Lost In Translation (Widescreen Edition)

Rating:
Summary: American Zuihitsu
Review: I've seen Lost in Translation twice already, and I'm probably going to see it a third time shortly. I enjoyed it more than any film since Mulholland Drive, and before that, since Hillary and Jackie. It made me nostalgic for Tokyo, which isn't all that easy to do. For the first time in years, I actually want to go there, to be there.

This film has personal meaning for me because I'm a translator, of Japanese to English. I've spent most of my adult life seeing at painfully close distance what does and doesn't get through in translation, sometimes despite one's best efforts. And I've given up thinking that you can ever get through to someone, on either side of the ocean, who really doesn't care what's over the next hill.

Some reviewers complain there isn't much in the way of plot. I guess that's true. Today I realized that this film is actually an American "zuihitsu." Japan specialists reading this know what I'm talking about. There's a genre of narrative in Japan, going quite far back, where the subject matter is basically personal reflection, and there's really no architecture to the progression of ideas. There's a certain similarity to stream-of-consciousness writing -- one observation links to another, and another, and the pleasure comes not from Aristotelian development but from a sense of versimilitude in how one scene, one emotion, fades into the next, on and on. The narrative becomes a montage of emotions. At the end, if you feel the emotions are real, then you feel the narrative was good.

Lost in Translation is kind of like this, I think.

Tokyo is a place where absolutely everything imaginable exists, but it's hard to get a grip on anything definite. It has this shimmering, effervescent quality, but many things are fluid, and not permanent. The city was destroyed twice in the 20th Century, once by earthquake and again by carpet bombing. Now it seems to be constantly destroying and rebuilding itself as it goes along. Very little there is old, and things don't endure.

Especially when you mix in serious jet lag and sleep deprivation and constantly being caught off guard by small dissonances in the culture, Tokyo becomes a place that strips you of your defenses and leaves you very elemental. People form bonds in unique ways when this happens. My girlfriend says this could happen in any world-class city, and objectively I concede she's probably right. But I'm biased to think that Tokyo is particularly likely to have this effect.

So, for me the film and the characters and the emotions are utterly believable and one thousand percent credible. And the way it depicts the essence of the city, this, too, is completely true. To me, that's what makes this film brilliant.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful Film - And Not Racist!
Review: I must disagree with the reviewers who are calling "Lost in Translation" a racist movie that ridicules the Japanese. I think the director went out of her way to show an honest and varied portrayal of Japan and its people through the eyes of two newly arrived Americans. The message was not that the Japanese are ridiculous, but that everything seems strange and incomprehensible when you're in a foreign country - hence the title of the movie.

Yes, there was the flamboyant talk show host, the bizarre prostitute, the eccentric director, the strange TV shows, and a lot of references to Japanese pronunciation of English words. But don't forget that the film also showed, with great reverence, the beauty of a traditional Japanese wedding, a ceremony in a temple, the technological wonders of Tokyo's streetscapes and video arcades, and a traditional flower arranging class. There were also lots of Japanese characters who were not made out to be ridiculous and several American characters who were.

This film is not mean-spirited - it's simply honest about the ways in which people don't understand each other, whether it be across cultures or even within one's own marriage.

Rating:
Summary: Refreshingly Different
Review: I won't recap the movie since it is already documented above, but this movie was thoroughly enjoyable. I was able to relate to the movie's "finding yourself" theme. At least that is what I took from the movie, you may have a different view. The main charachters have a big age difference, but they both seem to find themselves lost in another country in search of their place in life. It was nice that the director didn't cheapen the friendship by involving any explicit sexual interaction. The charachters communicate on a purely emotional level.........very different compared with most movies released today. The footage of Tokyo was excellent and the Japanese culture was portrayed in an admirable (and at times humorous)fashion. We all need to take a step back every now and then..... to reflect on our lives and ensure we are living our lives to the fullest. Not everyone will "get it", but after watching this movie a lot of people may start rethinking just what they want from life. Enjoy! =-)

Rating:
Summary: good characters, no plot.
Review: A film by Sophia Coppola

This is a tough movie to describe because there isn't a whole lot of plot (as we would normally understand plot). There are details that build up the two main characters and illuminate the experiences of Americans temporarily living in Tokyo. On one hand, this was a fairly interesting movie with a great performance by Bill Murray. On the other hand, there wasn't a whole lot going on with this movie.

Bob Harris (Bill Murray) is an American actor working on commercials in Japan for a while. He is somewhat estranged from his wife and has not seen his children in a while. While in Tokyo, he meets a much young woman who is staying in the same hotel: Charlotte (Scarlet Johansson). Charlotte's husband works as a photographer and he is gone most of the time. Both Bob and Charlotte are very lonely and feel isolated. They meet, briefly talk and subsequently they keep running into each other. Eventually they begin a friendship and they spend time together both in the hotel as well as out on the town in Tokyo.

The movie deals with the friendship of Bob and Charlotte and touches upon the loneliness they feel (as well as the insomnia they share), and through this friendship we are shown what it is like for an American (who barely speaks the language) to live in Tokyo. We see some of the cultural differences. Some people have said that this film is racist towards the Japanese in its portrayal of the people and the country, but it felt authentic. We know that we aren't seeing the everyday life of the Japanese people but rather how two random Americans may encounter some of the Japanese in clubs and hotels. Of course that isn't authentic Japan, but it is an authentic experience. Sophia Coppola wrote the screenplay and she is very gentle with the Japanese people, so I guess that I don't quite understand the accusations of racism and cultural prejudice.

This is Coppola's second film and while I feel that this is a much stronger film than The Virgin Suicides, I wasn't as impressed as I felt I should be. The critical reviews were nearly unfailing positive and glowing, but I felt like something was lacking. Lost in Translation (the title alludes to how with a cultural and language difference, some things get lost in translation) was a good movie, but because the lack of focus in the plot/story, I found it difficult to really get into it. I was impressed with the work of both Bill Murray and Scarlet Johansson, and I appreciate the film a bit more the more I think about it, but I just can't manage to get excited about this movie....and that knocks it down a star.

Rating:
Summary: cool breeze
Review: When you are in a new place, especially in a foreign country, your senses are easily shut down. Everything is dull, food is tasteless, street noise is muffled, and you feel you are drifting around. Imagine you are stuck in a highrise office building with central air conditioning for a week.

Then you feel a cool breeze, much like the cool air from the lake when you finally get out of your office in an autumn night. Suddenly, all your senses come alive, stars shine brightly, the street light is vivid, and you have a sense of euphoria.

That must be the feeling that Bob and Charlotte had when they first made contact in a hotel bar in Tokyo. Two lonely souls, drifting aimlessly in one of the biggest cities in the world, suddenly found each other. The encounter, although random, was full of magic. Before that, when Charlotte was calling her friends, she said, "I didn't feel anything". When the film ended, we saw tears streaming down her cheeks.

This is one of the most beautiful movies I have ever seen. Lonely people will understand it better because they identify with the characters, and they secretly dream about such a magical encounter in their lifetime.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful
Review: If you're walking into this film expecting dramatic plot twists, an erotic romance that shocks to the core of Tokyo, or slapstick comedy that Bill Murray is known for, this isn't the movie for you.

Lost in Translation seemed to be like sitting beside a quiet stream. The movie flowed beautifully, and all I can seem to think is that it truly is a piece of art. Rarely in American Cinema do we encounter a movie that doesn't involve risque sexuality, blowing up a car, building or two, or some other overt message being handed to us on a platter because its audience is assumed to be too stupid to put 2 and 2 together.

To even compare Lost in Translation to Bill Murray's other movies is a crime. It cannot be compared to his previous work merely because of the nature of the film itself. It is not meant to be a comedy, nor is it meant to have that earth shattering moral or message that some have complained that Lost in Translation lacks.

It feels to me as though the subtly of the film makes it a greater accomplishment than many of the movies that I have seen in years. I give credit to Coppola for not handing the film to her audience on a platter. The intricacy of the relationship is what makes the movie so wonderful. To digress from the normal Hollywood theme of Young Beautiful Woman/Young Beautiful Man is refreshing and well worth the cost of the ticket.

Rating:
Summary: Totally Dissapointing
Review: I was so looking forward to this film. I love Bill Murray and I really enjoyed Virgin Suicides Coppola's early effort. But this film is such a mess I don't even know where to begin. It was trying to explore some very fascinating themes with extremely poor execution. I just didn't care about these characters when it was all over and I knew that that was not the filmmaker's intention.

Rating:
Summary: Lost: the moral of the story
Review: Lost in Translation suffers from having no central theme, moral, or fundamental message to communicate. If it were a mindless screwball comedy it could be forgiven this flaw; however, the movie does appear to have the pretensions of communicating some sort of deeper meaning. But the best moral of the story that I can come up with is: people in strange foreign cultures, cut off from family, will bond together and make some bad choices until their return flights depart. Hardly an earth shattering revelation.

Bill Murray does give a fine performance, and has several opportunities to showcase his ironic wit, especially when filming a whiskey commercial. The film also functions as an interesting Tokyo travelogue and an introduction to various aspects of Japanese popular culture, including the pachinko parlors, arcades, street youths, strip clubs, and Japanese television. Bill Murray's visit to an over-the-top gaudy Japanese talk show is another one of the highlights.

Unfortunately, the film's flaws outweigh the positives. Besides lacking meaning, the plot takes several illogical turns. Just when Bill Murray's character and the young married woman he meets appear on the verge of deepening their relationship, a much older floozy steals his affections for the night, which he instantly regrets. This prevents the film from developing into a love story - it's a friend story, and one in which the friends aren't acting terribly rationally. The young woman whom Bill Murray's character pursues is remarkably directionless; it's hard to believe that someone who graduated from Yale with a philosophy degree would be following her husband on a photo shoot assignment, listening to pop psychology motivational speakers, and crying over her experiences in a Japanese temple. Some of the humor is more clichéd than funny, especially the ditzy blonde American actress.

By contrast, Groundhog Day, which is a more mainstream film, was not only much funnier, but also had a message to communicate, about how one should conduct one's life.

Rating:
Summary: Poetic capture of the human spirit
Review: My review will be similar to others who have also written. This movie is powerful and yet represents elegance in simplicity. We have the lonely "has-been" actor, stuck in Tokyo doing a whisky commercial. We have the "twentysomething" who is still searching for her identity and meaning in this world.

Two people were placed here by external forces (Murray's employers and Johansson's husband.) As we see Murray in the bar and Johansson staring out the window, the message is glaring-"I do not fit." We become excited when Murray and Johansson find each other. Together, Johansson and Murray make themselves fit in this complex world they do not understand and ultimately make their own world. Murray becomes young again as he sings karoke and tours the town with Johansson-only to find the disturbing reality that across the oceans, his wife is concerned with office carpet samples. Johansson learns about life, that everyone eventually finds their place in it-only to go back to her husband who is concerned with surface-level issues pertaining to his job.

The beauty of this movie is there is no romance between the two. It is an experience of two people who find each other and form a friendship. The final scene is one we do not want to see, where they say goodbye. This movie leaves you satiated and reaffirms the goodness of humanity. Such a film is, regrettably, a rarity.

Rating:
Summary: Found a Treasure in "Lost in Translation"
Review: Sofia Coppola claims that she was watching Antonioni before making Lost in Translation, and more than the brief clip of La Dolca Vita shown during the film confirms the influence. Coppola's deft touch at creating the atmosphere of two characters adrift in the night, in an urban scene (Tokyo), and within their lives makes the tempo (like that of much of Antonioni) deliberately uneven and evocatively so. Sometimes our two protagonists are caught in a frenetic rush of night life, while at other moments, they are caught within their hotel room cocoons. Lost in Translation begins with the comic premise of the difficulty of living, even briefly, in a literally foreign world where a different language is spoken and approximations of your own language are almost incomprehensible. Lest this concept be mistaken for cultural cliché and Japan-bashing, the filmmaker quickly makes it clear that Bob Harris (Bill Murray) and Charlotte feel "Lost in Translation" even within their own day to day lives, as connections with their spouses become strained and words no longer seem to connect them in a profound way to other people. Fledgling attempts at communication, on the phone or in person, are thwarted. But then Bob, a movie star featured in a Japanese ad campaign for Suntori Whiskey, and Charlotte, the wife of a fashion photographer, meet at a hotel in Tokyo where they are both feeling sleep-deprived and alienated, and they discover that they speak the same language. The exuberance of their patter is what keeps lightness in a movie that might otherwise strain underneath the weight of (literal) dark as both characters struggle with insomnia. Coppola's work as a screenwriter is impeccable here, and I hope this spring will see an Academy Award for Lost in Translation's original screenplay. The chemistry between the two leads is incredible, and, while all reviewers have said this, I will only repeat, this is the role of Bill Murray's career, and his alternating humor, vulnerability, pathos, and playfulness create a tour de force performance. Murray and Johansson seem utterly in tune to one another throughout the movie, and her performance carries a sincerity and loveliness that underscores even her most ironic or flippant lines with emotional depth.