Basicly it's a romance story happen in late 1960's, in the revolution era in Japan. Romance, suicide, erotic things, those stuff are here inside the story. But whatever, i'm not gonna tell anything about the story, it makes me shiver uncomfortably writing it.
The movie directed by Trần Anh Hùng the one who direct The Scent of Green Papaya. This is the second movie i watch that made by him. I always like his way of telling the story in a way that i would call "poetic". With less dialog and more sense of space, timing and calmness. Also the music which consist a track composed by Jonny Greenwood (who also composed for There Will Be Blood). I would say the music are blended perfectly with the scene, nice pace and timing, slick editing.
Another things that i really love are the clothes, the haircut and the ambient, the atmosphere of 1960's that are perfectly made. The color, texture and accessories are chosen carefully that i think based on the mood "at ease" and "down to earth". I have one comment about the cast, i think the one who played Reiko is the most beautiful than the other girl who played Naoko or Midori.
The story also get in to me so much on the similiarity with my personal life, and for some reason i'm not gonna tell just yet. Other less secret reason on why this movie are really get in to me is because it's like describing so well my two-sided self; the calm earth-toned minimalism assertiveness, and the scyzoprenich strange psychedelia twisted logic self righteous, well i don't expect anybody to understand that though.
I would probably not gonna interested in the book if it's not because of the movie and the soundtrack. Well as a character in the book named Nagasawa tells that "You shouldn't read book people read", yes i am definitely agree with that, and Haruki Murakami's Norwegian Wood is definitely a book that many people read, but the movie is so good i end up reading the book anyway. Yeah it felt strange to read "You shouldn't read book people read" in a book many people read.
The book tells more detail about the story and the depth of each character, i was actually surprised a lot on how deep is every character is and many of detailed stories told by some character (which i agree with the movie director that it's not actually really important much to be on the movie). If you look from the details that told from the book, it's like the movie were actually a summary of the book.
The book also differ from the movie here and there. I always think it's fine because movie is an "adaptation", a freedom for the director to adapt the story from one form of art into another form of art and use their own vision of the book.
The Soundtrack are mostly Jonny Greenwood except track 3, 7, 12 are by Can, and some track from The Doors, Can, and obvious The Beatles's Norwegian Wood are not included.
01 もう少し自分のこと、きちんとしたいの
02 草原、風、雑木林
03 Mary, Mary, So Contrary
04 また会いに来るからね
05 時の洗礼を受けていないものを読むな
06 レイコ
07 Bring Me Coffee or Tea
08 直子が死んだ
09 いい子だから黙ってて
10 あてもなく歩き回った
11 1/4-tone bloom
12 Don't Turn The Light On, Leave Me Alone
13 私をとるときは私だけをとってね
14 激しい幻聴
