***Official LOST IN TRANSLATION Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[Rob Lutter]

I think this film is even a bit funnier if you have the Japanese skills of a 2-year-old child like me. Watching Bill try to interact with non-English speakers was just... hilarious (especially the scene with him being directed in Japanese by a director on how to drink the whiskey). I think this is the type of film would be great to watch on a trip to Tokyo. It gives a great "feel" for the country for those unfamiliar (especially little things like riding the bullet train, visiting a 24-hour arcade, and singing karaoke). I kept expecting him to turn on the TV to anime though... damn!

I give it 4/5... although my plot-loving confidants didn't quite like it as much (they basically were like... "what was the point of that?!"). Bill should definately get a nod from the academy for this one!

 

[John*K]

I am interested in purchasing the soundtrack, but noticed that a "Special Edition" will be released on Oct. 7. Does anyone have any additional info? The "regular edition" was released in early=September.

Thank you.

 

[Jodee]

I am interested in purchasing the soundtrack, but noticed that a "Special Edition" will be released on Oct. 7. Does anyone have any additional info? The "regular edition" was released in early=September.

>From the Emperor Norton website:

"A 2000 copy limited edition version of the album packaged in a 48 page hard cover book with stills taken during the shoot and words by Sofia Coppola
will be available towards the end of September."

 

[Rob Willey]

What a fun movie! Bill Murray delivers, I was chuckling and laughing throughout.

It was an interesting choice not to subtitle the Japanese in the film. I presume that was to give the audience the same sense of dislocation that the characters feel in a foreign land. But I imagine the film plays quite differently for those that speak Japanese.

Rob

 

[Ted Lee]

I kept expecting him to turn on the TV to anime though... damn!

but there was the shot of johansson looking at the guy reading the manga.

i'm also going to check out this soundtrack. those songs worked perfectly with the mood of the film.

i'm *so* glad they didn't hook up. that would have pissed me off. these characters knew their limitations. i thought the shot of them lying in bed, then murray touching her foot was awesome. it was like, "yes, i would like to go there...but i can't."

then when she busted him (after he slept with the lounge singer), she was upset at first, but i think she "realized" the whole situation and made amends with herself...and murray.

these were smart characters.

really...just an amazing film. i'll definitely pick this one up when it comes out on dvd.

 

[Yoshi Sugawara]

A great film - Bill Murray was great, and Sofia Coppola really captured the atmosphere of Japan really well - from a Japanese perspective, nothing felt out of place at all.

It was interesting for my fiance and I as Japanese speakers to see the film, as we got to see it from "both sides", so to speak.

I liked the line by Bill Murray, "worst lunch ever - what kind of restaurant makes you cook your own food?" Wow, I never thought of it that way

 

[Ted Lee]

from a Japanese perspective, nothing felt out of place at all.

i wondered about that. i'm glad to hear that it felt right to you. so often, i've seen movies that are supposed to portray the chinese culture, but they get it all wrong. i'm glad this one was done right.

 

[Vickie_M]

Yoshi, so what was the director saying to Bob? I assume he said a bit more than "look into the camera."

I LOVE THIS MOVIE!

 

[Patrick Sun]

I gleaned this from elsewhere:

My Japanese girl friend told me that the director was actually saying to Bill Murray:

"OK, so in this scene, you're drinking whiskey in the study, and your friends are coming over, etc...."

So, what was being translated as simply "intense" and "slower" doesn't really match what the Japanese director was actually saying to Bill Murray. His direction was quite more elaborate....It's just for comic effect.

 

[Ted Todorov]

If you are interested the New York Times had a word for word translation of the entire thing, I'm too lazy/busy to look for it for linking purposes but it came out about one or two weeks ago (on a Saturday maybe???) It is worth reading, it's pretty funny.

Ted

 

[Yoshi Sugawara]

The director basically said something like, "Suntory whiskey has a century of history behind it, and I want you to convey that legacy to the viewers."

That "look at camera with intensity" comment by the translator just shows that she didn't really know what to say

The bus advertisement and billboard featuring Murray in the film says, "For that poignant moment when you get together with old friends - it's Suntory time" They should really use that ad in Japan for fun

 

[Ted Lee]

btw, what were those bar owners shooting at them with? some kind of pellet or bb gun? i want one of those!

 

[Alex Spindler]

Was able to catch this late Sunday.

Quite the film, and one that stuck with me for quite some time. Both of the leads are absolutely wonderful, and I think it may one of the best endings ever. I would like to think that their closing private conversation and embrace will be looked at as a classic film moment.

Thinking about the film, I was able to catch quite a good deal of extra details about both characters. When Charlotte first tries to visit the temple and was not able to find the spirituality that she was seeking, she was quite broken up about it. Unfortunately, her friend back in the states couldn't pick up on her needs at all, making it all the worse for her. She was just as lost as Bob was, although hers was that she hadn't found her purpose in life and he had lost all of his purpose (no longer working meaningfully and no longer needed by his wife and kids). After her experience with Bob, her revisit to a temple had a decidedly different effect. I loved that.

 

[DaveGTP]

I must say I enjoyed the film. It does have kind of a subtle romantic theme, but I liked it anyway. Like the opposite of the typical regurgitated chickflicks that my fiancee watches as her guilty pleasure (which I make fun of). Every time I expected a typical turn of events, I was wrong. 75% of movies all get an "Eh, that was OK" response from me. However, I offered to split the cost of this one with my fiance when it comes out on DVD.



And I'm picky- I only own maybe 30 DVDs tops, about 30 anime DVDs, and a couple of Babylon 5 seasons.

Beyond the plotline and superb acting, being a part-time anime watcher, and fond of Asian culture (videogames, history, anime, martial arts, a lot to like), I enjoyed this a lot. I caught the manga scene, it seemed like she looked at it like "A grown man reading comic books? What??" I agree though, I wish he would have flipped by some anime on TV though.

Like one of the articles said, Bill Murray was superb: at times, behind a couple of smiles, you could just see the pain and weariness of a beaten down actor beneath. Excellent performance.

 

[Dome Vongvises]

I found out my local theater has it. Yeah!!!

 

[Andy_G]

Has anyone else noticed that this film is # 10 on the top movie list (for two weekends in a row) even though it is in many fewer movies than the rest (in the top ten)?

 

[Gui A]

Just a note to those who are thinking about buying the soundtrack, but are on the fence...
There's a hidden track after the Jesus & Mary Chain song, and it's hilarious:

It's the 'Bob Harris' version of More Than This. About a minute long. First verse + chorus.

 

[Ted Lee]

gui - did you pick up the soundtrack? if so, give us a mini-review!

 

[Stephen_L]

I was deeply impressed by the film and will see it again tomorrow. Having travelled to Japan several times and studied Japanese culture, I feel the film did a fine job presenting much of the 'foreigness' of the country without condescention.

Bill Murray was a wonder; an immensely likable yet melancholy performance.

And the final gesture between Murray and Charlotte was absolutely inspired. How brilliant to give these two alienated people the triumph of a private moment together on screen; private even from the audience.

 

[Arman]

From Joseph Young in the review thread:

"Author Eric Alterman succinctly summed up potential disappointment with Lost in Translation when he said:
quote:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well, okay for the acting, but nothing happens.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The only problem with his assessment is, well, it's dead wrong.

I give it a solid (out of 5)

I'll admit a bias because I've studied Japanese language and culture and was delighted by some of the sights, including the brief foray into Kyoto. While this is no pure representation of the culture, it's certainly an honest and representative portrait of Coppola's experience while filming it, which I find equally charming.

Thankfully Coppola's sweet meditation on loneliness and isolation has produced images and feelings that linger indellibly long after film's end. Because that's what this is, after all. It's a film charting the natural ebbs of two peoples' lives and their internal monologues: one barely begun and stopped dead, the other arguably dead for a while.

What happens in Lost in Translation? Nothing, you say? The movie is a sweet, minimalist's morsel of the human condition in this modern world. And it's a love story. If you come out of this movie convinced that nothing extraordinary has happened to these two people, then perhaps two hours of your wristwatch is more exciting. Go to town.

There is a lavish, heartbreakingly lively emotional subtext playing in full technicolor here. I owe that to the brilliance of everyone who worked on the film, not least of all the Director and her leads. Cinematographer Lance Acord (also known for his work on Adaptation and Being John Malcovich has done a phenomenal job.

I daresay that anyone disappointed with this film, aside from having absolute right to that opinion, is disturbed by its gentle tiptoe between the love and comedy genres and refusal to provide that satisfaction of doling out either one or the other in a more conventional format."

Way to go Joseph! Exactly my thoughts. A comment in the review thread that Sofia tried to compete against Fodor in some scenes in Lost in Tranlastion at the same time undermining the brilliant technical aspects of the film and it's fantastic one of a kind screenplay simply floored me.