Norwegian Wood is a Japanese drama film adapted from the Japanese writer Haruki Murakami’s novel with the same name and directed by Tran Auh Hung, a French film director of Vietnamese ancestry who won the Golden Lion in 1995 Venice Film Festival. It was released in January of
Norwegian Wood is a story about ‘Lose and Found’. It is the memory and the review of growing up of Toru Watanabe, the main character in the film, with the background setting in Tokyo in the late 1960s, the time that students around Japan are uniting to overthrow the establishment. When Toru was still in high school, he always hanged around with his good friends, Kizuki and Kizuki’s girlfriend, Naoko. At that time, their life filled with pleasure and happiness. However, Kizuki suddenly committed suicide for no apparent reason when he was 17 which was a heavy big hit to Toru and Kaoko. For this reason, Toru left his hometown and entered a university in Tokyo looking in order to rebuild his life. By sheer chance, he met Naoko. They began to hang out and grow increasingly close as they shared the same loss. As Toru and Naoko grew even more intimate, Naoko’s sense of loss for Kizuki also grew as well. After Naoko’s 20th birthday, she left for a sanitarium in Kyoto to better her psychological state and they were forced to separate. During that time, they kept in touch by writing letters. Sometimes, Toru would visit Kyoto under permission. But most of his time, he met other girls in the street and hanged around the red light district to cure his pain of the sudden departure of Kyoto. Yet, Toru met Midori, another pure-hearted girl who is totally different from Kyoto, during the spring semester
, and he began to ponder his relationship to both women. But fate helped him to make the choice. Kyoto’s sickness became more serious and she finally followed in Kizuki’s footsteps. Toru was guilty, but after the chaos of his life, he had grown up, because he chose to live and also Midori.
In this film, it seems several roles have different meanings. Watanabe represents the or
dinary people, similar with us, who is nothing special but have a sincere attitude towards the life. It seems there is no advantage on him, but his amiability is the ‘charm’ to attract others to close to. However, Naoko and Midori are in contrast. Midori represents the image of beauty, active, curious, charming, which are regarded as all good in life; while Naoko is a quiet, passive, weak, sad, on behalf of various hardships of life. The love of Wantanbe between Naoko and Midori represents the struggles in our life that we envision the bright future in one hand, but attach to depravity inwardly on the other hand; we desire to emb
race all the good in life and also bet able to control everything. Nevertheless, how can our life be such perfect? The other characters also reflect different outlook on life which affects the decision of Watanabe and his fate. Same as in our real life, our fate is influenced by the others, our different experience and living environment as well as opportunities.
Ostensibly, Norwegian Wood is a love story of young people. The struggle of Watanabe in love and sex as well as other aspects has aroused the sympathy of many young boys and girls. For example, finding love, dating, optioning, breaking up...etc, they are always the source of trouble under the physiological and psychological drive. Accompany with the burden of life, studies, friends, family, the surrounding socio-economic and political issues, we seem entering an unfathomable forest. Once a slightest mistake is made, we will be trapped and take to the road of self-destruction. In this forest, there is no map, no guarantee. You can only work out step by step on your own to walk through all the barriers. On the way, perhaps you have to pay or make the choice, but no one knows how would be in the future. The most important thing is alive, and never gives up. Life may not be perfect, there’s no such thing as right or wrong in making choices, only retain our heart be true and frank is responsible to our life.
Charlotte, HO Wai-sze (10382282)
It seems that you are a big fan of Japanese movie, aren’t you? Though I haven’t watched the movie of Norwegian Wood, I did read the novel written by Haruki Murakami. Frankly speaking, I found it quite boring and couldn’t identify with anyone in the book…
ReplyDeleteYou have described the symbolic qualities of the main characters, as well as their cultural meanings and social significance. The discussion on the metaphor of forest enables us to associate with some “imaginary” experience as well.
Perhaps you may try to decode the movie in a specific context, and talk about the possible readings of local audience (for example, students of your age group). The lead section (i.e., introducing the story plot) should be more precise too.