I was surprised by how much I liked Anh Hung Tran's Norwegian Wood (2010). But I should haven't been since I enjoyed several of his previous films (Cyclo, The Scent of Green Papaya, and Vertical Ray of the Sun). Furthermore, the cinematography was exquisite and was done by frequent Wong Kar-wai and Hsiao-hsien Hou collaborator Ping Bin Lee (In the Mood for Love, Millennium Mambo, The Assassin, etc.). Furthermore, the sparse score was done by Radiohead guitarist Johnny Greenwood. It is an adaptation of Haruki Mursakami's most beloved novel of the same name. It is the story fo Toru Watanabe (Kenichi Matsyama) a student in Tokyo during the turbulent late 60s who recalls when his best friend Kizuki (Kengo Kora) killed himself and how he grew close to Naoko (Rinko kiuchi), Kizuki's girlfriend. Then later another woman, the outgoing, lively Midori (Kiko Mizuhara). Make no mistake this is an art film, it is over two hours long and mostly involves conversations between lovers but has some very evocative cinematography-certainly not for everyone. But I felt it was a successful adaptation of a beloved novel by Murakami.
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