Focusing on the Positives

 To agree with the majority of viewers I didn't find Norwegian Wood the film to be particularly good. It was a translation of the story on film and I did enjoy watching everything played out. Yet, some of the story changes and bad acting (and worse on screen chemistry) made then film feel not as a direct translation of the story, but rather just a poor imitation. 

This being said, for my blogpost I want to focus on some of the positive aspects I really enjoyed about this film. I loved the cinematography in a few of the scenes. I want to call attention to the scene where Midori lies/tells Toru about her father in Uruguay. Nothing is ever physically stationary in this scene: the camera nor the actors. Toru and Midori are constantly circling each other, and the camera follows their behavior, circling and following them. It gives the scene a really uneasy feeling almost, to put it frankly it's weird. The constant motion, the repeating backgrounds, the rapid jumps between focus on Midori or Toru, it all feels like a big web is being spun. I feel as if this is a good metaphorical representation of Midori and Toru's relationship. In both the movie and the book this scene represents Midori and Toru becoming further entangled in each other's personal lives. Midori might be lying, but many of the sentiments she said were true. She's letting Toru in, therefore entangling their lives together. The circular motion of the camera and constant circling characters really make me feel this entangling. 

Another good example of a great cinematography choice is the drenching of blue during the sex scenes. When Naoko and Toru first have sex, the scene is incredibly dark and almost startlingly blue. Blue is not a romantic color, telling us that we should not be taking this scene as such. There is something wrong here, either with Naoko or the situation in general. Blue is also a color linked to depression, highlighting the vulnerable space that Naoko was in during this scene due to her struggle with mental illness. When reading this scene in the book I felt incredibly uncomfortable because I believe no one should have sex with someone who was so obviously going through an emotional crisis, it feels predatory. I believe the blue wash in the film during this scene really added to that feeling. This isn't romantic, something is off. 

So, in summary although I did not like many of the plot/writing/dialogue changes made in this film, I really do enjoy visual aspects of this film. I feel like it accurately represented the feelings I felt while reading the book. Which, in some ways, makes me appreciate the movie. 

- Cam