We’re mostly weary of film adaptations of our favourite books but this first clip from Norwegian Wood looks promising. Based on Haruki Murakami’s novel of the same name, the sneak peak comes courtesy of Nowness.com and on a purely superficial level, the film’s set design and art direction aligns completely with the vision in our minds.
Set in 1960’s Japan and infused with the social upheaval and burgeoning pop culture of that time, Norwegian Wood follows Toru Watanabe (Ken’ichi Matsuyama) a sensitive music obsessed student who must navigate meaningful but complicated relationships with Naoko (Rinko Kikuchi) the girlfriend of his recently deceased best friend and Midori (Kiko Mizuhara) a free-spirited classmate. The book (and by extension the film) deals with loss, mental illness and existential crisis and as Nowness points out “is something of a Japanese Catcher in the Rye“. You should totally read it if you haven’t.
Though we’re not too familiar with the actor who plays Watanabe, Western audiences will recognize Rinko Kikuchi as the underwear adverse teen from Babel, a performance which earned her an Oscar nomination. Also, Jonny Greenwood did the score, so there’s that.
Watch the clip below. Sadly it features approximately zero transcendent handjobs.
