Norwegian Wood/ノルウェイの森 (Noruwei no mori) (2010) - Hung's delicate adaptation of grand emotions youth drama in 1960s Japan

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+ Best Japanese Movie of the Year

 

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

Cost: Unknown
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?

The Scent of Green Papaya/Mùi đu đủ Xanh/L'Odeur de la Papaye Verte (1993) - Hung's debut is pure visual poetry

♥♥♥♥♥

+ Best Vietnamese Movie of the Year

Man San Lu looks probingly at us on the poster for Tran Anh Hung's The Scent of Green Papaya

QUICK REVIEW:

We follow the maid Mui, who lives with a Vietnamese merchant family in Saigon in 1951, as a tragedy disrupts them. Ten years later the now beautiful young woman Mui becomes the bone of contention between her masters.

Dialog is switched out for reticence and lyrical communication, beautiful Chopin as well as original compositions, by Tiêt Tôn-Thât (The Buffalo Boy/Mùa Len Trâu (2004)), mixed with the sounds of the important garden in the film. Green Papaya is a sensual and beautiful, quiet film in naturally radiant colors.
One reservation: The film's obsession with ants is a little excessive.
Green Papaya is the debut feature of great Vietnamese writer-director Tran Anh Hung (Cyclo/Xích Lô (1995)). His wife Tran Nu Yên-Khê (Cyclo) portrays the older Mui.

 

Related post:

 

1993 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

Watch the American trailer for the film here

Cost: Reportedly 18 mil. francs, equal to approximately 3.3 mil. $
Box office: 1.7 - 1.9 mil. $ (North America only)
= Unknown
[The film was shot entirely on a soundstage in Boulogne, France. It won the Camera d'Or and the 'Award of the Youth French Film' at Cannes as well as the César (French Oscar) award for Best First Work, and was nominated for the Best Foreign Film Oscar, which it lost to the great crowdpleaser Belle Epoque (1992). Roger Ebert gave the film a perfect 4 star review. Its world gross is unfortunately not out, but with its base in France, where art films are seen more widely than in most other countries, the film could well have been a box office success. It is fresh at 100 % with an 8.1 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Scent of Green Papaya?