Movie Talk: "Lost in Translation"
"When Harry Met Sally" for the rest of us.
OK. I really liked it. Very slow, loose and unassuming. No cliche's. I felt like I was actually there with the characters and met new friends. Kind of haunting in many ways, almost surreal. I enjoyed the dialog, the music (I'm a huge My Bloody Valentine and Kevin Shields fan) and the art direction. Overall a very good film indeed. Not sappy. Not lame, Not weak.
I'm not a Bill Murray fan per se, but I enjoyed him in this role. He reminded me of Jack Nicholson a lot. Bill Murray has great facial expressions, and he is fun to watch. This particular dramatic role is very fluid and believable. I felt like I was there with him, and sharing the same thoughts and ideas.
I like Scarlette Johansen, but I'm not sure she was "mature" enough to fill the role properly. Yes, it's true, Scarlette's booty is all over the screen too. She runs around in little pink cotton panties for half the movie. The film starts with a 2 minute close-up of her butt cheeks as the opening credits roll. But I hardly noticed that. I swear. OK, back to the snooty cinema commentary...
I really liked the chaos and claustrophobic feel of the cinematography. It was a mesmerizing film. There is a lot of "canned" vibrant stock footage of exterior Japanese city night life ("lifestyle footage"), which makes me want to travel to Japan as soon as possible. I really enjoyed the montages of neon lights, mind-melting advertising, and hyper-technology all over the place. I really felt a sense of culture shock. I almost felt like I was on another planet. It had a very "Were not in Kansas anymore" feel.
There is a LOT of whisky drinking in the movie. Little ice cubes clink around in glasses like a James Bond film. It has a swanky but potentially volatile kind of feel to it, similar to Less Than Zero.
I liked the directing. Sophia Coppola did a great job. The film had a great overall feel. It was crowded, and paced prefect for my taste and style of film (examples: 2001: a Space Oddesy, Bad Lieutenant, Safe, and My Dinner with Andre). That classic, slow Russian feel to it (which most Americans seem to loath, Not me). The characters and camera had a very "digestable" sense of movement, it had a cool rhythm. The music really helped too. Amazing soundtrack indeed. It was hard to keep track of what time it was in the film, and the characters sense of time seemed to be warped a little. Jet lag maybe. Insomnia? There are a few really powerful, yet subdued intimate moments on the screen between characters. I found them to be fantastic and almost "classic" in the Hollywood sense. There is a forlorn and lonely overcast to this film, a melancholy aire that made me want to sigh right along with the characters. Quiet desperation to the Nth degree.
The script is well done. Not too wordy, but every word seemed to count. I was hoping for a "power monologue" but it never happened (Bill Murray certainly could have accomplished it). The 2 principal characters have a deliberately vague relationship, which I find compelling and interesting. You never really know where they will go or what will happen. Very original. It had a dream-like pace to it that I enjoyed. I laughed, I cried. I ordered a Jack and Coke. OK, a Suntory, damnit. Suntory!
Some may say that the movie has 'racist' elements ("lip my stockings"), but I'm not sure about that. I need time to let it digest. I will let you make the call.
Captivating. I give it a 4.5 out of 5 panties, er, I mean stars.
PS: Peaches: I love you girl!
http://www.areyouawake.org/
http://lost-in-translation.com
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OK. I really liked it. Very slow, loose and unassuming. No cliche's. I felt like I was actually there with the characters and met new friends. Kind of haunting in many ways, almost surreal. I enjoyed the dialog, the music (I'm a huge My Bloody Valentine and Kevin Shields fan) and the art direction. Overall a very good film indeed. Not sappy. Not lame, Not weak.
I'm not a Bill Murray fan per se, but I enjoyed him in this role. He reminded me of Jack Nicholson a lot. Bill Murray has great facial expressions, and he is fun to watch. This particular dramatic role is very fluid and believable. I felt like I was there with him, and sharing the same thoughts and ideas.
I like Scarlette Johansen, but I'm not sure she was "mature" enough to fill the role properly. Yes, it's true, Scarlette's booty is all over the screen too. She runs around in little pink cotton panties for half the movie. The film starts with a 2 minute close-up of her butt cheeks as the opening credits roll. But I hardly noticed that. I swear. OK, back to the snooty cinema commentary...
I really liked the chaos and claustrophobic feel of the cinematography. It was a mesmerizing film. There is a lot of "canned" vibrant stock footage of exterior Japanese city night life ("lifestyle footage"), which makes me want to travel to Japan as soon as possible. I really enjoyed the montages of neon lights, mind-melting advertising, and hyper-technology all over the place. I really felt a sense of culture shock. I almost felt like I was on another planet. It had a very "Were not in Kansas anymore" feel.
There is a LOT of whisky drinking in the movie. Little ice cubes clink around in glasses like a James Bond film. It has a swanky but potentially volatile kind of feel to it, similar to Less Than Zero.
I liked the directing. Sophia Coppola did a great job. The film had a great overall feel. It was crowded, and paced prefect for my taste and style of film (examples: 2001: a Space Oddesy, Bad Lieutenant, Safe, and My Dinner with Andre). That classic, slow Russian feel to it (which most Americans seem to loath, Not me). The characters and camera had a very "digestable" sense of movement, it had a cool rhythm. The music really helped too. Amazing soundtrack indeed. It was hard to keep track of what time it was in the film, and the characters sense of time seemed to be warped a little. Jet lag maybe. Insomnia? There are a few really powerful, yet subdued intimate moments on the screen between characters. I found them to be fantastic and almost "classic" in the Hollywood sense. There is a forlorn and lonely overcast to this film, a melancholy aire that made me want to sigh right along with the characters. Quiet desperation to the Nth degree.
The script is well done. Not too wordy, but every word seemed to count. I was hoping for a "power monologue" but it never happened (Bill Murray certainly could have accomplished it). The 2 principal characters have a deliberately vague relationship, which I find compelling and interesting. You never really know where they will go or what will happen. Very original. It had a dream-like pace to it that I enjoyed. I laughed, I cried. I ordered a Jack and Coke. OK, a Suntory, damnit. Suntory!
Some may say that the movie has 'racist' elements ("lip my stockings"), but I'm not sure about that. I need time to let it digest. I will let you make the call.
Captivating. I give it a 4.5 out of 5 panties, er, I mean stars.
PS: Peaches: I love you girl!
http://www.areyouawake.org/
http://lost-in-translation.com
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lost2.jpg
lost3.jpg
lost4.jpg
lost5.jpg
lost6.jpg
[Buon's note: I changed the inline images to links for the bandwidth impaired.
]
Comments
very funny, very entertaining, and very well done...
5/5 what more would you want in a movie?
STOP CHANGING YOUR POST
they seem "jet lagged" because the two main characters have insomnia most of the movie and the cinematography reflects it...
also, james bond drinks martinis not whisky...
and you shouldn't have a jack and coke... either a Suntoro (thanks drewpops) whisky or a vodka and tonic
although I would prefer the jack as well...
and I don't think it was racist... just "lost in translation"... just different culture...
"lip my stockings!"
And I hardly believe that you could call it racist in any degree. To lampoon a culture isn't racist, it's being politically correct. Stereotypes happen for a reason. Every culture has a stereotype for every other culture.
I don't think that it's a disrespectful treatment of the Japanese...especially if you realize what fantastic strains their own culture has been under in just the last century alone.....the fact that they're still functioning as a society is remarkable. That their world-facing, public persona is slightly whacky is unfortunate because they have a truly remarkable history and culture.
Even if they do try to make the whiskey spokesman look like a moron for their camera guy....
Johanson? wow. It was my first exposure to the girl, hopefully not my last. Johanna: don't go all Britney on us....keep it real girlie.
I couldn't agree more. I just saw this movie tonight and loved it. It was the kind of movie where you can actually get into the characters and feel you're right there with them. The music was great, the scenes were great... everything. It's really one of those feel good movies that sets off something deep inside. I'm really glad I bought the DVD. I'll watch it again soon.
btw, I'm really am liking Bill Murray more and more in his later years. He was great in Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums.
Originally posted by drewprops
My review can be found HERE.
I don't expect this film to linger at the box office for too long since the Holiday Movies are lining up to make their debuts in the next four week
I saw it in the theatre earlier today
Originally posted by Paul
"lip my stockings!"
I saw this movie in German, and as my German isn't very good, I couldn't figure what what she was trying to say.
You want to talk about Translation-- try watching it in another language. I don't think the German translation of that joke was quite right.
"Lost in Translation Translates into an elitist-born-into-hipsterdom's portrait of jaded ennui . . . the kind of ennui that only the ultra priveleged can acquire from too many jet-set day-trips to Tokyo, or Milan or etc.
It panders to people who all think they are the smartest hipsters in the room, it makes them feel so above the frey by being able to be, not only bored while touristing in Tokyo, but bored while both participating in and yet being above uncommon cultural phenomena such as acting and modelling etc . .
in other words: we all wish that we could be positioned in such a way as to dislike being positioned that way!
and the movie panders to that desire.
and, on top of that, it is racist . .. except that it hides that with that knowing smirk that pretends to acknowledge not just the foibles of Japanese culture but of all of Humanity
It pretends to turn oh those whacky Japs! into oh the Humanity!
I hate its spoiled rich kid sensibility . . .
I could feel it when I taught at CMU from all the students who summered in whatever remote locations and I hate it in that film
Though what's-his-name was pretty great!"
....
To continue now: this movie congratulates its audience on being a member of the audience, pretending that we have been let into its elitist little outsider status . . . except that it isn't really outsider at all it is merely hipster snobdom that rises by casting downward glances on 'the masses'
and if you think that the critique of the film being racist is only "Politically Correct" then tell that to the numerous Japanese critics who are offended by its smug, winking, haughty, portrayal of a wacky, oblivious, cutesy-incomprehending and oh so tedious Tokyo . . .
Naturally the enjoyment of such portrayals doesn't want to admit that it gets its punch based on selective misreading . . . that is a hallmark of 'racist' portrayals: lighten up . . . its all in fun . . we're not being racist
This movie is incredibly overrated simply because it kisses the audeinces arse and pretends to be above the fray . . . really, it is not above teh fray but rather uses its hidden sliminess to seduce popular approval: lowest common denominator . . . that's why it will probably win an oscar
Bill Murray is one of my favorite actors, and he did a good job in this movie.
Anyway, I liked it. It wasn't incredibly inspired, but it was an excellent outlet for Bill Murray, and some of the visuals of Tokyo were really well done.
I tend to watch action movies. Don't except an artful review.
Fellows
Originally posted by Beige_G3
I loved this movie. It was an outstanding portrayal of human emotion. Furthermore, it was not racist. People who think this is racism need to get out a bit and see real racism in action.
While I don't think the movie is necessarily racist, I also don't accept the premise that we shouldn't reject all forms of racism wherever they occur. So, the problem for me is that I may not interpret things as necessarily racist from my cultural perspective. What about the way Japanese culture is depicted on screen? What do Japanese film critics have to say about the movie in that regard? I think Pfflam is certainly on to something concerning that.
Now, it's one of my two favorite movies of the 2003 (that and Mystic River). I own the DVD, the soundtrack, and downloaded most of the other songs in that movie (Brass in Pocket, More than this, etc). But I think we should be sensitive here and at least open to other interpretations, especially those from the culture in question.
(Pfflam could you link to a few reviews from Japanese film critics? Thanks)
BTW, I think the most offensive thing anyone has done is refer to Sophia Coppola exclusively as "Frances Ford Coppola's daughter."
I liked the ambiguity of the relationship. It invited a lot of tension, and it left a lot of room for error on both sides. I don't think the portrayal of Tokyo (the city and the inhabitants) was objective, or meant to be objective: It seemed to me to have those traits exaggerated that the two Americans would find most difficult to deal with, reflecting the fact that their own views were distorted by their circumstances. The city was definitely a character in the film.
As craft, the cinematography and direction were great as a rule. The movie seemed to get a little uncertain of itself in the second half, and Murray didn't get nearly as many chances to play the fish-out-of-water role for laughs, but it recovered nicely at the end. The ending was great.
I'd have liked the significant others to have been just slightly more fleshed out than they were. They, too, were exaggerated for effect, but they could have kept something of a third dimension. The blonde was annoying, too, although I did like her blathering on during the press conference as a set piece. I'd like to have seen something more done with the Buddhist subplot, and it wouldn't have hurt if they'd had Johannsen do something other than pout, either. Sure, she's got the perfect lips for the job, but sheesh.
Overall, maybe 3.5 out of 5. It could have been a truly great film, but as executed it was just a really good film. I'll credit Sophia Coppola for a great effort. She shows a great deal of promise as a director.
I can go no further before first off stating that this movie is outstanding from my view on many levels. This movie is all about human emotion and human need. While some needs demonstrated by secondary characters in the movie are misguided yet all the while human, the needs and emotion demonstrated by the parts played by Bill Murray and Scarlette Johansen bring to focus the central message in this flick. I am flooded with the message that while in impossible situations love can be found and explored. "Bob" and "Charlotte" were less than enthused initially while in Tokyo yet in the frustrated and numbed "hell" they each found themselves in the two did eventually cross paths and grow a most honest and "true to self" relationship. The movie from my vantage point illustrates a point that while in frustratingly impossible situations we are able to adapt to alternative realities via the most basic capacity to love and share honestly. Through all the background noise and distraction love can be brought to focus and this movie brings out this idea in a most brilliant light.
The movie is crafted in a most artistic and creative vein combining pockets of sights, sounds, and tracks of music that all blend to enhance the movie into a level greater than the sum of all parts within.
I highly recommend the movie.
Fellows
Originally posted by ShawnJ
While I don't think the movie is necessarily racist, I also don't accept the premise that we shouldn't reject all forms of racism wherever they occur. So, the problem for me is that I may not interpret things as necessarily racist from my cultural perspective. What about the way Japanese culture is depicted on screen? What do Japanese film critics have to say about the movie in that regard? I think Pfflam is certainly on to something concerning that.
The problem is that people get very confused between:
1) all things racist
2) all things racial
3) all things cultural
Everyone thinks his culture is the best, otherwise, he changes it. I wouldn't say race had a lot to do with anything in this flick, aside from the fact that there were a lot of japanese around. Racism is a judgement based on race. The subtle jokes here were contrasts between American and Japanese culture. In the disturbingly bastardized modern lingo, these cultural comments are listed as "racial" comments.
There's nothing wrong with being "racial." It's just an acknowledgement that people are different.
Originally posted by Splinemodel
TEveryone thinks his culture is the best, otherwise, he changes it. I
No, the point is that if someone has little contact with other cultures, and therefore does not arrive at self-critical insights, they don't think that their culture is the best they simply don't see past their culture . . . all phenomena are interpreted with a mono-vocal bent: myopia
as for Spike Jonze being less talented than Sofia Coppalla?
I think you are missing the boat . . . Being John Malchovich is brilliant!!
Lost in Translation (though I will admit is a cute film) doesn't come close to it!!
Great cinematography.
The sound design was awesome too.
I read an article about the scene where Murray's character is getting direction through a translator... and it's pretty obvious the director is more heated and more descriptive than the translator is telling him.
An amazing scene... and Sofia wrote the Japanese dialogue and never told Murray what he was saying...