Tran Anh Hung

NORWEGIAN WOOD is a moving story of loss and sexuality set in Tokyo in the late 1960s against a time of global instability. Watanabe (Japanese rising star Kenichi Matsuyama, Death Note, Detroit Metal City) looks back on his days as a freshman university student living in Tokyo. Through his reminiscences, we see him develop relationships with two very different women, the beautiful yet emotionally troubled Naoko (Oscar nominee Rinko Kikuchi, Babel), and the outgoing, lively Midori (Japanese...Read Full Story

It’s always interesting when a director tells you not to see his film. But Tran Anh Hung told me this last month. I Come With The Rain is a moody neo-noir detective story which segues into stranger territory. It stars Josh Harnett and Elias Korteas. There were post-production issues which saw Tran and his financiers in court. Not the most pleasant way to end what is a dream project for its director. Originally set for release on 25th March, the film’s UK release date has shifted to the end...Read Full Story

The pacing, the blowing wind, the music and other atmospherics all helped create the tension in "Norwegian Wood," says Tran Anh Hung, presenting the haunting movie at the Venice film festival.Based on a best-selling novel by Japanese author Haruki Murakami, the story of love, sexuality and loss -- mainly through suicide -- is set in Japan in the volatile 1960s."The film is rich in physical variation," the Vietnamese-born Tran told AFP, discussing scenes in which the lead character Watanabe...Read Full Story

Vietnamese-French director Tran Anh Hung crossed cultural and linguistic borders to direct his latest film, "Norwegian Wood," based on the cult coming-of-age Japanese novel.The Oscar-nominated director, who has taken home prizes from both Cannes and Venice, filmed the love story with an entirely Japanese cast.Tran told reporters Thursday, the day his film is premiering at the Venice Film Festival in competition for the Golden Lion, that he didn't try to make a Japanese film — and in fact...Read Full Story

How to review a film its director has told me is not finished and for people not to see it. A tough one. I Come With The Rain was Tran Anh Hung’s dream project which turned into a post-production nightmare. It’s arrived right after Norwegian Wood, which suggests the distribution company wants to ride on that film’s coat-tails by association. Josh Harnett plays a cop deeply traumatised after a run in with a serial killer (Elias Korteas) who makes art pieces from his victims bodies. Think...Read Full Story