Lost in Translation
 

Quick movie background: Stars Bill Murray, Giovani Ribisi, and Scarlett Johansen.
Rated: R

Lost in Translation is the kind of movie you're afraid to bad-mouth because you fear that it holds a secret meaning you're missing or you worry that you're too stupid to appreciate the artistic symbolism. I'm going to be bold and tell you, straight out, that this movie was absolutely attrocious. The acting by Scarlet and Murray was very natural and believeable. The movie lacked, for the most part, deep, obvious emotion and the way the actors delivered nothing lines was impressive, but it certainly didn't save the movie. Call me traditional, but I'm partial to movies with plots. Although the humor found in mocking the Japanese was subtly laughable, the movie lacked purpose and pace.

Those looking too hard for meaning in this pile of garbage will tell you that it represents the aimlessness held in all of our lives and stands as a universal flag for the loneliness we all experience. I'll tell you this: Be lonely somewhere else.

Bottom Line: F; if you have to mock other cultures, rent an old, poorly dubbed Godzilla movie.

Haven't seen it, but I'm kinda confused as to what kind of movie it's supposed to be. Is it mainly trying to be a comedy, a drama, or what?

It's supposed to "make you laugh"...and then it's supposed to symbolize loneliness. The only thing I miss is my five dollars.

Totally disagree.
Beautiful movie.... hauntingly cold and realistic. If anyone has ever spent time in a foreign culture abroad will know the feeling of detactment and alienation.
The music Coppola chooses hightens the overall mood and the Kevin Shield's score is perfect to create the dreamy atmosphere that Charlette and John meet and love and learn and grow in.....

and as for the acting --- WOW ---

Bill Murray puts in the most sublime, sad, and funny performace of his entire career.... and Scarlett Johansson is beautiful and poised to be a star.

Sofia Coppola creates a worthy successor to The Virgin Suicides. A masterpiece of control and percision. A lessor director would have ruined this movie.

Totally agree with drown_with_me. I just got back form seeing it ten minutes ago. The movie does totally capture the feeling you get when you're on your own in a totally foreign place. I thought the movie was hilarious, dramatic, and romantic. I may be biased though because I love Bill MUrray in dark comedies and Sofia Coppola.

im interested in this movie, but I wanted to know if it is based off a book, and if so, do they share the same title?
I like reading books before the movie to see if they match up well. It looks good.

I've heard nothing but amazing things about this. This is actually the first time I've seen someone saying anything other than 'amazing.'

Yea, I took the chance. Everyone I was with absolutely hated it. I already said, it's one of those artsy movies you're afraid to bash because of the obvious meaning its trying to throw at you. Obviously everyone here, except me, appreciated its efforts.

I thought it was awful.

I'm pretty sure this was penned directly into a screenplay by Coppola. Check IMDB.com to make sure.

I thought it was gorgeous and dream like and funny. I didn't see too much Japan-mocking either .. guess everyone sees it differently

I agree.
It's about not-fitting-in as apposed to mocking.

I thought it was an OK movie. Good but not great. It was too slow for my tastes, I think that Coppola was deliberately trying to thrust an "insomnia" feeling into the movie to mirror the mindset of the main characters, nevertheless I was a little bored.

Regarding the treatment of the Japanese characters; I did not see any mockery. Having lived there for a while back in the 90's I can say with some authority,"This kind of crazy shit really happens." It was factual, perhaps unflattering, but factual.

Anyway, I liked it, but I think the next movie I go see is gonna be "The Rundown."

BTW, I liked "Punch-Drunk Love" too.

I liked Virgin Suicides a lot, so I am eager to see this. Is there anyone along with drown_with_me who has seen Virgin Suicides and thought Lost in Translation was a good follow up/ disappointment?

For those of you who don't frequent the journals, here's what I had to say about this film after returning from the theater:
........................................................
Lost in Translation - is a perfect film

Yes, that’s what I think.

I’ve been to Tokyo and I’ve always said it is the most desperately repressed, lonely, and alienated city I’ve ever seen. Of course, its appearance is quite the opposite. It looks just like a fun place. That would be my point. Enough said about my recollection of Tokyo.

That it is the backdrop for this film is as it should be. The film is about loneliness, repressed desire, and the disconnect between what we are externally (culture) and what we are internally (a mystery, especially to ourselves).

Bill Murray plays a character much like himself – an ageing movie star who doesn’t have the looks to be a romantic lead. Scarlett Johansson also plays a character much like herself (minus the movie star aspect) – a young woman who is experiencing full adulthood with all of its contradictory and frustrating realities.

She is finding out that her world has become more circumspect than she ever might have imagined. He is full of the realizations that ensue from living such an interior life for decades – even while possessing fame and its attendant wealth.

They meet through a series of meaningless coincidences and spend a few externally meaningless days in a meaningless place. What we come to grasp however is how deeply meaningful all of this becomes to them. The tension between the utter emptiness of the external situation vis-à-vis their inner experience is the film’s content. Although highly understated it is conveyed deliberately and with assuredness by both actors.

The title says it all. Everything is lost in translation. The meaning of things is lost in the myriad of translations of things as we experience them. Translations between life and media, nature and culture, age and youth, desire and experience - yield not meaning but the absence of meaning.

The film is so true to the inner life of human beings that it’s amazing it was made. Even more amazing is how thoroughly entrancing it is (notice I didn’t say “entertaining”).

I’m also always encouraged to see a piece of work in which the brainless but spectacular worlds of popular culture and mass media are taken down a few notches and revealed to be the vapid excuses for a good time they truly are. Tokyo is a fitting symbol for all of this. As I see it, the only thing worse than visiting the place would be having to live there.

Lost in Translation
 

I hope there isn't a thread for this already. Anyway, I thought it was a pretty enjoyable movie. Bill Murray seems to have found a niche in playing a morose and almost soulless man. His character, Bob Harris, is basically the same guy from Rushmore and The Royal Tennenbaums. I like this though because his brand of humor is hard to find amongst Bruce Almighty crap. The story is set in Tokyo and focuses on the parallel lives of Bob and a woman, Charlotte, who is tagging along with her photographer husband on assignment. Niether of them is in love with his/her spouse but they manage to have a platonic week of fun in Japan. It's more dark comedy than romance which is probably why I like it. In other words, if you didn't hate Rushmore then I recommend seeing it.

I saw this with a lady friend.. she loves the movie, I found it to be one of the most enjoyable "love stories" I've ever seen.. not too sappy, yet emotionally true in all the right ways.. Bill Murray is always fabulous, and the girl who plays Charlotte is quickly becoming one of my favorite actresses

Great movie!

I think Sofia Coppola is on her way to becoming a better director than her dad (I'm sure some people will take issue with that comment).

I really liked it. it was pretentious sometimes but overall I really enjoyed it especially the ending.

*cough http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showthr...threadid=28280

Most everyone disargees with me, but ew.

So I'll just copy and paste because my feelings for this movie since they are so strong:

Quick movie background: Stars Bill Murray, Giovani Ribisi, and Scarlet Something.
Rated: R

Lost in Translation is the kind of movie you're afraid to bad-mouth because you fear that it holds a secret meaning you're missing, or you worry that you're too stupid to appreciate the artistic symbolism. I'm going to be bold and tell you, straight out, that this movie was absolutely attrocious. The acting by Scarlet and Murray was very natural and believeable. The movie lacked, for the most part, deep, obvious emotion and the way the actors delivered nothing lines was impressive, but it certainly didn't save the movie. Call me traditional, but I'm partial to movies with plots. Although the humor found in mocking the Japanese was subtly laughable, the movie lacked purpose and pace.

Those looking too hard for meaning in this pile of garbage will tell you that it represents the aimlessness held in all of our lives and stands as a universal flag for the loneliness we all experience. I'll tell you this: Be lonely somewhere else.

Bottom Line: F; if you have to mock other cultures, rent an old, poorly dubbed Godzilla movie.

I love Scarlett Johansson, who played Charlotte. I think she's absolutely enchanting. I enjoyed the movie pretty well, I thought the acting was good even if the plot left something to be desired.

I didn't like it. I have to agree with EeOh1 on most everything he said.

like EeOh1, I'll just repost my comment from the first Thread:

"Beautiful movie.... hauntingly cold and realistic. If anyone has ever spent time in a foreign culture abroad will know the feeling of detactment and alienation.
The music Coppola chooses hightens the overall mood and the Kevin Shield's score is perfect to create the dreamy atmosphere that Charlette and John meet and love and learn and grow in.....

and as for the acting --- WOW ---

Bill Murray puts in the most sublime, sad, and funny performace of his entire career.... and Scarlett Johansson is beautiful and poised to be a star.

Sofia Coppola creates a worthy successor to The Virgin Suicides. A masterpiece of control and percision. A lessor director would have ruined this movie."

I thought it looked great, was well acted and directed. But I never really felt the bond that the characters had. It was great that there was ambiguity, as a Hollywood movie would have been cliched and probably turned into some sort of lame romantic comedy. I just didn't feel a real connection between them. For instance, totally different circumstances, but in another 'strangers meet' movie, Leaving Las Vegas, I felt that the two characters had a real bond and I could feel the pain each was going through. In 'Lost' I'm not positive what they were going through. Loneliness, sure, but it didn't really leap off of the screen at me. Was there a wish or hope for non-platonic love? I think so, but again, I wasn't getting strong vibes. How upset was Scarlett about her husband not being there and with his flirting with the actress? I think she was upset, but it was never really developed. Not that I wanted it to be deliberate, but I would have like more emotion. Also, Ribisi was underused.


I'd give it 3 1/2 stars. Very good, but not great.



Scarlett's ass in the beginning, of course, gets 5 stars


Finally, is it wrong that I think Sophia Coppola is cute in a weird sort of way???

I thought it looked great, was well acted and directed. But I never really felt the bond that the characters had. It was great that there was ambiguity, as a Hollywood movie would have been cliched and probably turned into some sort of lame romantic comedy. I just didn't feel a real connection between them. For instance, totally different circumstances, but in another 'strangers meet' movie, Leaving Las Vegas, I felt that the two characters had a real bond and I could feel the pain each was going through. In 'Lost' I'm not positive what they were going through. Loneliness, sure, but it didn't really leap off of the screen at me. Was there a wish or hope for non-platonic love? I think so, but again, I wasn't getting strong vibes. How upset was Scarlett about her husband not being there and with his flirting with the actress? I think she was upset, but it was never really developed. Not that I wanted it to be deliberate, but I would have like more emotion. Also, Ribisi was underused.


I'd give it 3 1/2 stars. Very good, but not great.



Scarlett's ass in the beginning, of course, gets 5 stars


Finally, is it wrong that I think Sophia Coppola is cute in a weird sort of way???

The Japanese need mocked. Kanji? Fuck them.

I'm going to have to see it again, because I watched it with a bunch of loud mouth friends. It becomes hard to concentrate when all that talking is going on...

But what I actually got out of the movie was really good. I enjoyed it most because it touched on the subject of lonliness and how it makes a person seek another person. But what I really liked was how honest the movie seemed to be. Watching Bill Murray's character, there was tension between the two main character's that you could cut with a knife...

Good flick, want to see it again.

I agree with EeOh1. It was OK, nothing special. I didn't like how it mocked the Japanese either. Overall, it was pretty sappy, with the scenes where Murray followed his little chippy around to all those parties particularly embarrassing. He was at least 25 years older than anyone there. The whole thing about romanticizing a long-married man's lonliness by sending him this pretty, newly married, young woman: sappy. And by adding a sense of isolation, where they were "strangers together in a strange land", with the Japanese as the Strangers, was weak. Hey, but is was made by a Coppolla, so its all good, right?

I wanna see it. I heard Bill Murray puts in an incredible performance... and from the clips Ive seen, they arent mocking Japanese culture, more just using it as a metaphor to show how alienated the leads idea - and their estrangement.

I usually like "artsy movies" if they have something to say and are not artsy just for the sake of being artsy. I did not like Lost in Translation.
The movie was completely emotionless and I found it impossible to connect with any of the main characters. The "humor" mostly consisted of making fun of Japanese people in dumb ways like mocking their short stature. Murray was good, but not deserving of all the praise he's been getting and I didn't like Scarlett Johansen at all. I agree with monkeydriven that Ribisi was underused because he really stole ever scene he was in.

it's too slow paced for me :( but not bad

I saw this a little while ago and it really struck me. It was one of the best movies I had seen in a long time, and a real break from all the same action and comedy that you usually see in theaters. I thought there was a lot more meaning to the film than you usually see. It made a lot to talk about afterwards with the person I saw it with.

This movie had an emotional plausability that I've found lacking in pretty much every romantic movie I've ever seen. Loved it, even if the pacing isn't what I'm used to in a modern film.

Add another "hear hear" for opening credits :)

I would give the movie an avergae rating. A few good scenes with lots of pretty filler. It was almost like a documentary, with no voice over narration. I thought the movie's best quality was it's artistic direction, the visual coordinator had a wonderful way of making ugly things in this world appear beautiful, and vice versa. Similar in a way to "Eyes Wide Shut" this film tries to portay an emotion, rather than a well defined plot, and that's what makes it so different. I felt bored through most of the film, like I couldn't relate, but the good scenes were really spectacular and made it worth watching.

Just got done watching it and I too think it was absolutely horrendous.
I think the story and idea had lots of potential though. The people who liked the film seem to like it for good reasons; It portrays lonliness and being 'lost' in foreign countries very well. Again, the story had potential. So as far as that goes, I give it a B. But you mustn't leave out comments on what else makes a film. The directing, the acting, and the overall visual image it portrays. I think it would have stayed much truer to the meaning the story was attempting to get across if the directing was much more rough and abstract. It was too clean and straightforeward. The acting was terrible as well. I wanted to laugh every time I saw Bill Murray. Who in their right mind would cast someone as universally funny as Murray in a serious film? C'mon now! I would have rather seen a no-name, depressed looking actor than Murray who is completely diametric to what his character would/should have been. There is simply no sence in (spending more money) casting an actor who is only known for his humor. Advertisement advertisement advertisement I accuse! I understand that the movie is supposed to be cute and a little black-comedic but any actor can warm an audience up.
One more comment. The build the story takes is terrible as well. It was filmed in chunks, meaning that Bill and the actress would be talking---change scene---then continue hours later in another setting, however Sophia seemed to forget about this and wrote the dialog at a real-time pace. Bill and the actress would run into eachother again and again and continue their complaint-filled conversations as if they had never left eachother. Chose one or the other Sophia! But I think she majorly F'ed up the development as the scene by scene and real-time conversations completely clashed.
---
F. I would give it a D- but the unnecessary teasing of Tokyo lifestyle and culture was way too rash, especially because it was the only humor Sophia seemed to imply in her 'depressing but cheerfully funny' film.
-T

I agree with every word you said ;) I'm even going to be defensive here and say that all the people praising the movie really did look too deep for connection in my mind. Either that or I am too shallow to bite the bait. I found it completely impossible to build an emotional connection between Bill and Scarlet. No love jumped out at me. I went through the whole movie as if I was viewing a preview, waiting to feel the emotion between the two of them. Maybe someone would say that this is the whole point; simple, un-hollywood love that is just 'there for what it's worth', but I don't buy it.

I feel compelled to watch it now. But personally I've heard far more good than bad... *shrug*

I have to say I really enjoyed this movie. I thought the perfomances were excellent. It derseves all the praise it has been given.

I loved this movie.
I was inthralled my both actors.
I'm having trouble putting my thoughts into words, since thinking about the film has started me spacing out again. After seeing it, i just sat down and reflected on it. Blew my fuse.

i saw lost in translation several months ago. thought it was fairly charming and off-beat. but the thing is...see...i can't stop thinking about it. random images from this movie pop into my head every now and then. that doesn't happen to me. ever.

so i must've really liked it more than i thought. need to see it again.

b. murray whispering in her ear absolutely haunts me.

Excellent movie.

Ya, what the hell was that. I even rewound it to see, but nothing.




Oh man, I was thinking the same thing as I watched some of the extra shit on the dvd. Hah!

I enjoyed it. Good movie.