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+ Best Japanese Movie of the Year
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| An intimate, lovely poster for Tran Anh Hung's Norwegian Wood |
Young Japanese male Hizaki commits suicide. His girlfriend and best friend sleeps together, but she later becomes unstable and moves into a home in the mountains, while he balances their capricious relation with the temptations of living in Tokyo.
Norwegian Wood is an adaptation of Haruki Murakami's (Sputnik Sweetheart/Supūtoniku no koibito (1999)) same-titled 1987 novel by great Vietnamese writer-director Tran Anh Hung (The Scent of Green Papaya/Mùi du du xanh (1993)). It is an utmost delicate, youthful film of grand emotions set in a vividly beautiful Japan in the 1960s: Especially natural scenery are utilized to great effect throughout the film, which has spectacular cinematography by Ping Bin Lee (The Rooftop/Tian tai ai qing (2013)).
The film is long but so immersive and filled with sexually piquant scenes as well as fine moments that convey loneliness other intimate feelings, as if taking a bite of a ripe fruit of youth. The Japanese specialty for overwrought feelings and behavior, (and, surely connected to that, a striking absence of humor), is strongly portrayed here; the film may even go as far as to go along to a small degree in the local custom of romanticizing suicide. In any case Norwegian Wood is a fabulous, wonderful film.
Related posts:
Tran Anh Hung: 2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess
The Scent of Green Papaya/Mùi đu đủ Xanh/L'Odeur de la Papaye Verte (1993) - Hung's debut is pure visual poetry
Watch an official trailer for the film here
Box office: 19.1 mil. $
= Unknown
[Norwegian Wood premiered September 2 (Venice International Film Festival) and runs 133 minutes. It took Hung 4 years of talks with Murakami, before the famous author approved the adaptation in 2008. Filming took place in Japan in October 2008, February 2009 and from June - July 2009. The film opened #56 in just 3 theaters to a 13k $ first weekend in North America, where it never went out wider and got pulled out of distribution after those just 3 days. The film made the vast majority of its gross in its native Japan: 16.3 mil. $ (85.3 %). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 550k $ (2.9 %) and Spain with 383k $ (2 %). Without knowing the film's budget, it is impossible to know if its gross makes it a theatrical hit. The film was nominated for 3 awards at the Asian Film Awards, winning for Best Cinematography (Ping Bin Lee (The Assassin/Nie yin niang (2015)). Norwegian Wood is certified fresh at 74 % with a 6.5 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of Norwegian Wood?
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