Norwegian Wood (Tran Ahn Hung, 2010)

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Cosmic Bus
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Norwegian Wood (Tran Ahn Hung, 2010)

#1 Post by Cosmic Bus » Sun May 02, 2010 8:19 pm

First stills released from Tran's upcoming adaptation of Murakami's wonderful novel, shot by Mark Lee Pin Bing (who worked previously with Tran on Vertical Ray of the Sun, and several times with
Hou Hsiao-hsien) and scored by Johnny Greenwood. Due to be released in Japan in December.

Nothing
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Re: Norwegian Wood (Tran Ahn Hung, 2010)

#2 Post by Nothing » Mon May 03, 2010 9:38 am

Let's hope it's as good as I Come with the Rain ;)

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MyNameCriterionForum
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Re: Norwegian Wood (Tran Ahn Hung, 2010)

#3 Post by MyNameCriterionForum » Mon May 03, 2010 10:21 pm

uh, what?

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Markson
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Re: Norwegian Wood (Tran Ahn Hung, 2010)

#4 Post by Markson » Mon May 03, 2010 11:01 pm

MyNameCriterionForum wrote:uh, what?
I believe Nothing is referring to the director's previous effort, which I haven't seen. Though I'm getting the impression that at least one of you found it terrible.

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MyNameCriterionForum
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Re: Norwegian Wood (Tran Ahn Hung, 2010)

#5 Post by MyNameCriterionForum » Tue May 04, 2010 1:43 am

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=7846" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Markson
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Re: Norwegian Wood (Tran Ahn Hung, 2010)

#6 Post by Markson » Tue May 04, 2010 2:42 am

MyNameCriterionForum wrote:viewtopic.php?f=7&t=7846
Point taken. The creative team there looks to have been assembled via Mad Libs.

Still, I'd rather the film come out well. I'm not the world's biggest Murakami fan, but I read the book some 8-9 years ago and I recall enjoying it.

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MyNameCriterionForum
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Re: Norwegian Wood (Tran Ahn Hung, 2010)

#7 Post by MyNameCriterionForum » Tue May 04, 2010 3:46 am

Oh, I hope for the best as well. I Come With The Rain was soooo dispiriting, especially after the lovely Vertical Ray of the Sun and genuinely challenging Cyclo.

Although my friends who are fans of Murakami (not read any yet myself) might hope otherwise... am I mis-remembering or did Wong Kar Wai claim some Murakami influence on In the Mood for Love or 2046?

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Markson
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Re: Norwegian Wood (Tran Ahn Hung, 2010)

#8 Post by Markson » Tue May 04, 2010 4:40 am

I haven't seen 2046 since it appeared on disc, so my memory on it is a little hazy, but given Murakami's attempts to both embrace and subvert genre tropes (mystery, sci-fi, etc.), I wouldn't be surprised. That and they both love their Western music!

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FerdinandGriffon
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Re: Norwegian Wood (Tran Ahn Hung, 2010)

#9 Post by FerdinandGriffon » Tue May 04, 2010 12:09 pm

On the commentary for Chungking Express it's mentioned that Wong was influenced by Murakami's novels.

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Finch
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Re: Norwegian Wood (Tran Ahn Hung, 2010)

#10 Post by Finch » Mon Sep 06, 2010 10:51 am

Pic was screened at Venice and PB from the Guardian has a gushing capsule review up
Tran Anh Hung's Norwegian Wood based on Haruki Murakami's bestselling 1987 novel, was another movie that did not find unanimous support, but I found its languorous, slow-moving beauty superbly achieved. The Jonny Greenwood score was plangent and mesmeric, and the film's style was entirely appropriate for its subject matter: the strange, unacknowledged sensuality in grief and longing for the dead. This is a story of young people in 1960s Japan: Naoko (Rinko Kikuchi) and Kizuki (Kengo Kora) are shy sweethearts; Toru (Kenichi Matsuyama) is Kizuki's best friend, and all three are very close. Then a terrible tragedy occurs, and Naoko and Toru are drawn together in a dark romance of loss, a terrible but compelling sense that each has a special significance for the other which no other putative lover could offer. They are both afraid of this doomed loyalty to unhappiness and to the past, but also somehow thrilled by its tragic grandeur, by the heroism of self-denial and also by the sense that this terrible grief makes sense of love. Paradoxically, it is a very sensual, sexy movie that virtually gorges on its own erotic melancholy. I'm not being entirely facetious when I say that there is intense "emo" quality to the film – almost a Twilight for the arthouse set – but it is beautifully made, well acted and offers a swoon of pleasure.

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Steven H
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Re: Norwegian Wood (Tran Ahn Hung, 2010)

#11 Post by Steven H » Mon Sep 06, 2010 12:02 pm

There are some other reviews excerpted over at Wildgrounds where it sounds mostly positive but with some reservations about length (133 minutes).

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Finch
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Re: Norwegian Wood (Tran Ahn Hung, 2010)

#12 Post by Finch » Tue Sep 14, 2010 11:02 am

Fernando Croce's capsule from Toronto
Norwegian Wood: Tran Anh Hung's adaptation of Haruki Murakami's languid-erotic novel provides another trip to Japan's past, namely the late '60s when students took to street protests and the titular Beatles ballad seemed to throb for every doomed lover. The central triangle concerns a pair of bashful sweethearts (Rinko Kikuchi, Kengo Kora) and a friend (Kenichi Matsuyama) who all reject the political upheavals around them in favor of a private, morbid sort of rebellion that would have received the approval of the Romantic poets from last year's Bright Star. Fascinated by the pale light silhouetting largely monosyllabic characters in embrace while Jonny Greenwood's guitar gently weeps, the picture finds the lush eye and sensual intuitiveness of Tran (Vertical Ray of the Sun) seamlessly in synch with the wry moodiness of the author of Tony Takitani. The fusion of these two miniaturists may be at 133 minutes too much of an emo orgy for some, though there's no escaping the swoony stateliness of the film's melancholy, where loss and phantoms move like clouds over endless verdant fields.

jojo
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Re: Norwegian Wood (Tran Ahn Hung, 2010)

#13 Post by jojo » Tue Sep 14, 2010 2:13 pm

I felt this book was one of Murakami's minor efforts (having read about 5 books by him) and I recall while reading it that it could easily have been adapted into some quirky indie film full of self conscious cuteness and pop-music laden downbeat sequences.

Hopefully I'm wrong, although chances are I won't catch this film until it's on DVD anyway.

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Finch
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Re: Norwegian Wood (Tran Ahn Hung, 2010)

#14 Post by Finch » Sat Dec 18, 2010 7:22 am

Film's out in Japan now but critical reaction is, as in Venice, mixed

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Jun-Dai
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Re: Norwegian Wood (Tran Ahn Hung, 2010)

#15 Post by Jun-Dai » Tue Dec 21, 2010 3:51 am

Do you mean Mark Schilling's reaction was mixed, or are there other critics that you just didn't link to?

Sounds pretty anyways, which is all I was really expecting from the film. Shame about the music—I was hoping for a full-blown Murakami-style soundtrack. He makes music such an integral part of his stories (to a pretty high degree of pretentiousness, to be frank) that it's hard to imagine making the decision to set Norwegian Wood to a modern score with little music of the period.

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Markson
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Re: Norwegian Wood (Tran Ahn Hung, 2010)

#16 Post by Markson » Thu Feb 03, 2011 4:11 pm

Jonny Greenwood's score is getting a Stateside release.

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FerdinandGriffon
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Re: Norwegian Wood (Tran Ahn Hung, 2010)

#17 Post by FerdinandGriffon » Thu Feb 17, 2011 10:35 am

UK Trailer

I'm mildly impressed, actually.

telamonides
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Re: Norwegian Wood (Tran Ahn Hung, 2010)

#18 Post by telamonides » Wed Mar 23, 2011 11:51 am

Hello, has anyone come across any info regarding distribution of this film in the U.S.?

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