Director: Film faithful
BUSAN, South Korea (AP) – The director of the anticipated adaptation of Japanese writer Haruki Murakami’s hit novel “Norwegian Wood” said the movie would be loyal to the original story.
Speaking on the sidelines of South Korea’s Pusan International Film Festival, Vietnamese-French director Tran Anh Hung told The Associated Press on Saturday that he sought input from Murakami himself.
Set in Japan in the 1960s, “Norwegian Wood” follows the relationship between a Japanese university student and two women – the girlfriend of his late high school classmate and her roommate at a mental institution. The title comes from The Beatles song, which is the favorite song of one of the book’s characters.
“Yes, of course we tried to be as close [to the novel] as possible,” Tran said,
although he declined to reveal anything from the discussions he had with Murakami.
“I hope it’s a good story, but for sure it’s a love story,” he said.
Tran said he was editing the film and that it is scheduled to be released in Japan in November 2010. Japanese actor Kenichi Matsuyama will play the university student and Rinko Kikuchi, who was nominated for an Oscar for her supporting role in “Babel,” will play his late friend’s girlfriend.
