Norwegian Wood. 2010. Japan. Directed by Tran Anh Hung. With Kenichi Matsuyama, Rinko Kikuchi, Kiko Mizuhara. DCP. In Japanese; English subtitles. 133 min.
In this adaptation of celebrated novelist Haruki Murakami’s coming-of-age cult classic set in 1960s Japan, college student Toru (Kenichi Matsuyama) is caught between two women of polarizing personalities—the depressive Naoko (Rinko Kikuchi) and the rambunctious Midori (Kiko Mizuhara). Although Midori’s vibrancy is irresistible, Toru is increasing drawn to Naoko, who has admitted herself into a remote rehabilitation center in the woods. Reuniting with Vietnamese French director Tran Anh Hung, with whom he worked on The Vertical Ray of the Sun (2000), Lee makes his first digitally shot film, capturing a desolate psychological landscape with some of the most stylized and evocative camera movements of his career.