As noted recently in the Nonesuch Journal, director Tran Anh Hung’s film Norwegian Wood, an adaptation of Haruki Murakami’s bestselling novel featuring an instrumental score by Jonny Greenwood, will be released in New York City beginning January 6, followed by a national rollout. Filmgoers in New York City have an opportunity to take an early look at the film in a special members-only screening at the Japan Society next Wednesday, December 14, presented by Japan Society, Soda Pictures + Red Flag Releasing, and the Film Society of Lincoln Center. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Tran Anh Hung and actress Rinko Kikuchi and a reception.

As a special offer for readers of the Nonesuch Journal, Nonesuch Records has teamed up with the film's distributors, Soda Pictures + Red Flag Releasing, to offer one lucky fan two tickets to the December 14 event, plus two signed film posters and two copies of the film's soundtrack, released earlier this year on Nonesuch. For your chance to win, simply leave a comment below or e-mail info@nonesuch.com by this Friday, December 9, at 3 PM ET. Winners will be chosen at random; no purchase necessary.

Jonny Greenwood's Norwegian Wood score is performed by the BBC Concert Orchestra led by Robert Ziegler, and the Emperor Quartet, and is produced by Graeme Stewart. The soundtrack album also features three tracks written and performed by the German group CAN. To pick up a copy of the album, head to the Nonesuch Store, where orders include high-quality, 320 kbps MP3s of the album at checkout. The CD is now 34% off as part of the store's fourth-anniversary sale.

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 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-Korean model-actress Kiko Mizuhara). The film's cinematography is by Mark Lee Ping Bin (In the Mood for Love, Devils on the Doorstep). Originally published in 1987, Murakami's novel has since been translated into 33 languages and published in 36 countries.

Vietnam-born and Paris-based writer-director Tran Anh Hung was nominated for an Academy Award for The Scent of the Green Papaya and won the Venice Film Festival’s Golden Lion for Cyclo. Norwegian Wood is his fifth feature.