Director Tran Anh Hung has adapted the popular Haruki Murakami novel “Norwegian Wood” for the big screen.

By Nalea J. Ko, Reporter
January 20, 2012

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Japanese is a foreign language to him, but Vietnamese filmmaker Tran Anh Hung was able to surpass all cultural and language barriers to bring the Japanese novel “Norwegian Wood” to the big screen.

In 1994, Hung first read the popular novel “Norwegian Wood” by Japan’s Haruki Murakami in its French translation an felt and intimate connection with the love story.

The intensely sexual novel takes place in Japan in the tumultuous 1960s as main character Toru Watanabe, played by Kenichi Matsuyama, is coping with the loss of his best friend who committed suicide. The lead character also struggles to choose between two distinctly different love interests all while he grieves the loss of his friend.

Some 10 million copies of the book were sold in Japan. The widely popular book was also translated in 33 languages and over 2 million copies were sold overseas in countries like Hung’s native Vietnam.

Born in Vietnam, Hung later moved to Laos as a child. His family soon relocated to Paris after the fall of Saigon. Hung opted for a career in the film industry after abandoning studying for a philosophy degree.

In 1993 Hung wrote and directed “The Scent of Green Papaya.” His films “Vertical Ray of Sun” and “I Come with the Rain” followed.

Captivated by the novel, Hung met with the “Norwegian Wood” author to show him a draft of his screenplay adaption. After the novel’s author added more dialogue, Hung revised the screenplay and created the film.

Adapting “Norwegian Wood” as a film proved more challenging considering Hung’s limited understanding of Japanese. The film’s producer Shinji Ogawa served as a translator for Hung with the actors. But not understanding the language spoken in the film was not too burdensome for the director. Hung said the dialogue sounded “like music that grows increasingly mysterious and fetishistic.”

The end result was a cinematically beautiful love story that transcends different cultures and languages much like the original novel.

The film, which premiered in 2010 in Japan, opens in California Jan. 27 at the Laemmle’s Music Hall, Laemmle’s Playhouse 7 and Laemmle NoHo 7.

From Paris Hung talked to the Pacific Citizen about the making of the film.

What do you look for when you take on a new film project? What appealed to you about “Norwegian Wood?”

For a new project, I always look for material that allows me to work on the specific language of cinema, to create emotions that the audience can only experience with this art.

“Norwegian Wood” was my first adaptation. I was moved by the story and the characters. It was a big challenge to give back to the audience the feeling of melancholy that I received from the book.

Can you tell me about your initial impressions of Haruki Murakami’s novel?

My initial impressions were the quality of intimacy in the way Haruki Murakami tells this story. I felt very close to the book as if the book reveals something deeply buried inside of my private emotions.

Can you tell me about your journey to becoming a director? Did you always know you wanted to be a director?

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