Norwegian Wood

133 minutes | Japan 2010 | Directed by Tran Anh Hung | Music by Radiohead’s Johnny Greenwood

The film adaptation of Haruki Murakami’s hugely-loved novel.

Late-60s Tokyo. A world of student dorms, going for walks, getting letters from your girlfriend, sitting in your room looking at LP sleeves.

Doomy, introspective college students Watanabe and Naoko are brought together by a shared grief over the death of their best friend. But when Naoko suffers a breakdown, Watanabe meets a vivacious young woman called Midori who challenges him to embrace a healthy and psychologically unencumbered future.

A beautifully realised coming-of-age film, recommended to anyone who has been a teenager in love.

“An unhurried and precise film… sensitive, profoundly perceptive and life-affirming”
Time Out

“It rewards attention with a very sensual experience… (Like) Wong Kar-Wai’s romantic classic In the Mood for Love… Norwegian Wood’s tragedy, irony and romance ignite a fierce, moth-attracting flame.”
Guardian