I actually read Norwegian Wood and watched its movie adaptation in high school, but since it was so long ago, reading and watching it now I feel like I experienced it in a whole different way. I really enjoyed the film adaptation, particularly in the sense that I could better visualize everything--from the characters' clothing and hair styles to their dwellings--since it was set in the late 60s/early 70s and I did not have a clear image of that time in my head while solely reading the book. I also thought that the mise en scene elements and the cinematography was done very well. There were many really beautiful, creative shots shot through, for example, the sparkling beaded 70s-esque curtains or the geometric wooden dividers between rooms in the character's houses. However, despite all of these aspects of the movie, I feel like the plot of the film was kind of lacking or poorly explained at times.
The most prominent aspect of the movie that exemplifies this is Midori's whole plotline. Of course, there is not enough time to include all of the long conversations and many occasions that Toru and Midori meet up throughout the book, but the times that they do hang out and converse in the movie are pretty underwhelming. I feel like if I hadn't read the book and been provided with background information on their relationship, I would have been confused why they were so into each other. One particular scene that that the movie altered that I thought was quite odd was the scene where Midori tells Toru her fantasy of wanting to be on a big fluffy bed and being forced to sleep with Toru. It is already quite a strange conversation to be having, but at least some of it can be blamed on drunkenness as she says this to him while sitting in a bar. In contrast, in the movie, she says this stone cold sober while swimming in what is presumably the university's public pool with Toru. I don't know why they chose to portray this scene this way (perhaps they were trying to connect her character with water, as they changed scene where they watch the building on fire to one where it was just raining outside. Maybe it has something to do with contrasting her with Naoko, who is often shown in the frozen snow?), but I feel like the scenes with Midori are more off-putting than romantic.
The movie also just entirely glosses over the part of the story where Toru takes care of Midori's father, only showing Toru enter the room and look at him rather than talking to and feeding him. I feel like this was a big emotional breakthrough for Midori and Toru as she was so amazed that he got her father to eat and that he indirectly told him he would take care of her. In the movie, since we don't see either of these things happen, the whole scene seems almost pointless, like it was included just so that it could show that he died a week later when Midori calls him. And even when she calls him about her father's death, her bringing up of watching a porn film together seems completely out of the blue as she had not mentioned it in any of their previous conversations in the film.
Furthermore, since the movie chose to exclude the part of the book where Toru moves into his house (in the movie, he just moves into an apartment), it could not explain why Midori was so mad at him for not talking to her during this moving period. So, when she proceeds to tell him she doesn't want to talk to him at school, it seems like the reason is solely that he didn't want to hear out her sexual fantasy in the bar (which in the movie, kind of makes sense since they're sitting at the bar literally a foot away from the bartender). With all of this in mind, by the time they get to the scene where they confess their love and Toru asks her to wait until things are over with Naoko, it really doesn't make any sense why they would go through all this waiting and struggle just to be together.
-Melody
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