Toru as he is torn between the two women in his life, and choosing between his past and his future.

My thoughts:
I watched this film over the summer just gone and I was blown away. It is perhaps one of my favourite live action films to come out of Japan in recent memory.

Firstly, there is a tendency of characters and themes in Japanese films to come off as cartoonish or dealt with in a flippant manner. This is an entirely serious film with characters that are relatable and portrayed very realistically. Most surprisingly, I was drawn in by Naoko's plight and when she explains why she feels the way she does, I found it to be a very truthful account of what a sense of loss can do to a person. The fact that Kizuki's suicide happens in a vacuum, neither explained or referenced very much just hangs over the film and gives it a foreboding atmosphere.

However, the contrast between Noako in the asylum and other characters in Tokyo is striking. Midori and Nagasawa I suppose represents the good and bad of foreign influence. The film is named after a Beatles song 'Norwegian Wood' and serves as a backdrop to an insular Japanese culture suddenly being punctured by western influences. Nagasawa aspires to be an elite yuppy like his idol in 'The Great Gatsby' while learning nothing of its cautionary tale, and Midori seems to enjoy her sexual liberation.

Beyond the nuance characters, some of the cinematography is absolutely stunning. Some shots of the forest in Kyoto are beautiful but it has this weird tinge to it that even though Toru and Naoko are in this idyllic place, they are still surrounded by death.

To sum up my thoughts, this is a multifaceted period film that wants to show the cultural upheaval of Japan but also most importantly, just how selfish a decision like suicide is and what happens to the people left behind. Considering the 20 year economic depression in Japan and the devastation it has had on the youths driven to commit suicide, I consider Haruki Mikami's 1987 novel and this subsequent adaption to be very relevant to our times.

9/10
 
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