Norwegian Wood

This is, in a way, a pretty frank film about sex, well, adolescents talking about it, moreso than lots of explicit sex scenes but I wouldn't say this is the most comfortable film to watch in front of your parents, put it that way!. It features some nice cinematography, scenic shots in rural areas, which I liked. The dialogue shows how curious and perhaps naive the main female character (Naoko) is, which perhaps tells you all you need to know. There is something a bit touching about it, in a good way but it didn't entirely sit well with me overall, due to the bleaker elements present in the plot I suppose. I think its made clear that the female character has more to lose from investing in her relationship. Some scenes feature little in the way of dialogue - the dialogue being quite sparse but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I wasn't so keen on this film overall - it does a decent job at highlighting some cultural issues perhaps but its not one of my favourite Japanese films, though its still a reasonable film, for what it is. I imagine an adolescent audience may enjoy it more than someone 20 years older, such as myself(!) (as of 2022, in my later 30s). Overall I wouldn't expressly recommend this film as such, no. It is perhaps thougtful and perhaps there's a poignancy to it at times but its also somewhat tacky and like I say, didn't sit entirely well with me, so it's not one I'd entirely recommend.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]