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

[Seth Paxton]

Totally agree with Quentin. That's exactly how Harris is lost in my mind.

and that he finds passionate feelings about his family again.

Boy, that's a tough call though. I'm not quite sure this will happen. Will their special relationship/love affair, which I assume his comments to be confirming for both of them, be a spark to fuel passions in their "real" lives, or will it simply be a piece of nostalgia for each of them to run to in their future lonliness, like a crutch to get them through the rest of their unsatisfactory lives.

I'm not saying it won't, I just wonder and have my doubts.


To me it doesn't matter. What matters is that the characters do have this moment in time together forever. It was enough to keep Bogey going after all.


PS - Scarlett in the pink wig, mega-hot.

 

[Jeff Adams]

I have not read all of the posts here about this movie but I saw it this weekend and have to say that I am not impressed. I thought it was an alright movie, it really didn't do much for me though. Bill Murray was good and I really liked the girl in it but nothing stood out. I just didn't get what all the hype was about. I mean for it to be nominated for best picture and best actor? I don't get it. Sorry if I am in the minority here but just my humble opinion. There are just so many better movies and performances than this. I thought The Last Samurai should have got the other nomination for picture of the year.And if Bill Murray beats Sean Penn for actor of the year, well something is just wrong.

 

[Lew Crippen]

. I thought The Last Samurai should have got the other nomination for picture of the year.And if Bill Murray beats Sean Penn for actor of the year, well something is just wrong

The way the selection process works, there is almost no chance for such a trade. Master and Commander and Return of the King are similar (in terms of film types) to The Last Samurai and one of them would probably need to have been displaced in order for ‘Samurai’ to have been included. It is not likely that three of the five nominations would be big, action-oriented, period films (granting the end of the Third Age as a period).

The nomination process does not exactly guarantee diversity, but it is a highly predictable outcome.

 

[Stephen_L]

I agree with the analysis that both Bob and Charlotte are sleepwalking, lost in a malaise filled with doubt and devoid of real passion. The problem is not really their spouses; I believe each cares for their spouses, but has lost their passion. I'd like to think that the experience of meeting each other has 'awakened' them, made them appreciate anew the value of their lives. Most telling is the look on Bob's face as he's being driven to the airport. He looks refreshed, like he's just awakened from a long sleep.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Different strokes for different folks, Quentin. Looking back, your interpretation is certainly valid and the movie supports it. Somehow it doesn't sit right with me on an instinctual level, but it added some texture to the film for me looking back. I do agree that the children are at the root of his maritial problems.

Part of what makes this film so wonderful is that it doesn't spell everything out; it gives you enough to deliver it's desired impact and leaves the rest to be inferred by the audience. Kind of like a really good book.

 

[Mikel_Cooperman]

Are these audio cube wireless headphones for your TV?
I know some TVs have headphones that come with them but dont know if you can buy them for any kind of set...

 

[Mark Zimmer]

I thought the culture shock gags were really, really overdone, to the point of being overtly racist. I suspect this picture will not age well at all and may become the 2000s equivalent of Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips, without the excuse of wartime jingoism to back it up.

The other objection I have to it is that it's just another in the seemingly endless stream of wish-fulfillment pictures featuring aged men getting romantic with hot young women. That bears little resemblance to reality, where hot young women make fun of such ridiculous antique characters behind their backs. But that would shrivel up the peepees of the aged male reviewers so I doubt we'd ever see that onscreen.

 

[ToddP]

That bears little resemblance to reality, where hot young women make fun of such ridiculous antique characters behind their backs.

Not sure what reality you live in, but the are plenty of younger women who are attracted to older men. There are also plenty of hot younger women who wind up with older men.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

The other objection I have to it is that it's just another in the seemingly endless stream of wish-fulfillment pictures featuring aged men getting romantic with hot young women. That bears little resemblance to reality, where hot young women make fun of such ridiculous antique characters behind their backs.

Got to agree with Todd, here: there are plenty of old men hooked up with younger women, particularly famous old men (as in the film). The concept is, for whatever reason, not nearly as strange, as a younger man with an older woman, though that's happening more as well.
This is a pairing that is completely dependent of the ages of the characters being what they are; likewise I think this particular movie presented the differences in life experience as a result of the age differential quite well.
It's funny that you should mention that movies would never make comments having the younger woman make fun of the "antique" behind their backs; in this movie the younger woman made fun of the "antique"'s age to his face.

 

[Mark-W]

The rental store was out of this title, and so I figured I would just go buy it, and if I didn't like it, it would end up on eBay in a couple of days.

WOW!

Terriffic film!

Cannot imagine sending it off to eBay.

I can understand why this film is going to generate the kinds of varied reactions I am reading in this tread, but I cannot think of another movie that touched me more this year.

ROTK is stil my fav, but I have to nudge M & C, to third place this year behind LiT.

I think it is a better film than Wong Kar-Wai's
In The Mood For Love, though I probably
still like his Happy Together as much as LiT.

This film reminded me of the kinds of responses
I see for Ruby in Paradise with Ashley Judd.
I tried to get my sister to see that film, and she
told me to wake her "when something happens."

I think ya either like films that have more mood
and tone than an actual plot and accept that as
valid film style or you don't.

Another film like this, but even has less sense
of plot, the widely critically-praised, The Long Day Closes. I'd be curious to see what the LiT-haters would say about that one.

Those who hated it, feel free to tell me I'm wrong.


Mark

 

[pradike]

I like movies with mood....

...as long as the mood isn't the entire movie going into a coma. This one is truly a sleeper.

 

[david_shy]

Mark Zimmer

couldn't tell from your contribution if you'd ever been to Tokyo...I didn't see in this film any of the racism you saw...Coppola portrays "strangers" caught in an obviously foreign place

I felt Bill Murray's character showed this well....the fading star who'd been here before, was still overwhelmed by the city itself, and still couldn't begin to deal with the place

one can visit Tokyo or Japan easily, but it's much, much harder for one to understand the depth of culture occurring around you...

as for wish fulfillment, I think you have misread the relationship between the main characters...a huge part of this particular story is that they didn't "get romantic", despite the obvious attraction (doubt I need a spoiler here...)

 

[Dome Vongvises]

PS - Scarlett in the pink wig, mega-hot.

I wonder if that was a nod to anime.

I couldn't stop from laughing when Bill Murray tried to sing "More Than This".

Try getting lost in a culture you think you belong to. Boy does loneliness set in.

 

[JonZ]

Does anyone else think this film is a autobiography of a period in the her life,based on Sofia herself?

 

[Alex Spindler]

Yes, and I believe she may have even stated as much. The current assumption is that the photographer husband is modeled after Spike Jonze and Kelly may be modeled after Cameron Diaz.

 

[Shane Gralaw]

David, I think the problem with the cutural stereotypes is that they reinforce some presumption of Japanese freakiness, or other assumtions (like everyone is short and can't pronounce the letter "r" -as in "'Lip´ my stockings"). I think when a visitor goes to Japan, he or she is always surprised by how little the stereotypes match reality. I know I had my own presumtions, almost all of which were wrong. Not that one cannot make ANY generalizations about the Japanese, but why not try to depict some cutural differences that are less obvious (and boderline insulting) than the ones in LiT? Tokyo simply isn't as exotic or freaky as the film presents, and since Ms. Coppola obviously spent some time there, at least to film, she should have known better. I have recieved several emails from friends still in Tokyo (Japanese and gaijin alike) who have seen the film and most of them have come to a similar conclusion.

 

[Lew Crippen]

David, I think the problem with the cutural stereotypes is that they reinforce some presumption of Japanese freakiness, or other assumtions (like everyone is short and can't pronounce the letter "r" -as in "'Lip´ my stockings").

Shane, I tend to agree with David on this and I think that you and Mark are not recognizing that this is a film made from the outsider’s perspective and includes their preconceptions and misconceptions—none of which are going to disappear in the short time they spent in Japan—especially as most of it was spent in a five star hotel cocoon.

This is not a film that was made to dispel cultural stereotypes—and I think it incorrect to judge it from that perspective.

 

[Shane Gralaw]

Lew, I am from Texas (and you live there). What if you saw a Japanese film where the main characters go to Texas and everyone is walking around in cowboy hats and shooting off guns before the main characters encounter a slew of right-wing Bubba bigots? That is the Texas stereotype, and while all of the above things do exist in Texas, it would be entirely unrealistic to depict them as something that someone visiting, even for a short time, would commonly encounter. And it would probably make you bristle just watching it. It is unlikely you would walk away thinking it was a great or subtle film.

Since LiT is getting such props for subtlety, why is it getting a pass on the stereotypes? It would be a far better film if, instead of the characters running a gauntlet of quirky Japanese that reinforce their preconcieved ideas, the filmmakers bothered to challenge such stereotypes by having the leads interact with at least some "real" people. I thought the people Bill and Scarlett hung out with at the clubs and karaoke bar were fairly realistic, but they are more or less just background noise, and not real characters.

 

[Lew Crippen]

Shane, I probably was not clear in exactly why I found your critisim not valid, so I’ll try to be more specific (and I’ll admit that this comes close to nitpicking and being a pedant).

It is unlikely you would walk away thinking it was a great or subtle film.

And I did not walk away from Lost in Translation thinking it was either subtle or great. In fact, in my prior post, I commented that I found the film broad and contrasted it to one that I found subtle. For me, Sophia Coppola is a fine young filmmaker, who has not yet learned how to make a great film. Perhaps a part of this lies in her not yet being able to create complex characters is a very short period of time and with little dialogue.

But even with her writing deficiencies, I don’t believe that the point of the film is to show a fair and balanced view of Tokyo and the Japanese. It is to explore a particular relationship between two people under a particular set of stressful circumstances, where they are cut off from what is normal and familiar.

In this, I think that she succeeded very well.

 

[Alex Spindler]

I suppose I never caught the racism vibe because it all felt too authentic. It felt like the kind of experiences you could find yourself in when you're a non-tourist. Wandering into a pachinko arcade, trying to deal with a less than capable translator, trying to bridge the language gap in a hospital and having people laugh at you (as they laugh at Bill in the waiting room). Having gone through Europe on business, and getting to explore around on my off time, I ended up feeling much the same way. Trying to understand their TV shows was something I could really relate to. I mean, Matthew’s Best Hit TV is a real show.

It just seems like everyone is taking offense that they showed the elements that made their characters really feel alienated in a foreign land that they couldn't relate to, when it was a really important foundation for the entire storyline. If you undermine that foundation, it would be really hard to see why they latched onto each other for companionship and comfort.