Murakami's Norweigan Wood to see screen adaptation

Japanese author Haruki Murakami crafts his books in playful, winding prose less conducive to cinematic adaptation than, say, your average dialogue-driven whodunnit.

But there are a few cinemaniacs out there up to the challenge. Screen Daily reports that French-Vietnamese director Tran Anh Hung has announced plans to make a Japanese-language film out of Murakami's heralded novel Norwegian Wood. The book, more straightforward in narrative style than many of the author's works, tells the story of a Tokyo college student and his goings-on with several women during the chaotic years of the late '60s.

As IFC points out, only two filmmakers have attempted to take on Murakami texts before this, both short stories. Jun Ichikawa tackled "Tony Takitani" in 2004; Robert Logevall did the same with "All God's Children Can Dance" last year.

This week also marks the release of Murakami's latest book, the Raymond Carver-nodding What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, most of which is adapted from journal entries written while the author prepared for the 2005 New York Marathon.

Related links:
Review: Haruki Murakami: Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman
Than Anh Hung at IMDb
Norweigan Wood at Amazon

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