Film: Lost in Translation

I am as up for a good "deep film"as the next guy, but this one I felt failed to deliver up to the hype. Sorry, my opinion, but you know what they say about opinions.

^what didnt you like about this movie?

This movie suffers from overhype from people who have seen it towards people who haven't seen it until recently, much like Donnie Darko.

I thought LIT was really a great movie that Bill Murray carried ridiculously. I can't think of many other actors (or even a few) (or even one) who could have done this sort of role as well as Bill.

It just did a freaking great job of developing themes of alienation and isolation while at the same time developing a platonic relationship that was very delicate and touching.

Yeah, I really thought that I would like this movie. But somehow it really disappointed me.

It reminds me of that scene in the movie 'Adaptation' where Cage's character goes to the screenwriter's seminar and tells the lecturer that he wants to make a film about nothing, where nothing happens and there is no real meaning in the end, just like life.
Then the lecturer goes right off at him- "Every day people struggle, someone is born, someone dies!... If you can't find any meaning in life then WHAT THE FUCK AM I DOING WASTING TWO HOURS OF MY LIFE WATCHING YOUR MOVIE!!"

Anyway, when the closing credits rolled in Lost in Translation, I was almost as angry as that guy.

If a film is offering ideas and impressions, I like to look pretty deeply into it and discuss it with friends.
I can't find anything in this movie worth thinking or talking about.

^^^ but, imo, kaufman was poking fun of the lecturer (films about "nothing" are often kinda fantastic), thus your point is either misguided or just ironic

this is one of those films that, i guess, can be seen as pointless and meandering to the point of boredom, but i think a lot can be gained out of a look at humanity through the character study.

i can see your point though, so we'll have to just disagree

I watched about an hour, hour and a half of Lost in Translation before I turned it off, I haven't seen anything in this thread to make me want to watch the last part of the movie.

I'm not seeing what the great things are about this movie, it just seemed like a wannabe artsy film about 2 american's in Japan.

There was even a reach with some camera angles and shots at times that didn't fit the film at all. I'll try to find a minute count on those so you can check them out for yourself.

If you liked this movie or got something out of it, great, but it was a huge waste of my time.

How is this movie called a Comedy?

onetwothreefour said:

^^^ but, imo, kaufman was poking fun of the lecturer (films about "nothing" are often kinda fantastic), thus your point is either misguided or just ironic

Click to expand...

Yeh, I laughed at the lecturer when I watched 'Adaptation'. But now that I've seen 'Lost In Translation', I think I see his point. :D

Do you really think some of the best films are about nothing? What's an example?

I intentionally never read reviews or pieces on Films before i go to see them. I hate having any pre-conceptions on what OTHER people think of movies, i like to make my own mind up.

I thought this was very beautifully shot, i loved it when she was walking through the garden/place where the temples were, a really nice scene- musically, cinematographically...

To punchepunches comments: You think there was no meaning to the end of that movie? TO ME:

I felt this movie ran with the "Everyone truly is alone" theme the whole way through...with a simple gesture at the end of the film when Bill runs up and gives charlotte a heartfelt hug and tells her something, when he touches her foot, and just their attraction to each other for the attention they both want from another human being, clearly shows yes, we are all alone, but people will still care about you anyway- even if they are too wrapped up in their own self/life.

Maybe i just relate to the topic... But even if i didnt i think i would of loved this film anyway.

I thought Scarlett Johanson was perfect for her role, so naturally beautiful, shes a great actress. And Bill Murray, yes, he certainly fit his role.

....excellent film .... %)

I liked this film - Coppola directed it beautifully. I thought it was set up well from the first scene when Murray is arriving in Japan. The cinematography and music is entrancing and I thought that this whimsical, almost nonchalent, style of direction was carried well throughout the film.

I thought the script let itself down a little, there were some parts I thought lasted too long and I thought the joke with the shortened japanese translations got old quick. Murray and Johanssen were both brilliant though, especially considering that Murray hasn't done much to impress recently and Johanssen was only 18 at the time. The pent up emotion between the two was palpable and established amazingly well by Coppola. The value of the relationship sort of 'snuck in the back door' in my opinion, one minute they were just two strangers who had something in common in a foreign country and the next I realised they meant the world to each other.

I found it to be a really different style of film from anything I've ever seen before... it managed to be quaint but also meaningful. I thought the end was abrupt, but retrospectively timely and I agree with comments made in here about it ultimately being a tale of loneliness.

Well worth a look IMO. Watch it with an open mind and don't expect anything from it... let it sneak up on you.

Yeah, I'll throw in another positive vote for this, one of the best of the year for me. I don't understand anyone who thought this was boring, I wasn't bored for a second. Beautifully shot, too.

Also, for anyone who liked the soundtrack, it was done by Kevin Shields, the former frontman of My Bloody Valentine. If you haven't heard their album Loveless, you need to, especially if you liked the music in the movie.

I thought this movie was fabulous. Scarlett Johanssen is so good. I liked how she was always in her underwear. In fact, I think there should have been more of a focus on that aspect of the film.

What really made this film I felt was the writing. Do you have any idea how hard it is to write a story that is compelling and touching yet where virtually nothing happens plot-wise? The dialogue was top notch and the character interaction had an air of authenticity which is starkly absent in most movies these days.

I particularly like how the movie itself goes away from tried and true movie cinematic formula. Most movies I find are just too formulaic, too predictable; studios are afraid to get behind efforts that stray from comfortable market-tested ideas, and to see a film such as this is extremely refreshing.

Great, Coppola got the nod from the academy for writing -
so when is John Hurt going to quit?

After hearing a lot of disappointing reviews of the movie I finally got too see it.
I was very impressed. The soundtrack was absolutely mesmerizing, just waaaay to perfect. I knew the instant in the beginning where Death In Vegas's "Girls" is playing as the car is driving through Japan that I was going to love the movie. Some would say it was slow, and I would probably agree, but i don't think that in any way detracts from the movie. The movie was all about atmosphere and feeling, and it was by far the most atmospheric movie I have seen in a long time...

P.S. I recommend you all buy/download the soundtrack. Its amazing! Although there are 1 or 2 throw away tracks (expected of a soundtrack) it works SO well... Its especially nice to see Kevin Shields back in the studio to record 4 new tracks for the album, in addition the My Bloody Valentine's "Sometimes." (Its been WAY too long for us MBV fans...) Death in Vegas, squarepusher, Jesus and Marry Chain, and Air all add compelling songs that fit perfectly with the sort of "shoegaze" aesthetic.


Yeah, as you can see, the music is what made the movie for me

^ if you let the CD run on after the last track, there's a nice hidden track

alasdair

That Air track is my highlight - and it appeared on the soundtrack first, before their latest release. Surprised of the squarepusher track too. Coppolla obviously has impressive links to musicians - esp with air doing an entire soundtrack for virgin suicides.

...and I love that hidden track

i've been procrastinating a little over this for the last couple of weeks. but luckily, i've got the easy way out, because part of my point has been illustrated by someone else (see below)

when i called lit, i used the term loosely. i probably didn't expand enough, so i will now.



this, as most (though not all) character studies are, is what a film about nothing is. i talk about it in that "nothing" (in the big, dramatic, hollywood sense) happens. obviously the characters grow and progress - the entire point of the film - but there are no massive dramatic events to keep us interested, nor any particularly interesting conflicts; basically, nothing in the typical melodramatical sense of film occurs.

now...some of the best films which i think fall under this - those which immediately spring to mind are things like kurosawa's yume, the recent waking life and godard's le mepris (though there is a death at the end, it is entirely devoid of any real dramatic affectation on the audience, especially in the way it is shot, or rather, not shot ) - films in which ideas, emotions and people are explored, rather than just the typical stories of conflict within a dramatic context.

and i'd just like to mention that not only was i thrilled to see coppola win an oscar (thoroughly deserved), but just as thrilled to hear her mention godard - the guy has become somewhat of an inspiration for me of late

^^^ God i love waking life....i get pumped up whenever its mentioned

and so says sofia coppola.

anyway, i just thought this was an interesting little tid-bit of information. except now i really really really wanna find out what was said. of course, as i've mentioned, it's not actually important to the film (in fact, it's best that we don't know imo), but i'm too damn curious and petulant to leave it at that

if anyone ever finds out, they must post!

1234- would you say that the "films about nothing" that you mentioned are interesting and clever, not because not much happens in the way of drama, but because those films had a unique style or structure which was hard to compare to anything that came before it?

Well now that I've had a few weeks to think about it, I've worked out why I didn't get into this film.
It's because I didn't feel sympathy for the characters. I guess I was expecting them to say or do something interesting that would endear them to me or at least make them a bit more intriguing.
But as far as I could see, they never really became much more than caricatures.
And maybe I was expecting more kookiness from Bill Murray, considering that the part was written for him.
And maybe it was just the insensitive male in me that couldn't appreciate the subtleties of the relationship between Murray and Johannson characters.
Some of the thoughts that ppl have posted in this thread almost make me wanna see it again.
But I do remember being very bored the first time I watched it.