Norwegian Wood the Book and the Movie- Carly

 Carly 

After watching Norwegian Wood, I felt like the movie would be hard to fully understand without having read the book. Many of the characters also felt watered down compared to the book. For example, “Stormtrooper” appears at the beginning of the movie once, and we never see him again. Toru being able to tell these stories about Stormtrooper to prevent the tears that would overwhelm Noako would’ve been nice to see in the movie. 

I also wish the film had developed Toru and Reiko’s relationship more. At the end of the book, the two started to become fairly close. Reiko even gave his advice on what to do when he realizes his feelings for Midori. However, in the movie, she was just Naoko’s closest friend that Toru was familiar with. This made the funeral scene between Reiko and Toru less meaningful. It was really a shame that the scene was completely changed in the movie. Reiko asking Toru if he thinks she will fall in love in Asahikawa and then following it up with asking him to sleep with her, felt off to me. It came off as if she was sleeping with Toru to prepare for her next stage of life rather than grieving Naoko. I wonder if Reiko’s story was left out purposely due to its controversial nature, or if it was a time thing. 

One thing I think the film emphasized well was the disconnect between the worlds of Noako and Toru. Scenes like Noako asking if Toru is okay being together even if she is never able to have sex, and his response saying he’s optimistic. The look on Naoko’s face as Toru left the sanatorium highlighted how Toru struggled to come to reality about Naoko’s condition and how she probably wouldn’t get better. The visuals, especially Toru often following behind Naoko, also gave me the feeling that Toru was unable to grasp the seriousness of Naoko’s sickness. 

I enjoyed the ending scene of the movie. It was a bit on the nose, but the transition from Reiko telling Toru to be happy, and then him calling Midori in a green shirt, felt like it was clear he made the choice that he wanted to live and move forward.