ノルウェイの森/NORWEGIAN WOOD

I once had a girl, or should I say... She once had me.
She showed me her room, isn't it good, Norwegian Wood?

Norwegian Wood marked my introduction to the written works of Haruki Murakami. Arguably one of the best novelists in the world, Murakami manages to delve into the human psyche and form a rapport between his characters and the readers of his novels. The novel was inspired by a song by The Beatles with the same title. The song likewise acted as a way of connecting the various periods of Toru's life. Toru is the protagonist/narrator of this particular novel.

Each time I read the book, I discovered something new about particular characters that I didn't notice during previous readings. Interesting enough, I found Murakami's characterisation quite intense. His depiction of the people who had touched Toru's life was somewhat delightful, yet at the same time it borders on grotesque due to the juxtaposition of their positive and negative characteristics.

His exploration of the female psyche is also rather insightful. First, you get a character like Naoko who seems to have "died" psychologically as a result of a traumatic incident in her past. Then you get a character named Midori who has a lot of angst hidden beneath a confident mask. Two extremes. Connected with this is the constant exploration of his characters' sexuality. Freudian, perhaps... but somehow each Murakami novel uses sex as a tool to explore character development. It is done tastefully, but still, it makes you wonder more about human psychology.

The novel was turned into a film sometime last year. It was directed by Anh Hung Tran. It was only this year that it was shown in Australia's Palace cinemas. I was lucky enough to see it.

It was more of an art film than a mainstream one. I found myself getting bored at times as the story seemed to progress so slowly at some points. Admittedly, it can be quite difficult to channel the same psychological exploration done by the book. The cinematography was quite good. I loved the colours that were used in various scenes.

Costumes were done quite well. I found myself observing what various characters wore, and each character's personality was channeled quite well. I particularly loved the character Midori- from her acting to her costume. It was very chic and mod.

Characterisation was a bit of a hit and miss. Admittedly, I wished that they chose a slightly different person to act as Toru, though Matsuyama Kenichi managed to portray a semblance of the awkwardness that Toru had. Kikuchi Rinko was a pretty good choice for Naoko. I think they were spot-on with this choice. I also also adored their choices for Midori and Nagasawa.

It's admittedly not a film for everybody. I think that the book packs a lot more punch, though after watching the film I found myself aching to reread the book- just to see what I had missed. I wish that they explored Midori's character just a bit more.

Norwegian Wood can be purchased at any good book retailer. If you have the chance (and the knowledge of Japanese), I recommend that you read the Japanese version as well. This can be purchased at Kinokuniya. The nuances between the English and Japanese versions can add another dimension to your reading experience.