Cindy/Jiahan Lyu's blog post 3 on the movie:

I feel that the movie contains some praiseworthy credits yet overall it feels insufficient and lacks of something. For example, there are key elements not presented in the movie, which i think is quite important, such as Naoko's butterfly barrette (we discussed in class that butterfly implies death in Japanese culture, I am also thinking that maybe it is a symbol related to the Greek word "psyche", which means both "soul/mind" and "butterfly", since the whole book is as a recollection in Watanabe's mind, the butterfly might as well has some greek root in it), Watanabe and Midori briefly kissing each other while watching a fire burning (which is replaced by raindrops falling in the movie), and so on. I also think that the movie is a little rush and if it can pace down, it would convey more surrealistic and mystic vibe in the novel.

But I do like how they film Naoko in the movie, which makes me think that the girl is really Naoko. The movie successfully brings Naoko to screen and unfolds her characters, pain, and mental disease well, which really draws me.

And Another thing I enjoy is how they consistently creates a disharmony between rapid and active student movement around Watanabe and Watanabe's isolation from all these passionate movement, which gives the audience some historical background, while reflects the wandering state of mind of Watanabe. An outsider, we could say.

Last but not least, I think that the movie could be filmed in a more reflective, and recollective way, such as starting with the plane scene, which I also think is crucially important to present in the beginning.

Cindy Lyu