On my way home from #NorwegianWood at @JapanSociety and all I can say is: ???! (amazing!), a photo by thepetecom on Flickr.
OK, so that's not all I can say :) This is a film about a young man in the late 1960s who is coming of age around other young adults doing the same in a world of serious seriousness. How is the rest of your life changed by a tragedy when you are young? That's roughly the question the film asks. Whether it answers it fully is up to the viewer, I think.
This movie is amazingly well acted, superbly shot and invisibly directed. If you're a fan of truly subtle acting and enjoy a good tragedy, this movie is for you. Heavy doesn't begin to describe it. Atmospheric is just a suggestion of how this film weighs on you (in a good way).
For some reason, I keep wanting to describe "Norwegian Wood" as "2001: A Space Odyssey" with all the science fiction swapped out for tragic fiction but with all of the profundity intact. It was both perplexing and satisfying while still leaving some things up to the audience to interpret.
Based on the novel by Haruki Murakami, "Norwegian Wood" was written and directed by Tran Anh Hung and stars Kenichi Matsuyama and Rinko Kikuchi with music by Jonny Greenwood. It opens in the US on January 6th, 2012.
