With Chen Yingxiong's ambition (and overreaching), he will definitely not choose the first method, but the second method is not suitable for him. I have never heard how big a fan of the original work he is. Since his "Walking with the Rain" started to take a commercial route, I imagined that this film was mostly made because of the influence of the original work. Moreover, it seems a bit mean to say that Chen Yingying is poor, but when I watch his films, I feel that most of the things that come out are feelings. The pictures in Chen Yingxiong's shots can be beautiful, but I have never been interested in what he shoots. If the content of "Tricycle Man" is still reluctant to read, then when it comes to "Walking with the Rain", it becomes a complete mush. Moreover, he has an inexplicable nostalgia for Vietnam in the immigration era. With this mentality to shoot "Norwegian Wood", which he is not familiar with, there is no doubt that there is a high possibility of hitting the pot.
After watching the first scene of the film, I started to be disappointed with Chen Yingying. Murakami's book begins with middle-aged Watanabe reminiscing on a plane. For the original work, this beginning is very necessary, because middle-aged people recall unforgettable memories, their viewpoints are already different from the process of experience, and the things extracted from them are naturally different. Therefore, without this setting, the entire book will become the same as plain water, only flat and straightforward.
After that, Chen Yingxiong's various aesthetic choices also let me down. Murakami said that when he read the books of his idol Fitzgerald, the biggest feeling was that he never got tired of reading it. I don't remember Murakami ever writing this sentence). I also have this feeling when I read Murakami's works that I like. I can read different chapters at different stages and have different feelings, and many of the words have become part of my own life philosophy because of repeated reading.
For example, when I reviewed Taleb's new book two days ago, I quoted Yongze's philosophy on reading classical novels. Therefore, when I saw Chen Yingxiong's Yongze say something like "It's useless to read, it's better to go out and experience life", I can imagine the disappointment in my heart. Watching "Norwegian Forest", I can see Chen Yingxiong's own creation, his remix of Murakami's plot and words, etc., etc. In short, there are too many places that do not conform to the original work at a glance.
Due to the different carriers, many details of the book cannot be expressed in the movie, so we don't need to know what happened to Naoko's sister, or the little loli that Reiko almost got. But this reason cannot explain why Chen Yingying put in a lot of self-created plots, because "Norwegian Forest" has too much content, not too little content. Chen Yingying only needs to delete or even reorganize the original work to make it smooth, and there is no need to add his own things.
What's more, he deletes too many things that are the essence of the original work. As far as the story is concerned, Murakami's book is unremarkable, but because it is close to an autobiography, it is full of countless subtle details. As the Western proverb says, God Himself is in between these details. Seeing Midori's father, but being read to him by a Greek drama, is this adaptation really wise?
And Chen Yingxiong's own opinions and the things he added are a pile of garbage in his mind. Leaving aside other details, what's the point of changing Midori into a very clichéd innocent girl? Chen Yingying can naturally argue that this is his understanding of the story, but if he doesn't understand the details of the story (in terms of Luzi's character or even the main line), why should he talk about understanding? Chen Yingxiong can also argue that it is necessary to create a second time, but if he wants to create, why does he need to add Murakami's appearance? After all, the limitations of the story itself forced him to use an extremely mentally retarded voice-over technique to tell the story clearly at the beginning.
The choice and originality are inexhaustible, making the whole film into a bizarre four-dimensional difference. "Norwegian Wood" has the original and incomplete appearance of Murakami, but there is no essence of him. It has the consistent visual style of Chen Yingxiong, but it was in Japan in the 1960s that it created Vietnam in the colonial era. The resulting work is a love idol drama stylized by X-Art, and the five words "Norwegian Wood" have become a downright gimmick.
Murakami said Watanabe had a strong and inexplicable sadness after receiving Nagasawa's letter about Hatsumi's death, just like he was watching the sunset in New Mexico. When this detail is removed and only a voiceover is used to describe Hatsumi's future death, the film becomes less impactful. All in all, there are too many places to be dissatisfied with, and those without talent should not disturb Murakami! No matter how you shoot, Hatsumi and Reiko shouldn't be cuter than Midori!
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