A budding romance ensues, but the memory of Kizuki is never far away. Watanabe, our narrator, leaves his small town for college in Tokyo, where he soon crosses paths with Naoko. Kizuki’s death haunts the film, for its impact not only on Naoko but also on Kizuki’s best friend Watanabe (Kenichi Matsuyama). In the first few minutes of “Norwegian Wood,” we’re presented with two powerful images - first we see Kizuki (Kengo Kora) swim underwater in a public pool to embrace his girlfriend Naoko (Rinko Kikuchi), and then we see him put a hose through his car window to commit suicide. The fact that there’s a new Tran film in theaters would already be noteworthy that “Norwegian Wood” is also a visually stunning and moving piece of storytelling bolstered by searing performances and a standout score by Jonny Greenwood (“There Will Be Blood”) is icing on the cake.
(Especially those of us in the United States, where his fourth film, “I Come with the Rain” didn’t even get a release.) The filmmaker behind such beautifully crafted and emotionally powerful films as “The Scent of Green Papaya,” “Vertical Ray of the Sun” and “Cyclo” has made only five films since 1993, leaving his many admirers constantly wanting for more. LOS ANGELES () - Longing plays a key role in Tran Anh Hung’s new film “Norwegian Wood,” and it’s an emotion with which fans of the Vietnamese-born director have some familiarity.
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