Norwegian Wood may take its name from a Beatles song but anyone expecting a carefree tale of free love in the swinging 60s should probably look elsewhere. For one thing, its set in Japan against a backdrop of political unrest. For another, its generally sombre in tone and frankly often quite boring to watch.
Actually, there is a fair amount of free love in the film but its certainly not of the carefree variety. The film initially centres on a trio of students, Toru Watanabe and his friends young couple Kizuki and his girlfriend Naoko. This happy scenario doesnt last long. Kizuki kills himself and Toru soon finds himself embroiled in a relationship with the now emotionally fragile Naoko. After Naoko starts to go bonkers, Toru falls under the sway of hedonist and womaniser Nagasawa. He also finds himself drawn to another attractive but again emotionally uncertain girl, Midori.
Having trouble keeping up? Actually, you really shouldnt do. Much of the film Norwegian Wood is about as fast moving as some actual Norwegian wood. This is especially annoying as a lot of the content of Haruki Murakamis book is effectively overlooked in favour of lots of very long (although admittedly visually sumptuous) scenes of people walking about, often without dialogue. It would probably be going too far to say you could switch the subtitles off even if you didnt speak Japanese. But its not that much more exciting with them on.
Perhaps I am too harsh, my attention span ruined by western claptrap like Transformers 3. But really this should have been better. Theres a making of featurette too but it doesnt really help.
Overall Verdict: Nice to look at but even some scenes is so lethargic that if you watched them in slow motion they would actually go backwards. But as The Beatles said: this bird has flown.
Special Features:
Making of Featurette
Reviewer: Chris Hallam