29 Nov 2010 04:14:39
Award-winning Vietnamese-French film director Tran Anh Hung, promoting his film version of Murakami's 1987 bestseller, said Friday the book's portrayal of a "universal experience" of first love and loss makes for compelling cinema.
But it took four years of correspondence with Murakami to persuade him to give the green light to the adaptation, said Tran and producer Shinji Ogawa at a press event promoting the movie in Tokyo.
"When we went to see him (Murakami), he directly told us that he cannot easily give permission for the film," Ogawa said.
"Then he eventually said that he might grant permission if he could read the script and be convinced," he said.
Nobel Literature Prize nominee Murakami has enjoyed international commercial and critical success with his sensitive tales of the absurdity and loneliness of modern life.
His works have been translated into almost 40 languages, including the titles "Kafka on the Shore" and "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle."
"Norwegian Wood" was originally published in 1987 and is among the best-selling novels of all time in Japan.
"It was just a story of first love, but the first love that you lose almost immediately once you have it," Tran said.
"Then you have to learn about loss, about suffering, and then it would take time for characters to be able to reconcile themselves with life," he said.
"I think this is a universal experience. This is probably why the book was such a success worldwide," he said.
The movie features Japanese actors Kenichi Matsuyama and Rinko Kikuchi, who was nominated for an Academy Award for her role as a mute, deaf teenager in Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's 2006 hit "Babel."
It will hit Japanese cinemas from December 11 and is expected to be released overseas later.
Tran, whose works have won him numerous awards at major film festivals, including the Venice film festival and Cannes, said the project was a challenge but he knew the book would be perfect film material upon reading it.
But it took four years of correspondence with Murakami to persuade him to give the green light to the adaptation, said Tran and producer Shinji Ogawa at a press event promoting the movie in Tokyo.
"When we went to see him (Murakami), he directly told us that he cannot easily give permission for the film," Ogawa said.
"Then he eventually said that he might grant permission if he could read the script and be convinced," he said.
Nobel Literature Prize nominee Murakami has enjoyed international commercial and critical success with his sensitive tales of the absurdity and loneliness of modern life.
His works have been translated into almost 40 languages, including the titles "Kafka on the Shore" and "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle."
"Norwegian Wood" was originally published in 1987 and is among the best-selling novels of all time in Japan.
"It was just a story of first love, but the first love that you lose almost immediately once you have it," Tran said.
"Then you have to learn about loss, about suffering, and then it would take time for characters to be able to reconcile themselves with life," he said.
"I think this is a universal experience. This is probably why the book was such a success worldwide," he said.
The movie features Japanese actors Kenichi Matsuyama and Rinko Kikuchi, who was nominated for an Academy Award for her role as a mute, deaf teenager in Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's 2006 hit "Babel."
It will hit Japanese cinemas from December 11 and is expected to be released overseas later.
Tran, whose works have won him numerous awards at major film festivals, including the Venice film festival and Cannes, said the project was a challenge but he knew the book would be perfect film material upon reading it.
