Lost in translation

northernseal6 · 2003-10-22T12:07:46+00:00

Just saw the second Sofia Coppola flick to hit the local film festival here in the States.. Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson play two Americans traveling thr…

blueranger12 Active Member

100 messages
joined Dec 2005

#101 · Feb 26, 2004

Most people I know saw this movie mainly as a critique of Japanese society. A total fiasco. Like, sure, the film is good, and I dig how she captured the hopelessness of Tokyo—I’d never actually visit there, honestly, looks like a disaster.

But come on, that wasn't even the point. The city was just supposed to be the backdrop for a love story. But no, they missed the romance entirely because apparently a slow-burn love story is too presumptuous, too sluggish, or just plain boring for them. All they saw was some giant dinosaur on a building, naked women in a bar, karaoke, and a muted, disconnected society.

🙂 🙂 🙂

Noah Harris50 Active Member

116 messages
joined Mar 2007

#102 · Feb 26, 2004

blueranger12 said:Most people I know saw the movie primarily as a critique of Japanese society. Total fiasco. I mean, the movie was fine, I liked how she portrayed the despair of Tokyo—I’d never go there, it looks like a disaster.

Give me a break, that wasn't even the point. It was just supposed to be the backdrop for a love story. But nope, they missed the romance because apparently, it was too subtle, slow, or boring for them. All they saw was a giant dinosaur on a building, naked women in a bar, some karaoke, and a bunch of disconnected people.

🙂 🙂 🙂

¨

hm, don't you think that means she didn't do the love story justice???
If you ask me, they developed this really unique closeness. What kind of love story happens in just a few days? geez!"!!

Richard Hernandez13 Regular

269 messages
joined May 2004

#103 · Feb 26, 2004

Noah Harris50 said:If you ask me, there’s this incredibly intense closeness growing between them. I mean, a whole love story unfolding in just a few days? Geez!

Or maybe it was just love at first sight—or second, or third, who knows?

What actually developed between them is something much deeper, and it becomes so beautifully obvious whenever he gets up to sing Roxy Music at karaoke. 😍

....
As for the idea that the movie is making fun of people in Japan, I honestly think that's such a superficial way to look at it. Honestly, you can't show even one caricatured Japanese person without all the armchair intellectuals immediately assuming that's how Coppola portrayed all 130 million of them (or however many there are these days).

Why do we have to deal with all this political correctness? We roll our eyes when people back in the States get all caught up in being PC, yet here we are, making the exact same silly mistakes when we're trying to act like the smart ones in the room.

blueranger12 Active Member

100 messages
joined Dec 2005

#104 · Feb 26, 2004

Noah Harris50 said:Hmm, don't you think that means she totally botched that love story?
If you ask me, there’s this weirdly intense closeness growing between them. A full-blown love story after just a few days? Geez!!!

You just don't have a soul. 😲 😁 I'm just kidding, obviously. 😉 )
What kind of love story is this? A fairy tale? An epic? A freaking romance novel in five volumes! 😁

What a massive spectrum of love that was, my Noah Harris50 (you actually have your nickname from my favorite spice). From the very start all the way to that heartbreaking end. We went through everything. The letdowns, those deep late-night talks about life, hitting the town... everything. Even the moments where we just couldn't trust each other. It was everything. 😁 So, what would you actually choose?

I know you have great taste in music and movies. It’s a real shame you didn't get to experience it.
.........

Update: I'm with everything Richard Hernandez13 is adding. Even if he adds more. 😁

Noah Harris50 Active Member

116 messages
joined Mar 2007

#105 · Feb 26, 2004

blueranger12 said:I know you have refined taste in music and movies, so I'm really sorry you didn't feel it.

Yeah, I've got killer taste in music and film—not to be fake-modest or anything—but if you noticed it, then yours must be just as sharp.

I dig Coppola. I love The Virgin Suicides. I was actually pretty hyped for this one and I'm glad it's a hit. But honestly? I think she totally missed the mark with this movie.

I mean, sure, the ending works for me. I like that it avoids those tired romantic clichés you see everywhere else. But like I said, it’s not "love" love. It’s just proximity fueled by being miserable with everything else in life, and being in a foreign city—that feeling of being a complete outsider in a place like Tehran (like, what the hell am I even doing here?!)—just cranks that feeling up to eleven.

The whole thing feels so weighed down by Tokyo that their actual relationship and story just get lost. It's underdeveloped. Stagnant.

I just didn't get swept up in the hype like everyone else did. Dammit.

Sophia Evans76 Member

43 messages
joined Dec 2003

#106 · Feb 27, 2004

I’m not even going to try to explain myself... other than the fact that I absolutely adore "Lost in Translation"🙂))

Hands down the best movie from last year🙂

Henry Anderson47 Active Member

94 messages
joined Aug 2004

#107 · Feb 28, 2004

I'M DONE READING YOUR STUFF!!!

I'm going to see it this Sunday, I guess!

copperridge912 Member

24 messages
joined Apr 2007

#108 · Feb 28, 2004

Sophia Evans76 said:I don't even want to get into it... I just absolutely adore Lost in Translation 🙂))

Seriously, best movie from last year 🙂

Totally agree. That movie is pure gold!!!👍

Elizabeth Garcia2 Active Member

53 messages
joined Apr 2005

#109 · Feb 28, 2004

Noah Harris50 reče:

I didn't get hit by that massive wave of hype surrounding this movie like everyone else did. Honestly... damn.

If I can make an analogy here, I felt the exact same way about Benigni's "Life is Beautiful."
Everyone was swearing by it, crying through the whole thing, predicting every possible Oscar win, putting it on all their Top 10 lists... just absolutely obsessed.
But for me? The movie was terrible.
And just like you, in this case, I really wish I could have loved it.
But I didn't.
And honestly, I wish more movies were great than they actually are. That would be nice.
But it's just not like that.
My yearly average still sits at maybe 3 to 5 great films.

blueranger12 Active Member

100 messages
joined Dec 2005

#110 · Feb 28, 2004

Elizabeth Garcia2
Also, I honestly wish more of the movies I watch were actually great. That would be awesome.

Screw snobs like that. 😬

Anyway, Elizabeth Garcia2, I don't know where you're based, but if you're in a city like Chicago, there's a show at Močvara Ed Wood this Monday. Elizabeth Garcia2 👍I bet tickets will be hard to find.

Arthur Barnes Active Member

131 messages
joined Mar 2009

#111 · Feb 28, 2004

Finally watched it.
I can't even manage a coherent thought beyond this:

Charlotte is 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 😍 😍 🙏 🙏 👍

edit: anyone complaining about the movie being boring clearly missed the whole point...

Noah Harris50 Active Member

116 messages
joined Mar 2007

#112 · Feb 29, 2004

Arthur Barnes said:edit: if you thought this movie was boring, you clearly missed the point.

Yeah, it's incredibly complex and hard to wrap your head around. Definitely. 😕

Arthur Barnes Active Member

131 messages
joined Mar 2009

#113 · Feb 29, 2004

Noah Harris50 said:Yeah, the movie is incredibly complex and tough to wrap your head around. It really is. 😕

Look, let me tell you a little handmade story.

There was this guy living in his cave, totally convinced he was a genius. But he had zero proof, just lived in that cave with no contact with anyone else. So he heads into the city and finds out that in this old town, they have something called intelligence testing. IQ tests and stuff.

They hand him this paper with numbers scattered all over. They went in order, you know, 1, 2, 3... and the testers ask him what he sees, if there’s any kind of pattern.

The "smart" guy says that's an insult to his intellect. He tells them it's just a sequence of natural numbers. They tell him to look again, see if there's a bigger pattern. He stares at the numbers, zooming in, following them one by one on the page, even holding the paper three centimeters from his eyes just to see better.

"No, there's nothing. It's just a sequence of natural numbers," he says.

The tester takes the paper back.
"Poor," the tester tells the smart guy.

"There's a flower on this paper. The numbers are spaced out so they form a flower. Look, see the petals?" the tester says, using a pen to draw lines connecting those natural numbers.

stormyraven15 Newcomer

3 messages
joined Feb 2004

#114 · Feb 29, 2004

I opened this thread with a bit of a smile, still riding the high from watching this movie about ten days ago. But reading through some of these posts—honestly, I froze.

Look, I know you can't argue with taste, but I actually feel bad that some people were so disappointed...😢

For me, the film was incredibly engaging from start to finish—everything from the dialogue (which some people here seem to have an issue with) to the characters and the plot itself. It’s all paced perfectly to handle the core theme: a Brief Encounter and a fleeting connection between two strangers who aren't just lost in the urban jungle, but lost in their own lives.

This movie says more about intimacy and love between two people than any cheap melodrama ever could. And it tells you more about the vibe of Tokyo and the lifestyle there than any guidebook or travel essay. As someone already noted, it feels like a clumsy attempt at copying America—so clumsy, in fact, that it becomes awkward and tragicomic.

Most importantly, they didn't need to sit around debating Hegel or lamenting the meaning of existence for me to find depth in their conversations. Nor did they need to spend the night having wild sex for me to realize how profoundly close they were. The plot didn't require a bloody murder, a kidnapping, a sexual assault, an overdose, or a mass shooting in a hotel to keep me interested.

But fine, like I said, taste is subjective. For me, it's a solid five out of five.

👍

stormyraven15 Newcomer

3 messages
joined Feb 2004

#115 · Feb 29, 2004

blueranger12 says:[/i

Give me a break—that wasn't the point. It was supposed to be nothing more than background for a love story. But apparently, they missed the romance entirely because it was too slow or subtle for them. All they saw was a giant dinosaur on a building, naked women in a bar, some karaoke, and a bunch of awkward people sitting in silence.

🙂

On another note, circling back to an earlier comment in this thread: I’ll just say it—I think one of Tarantino's films (not Hell Strait, but the one after) is terrible.
Knowing it was packed with violence and blood, I never bothered watching it, and honestly, I've even forgotten the title.

It's bad—an absolute disaster. And frankly, anyone who thinks that movie is actually good is missing the point entirely. They just don't get cinema. 😁

David Edwards83 Member

16 messages
joined May 2003

#116 · Feb 29, 2004

stormyraven15 said:🙂

Anyway, just jumping in to comment on a post from earlier in this thread—I honestly think one of Tarantino's movies (not Hell Strait, but the one after) is just plain bad.
Since I knew it was going to be packed with violence and blood, I never bothered watching it, and honestly, I’ve even forgotten the title.

It’s bad—an absolute disaster, really—and frankly, if anyone thinks that movie is actually good, there’s something fundamentally wrong with them. They just don't get cinema. 😁

But wait, how can you claim Jackie Brown is bad if you haven't even sat down to watch it?

Also, Lost in Translation is anything but "pretentious."
Is it really pretentious when Murray says, "I decided to start eating Japanese food"? 😲

Richard Hernandez13 Regular

269 messages
joined May 2004

#117 · Feb 29, 2004

David Edwards83 said:Does anyone else find it a little bit pretentious when Murray says, "I've decided to start eating Japanese food"? 😲

No.

Do you really see some heavy-handed metaphor in that sentence? 🤔

Noah Harris50 Active Member

116 messages
joined Mar 2007

#118 · Feb 29, 2004

Just gonna give you a quick rundown of my thoughts.

1. The movie's alright. Nothing to write home about, though.
2. Honestly, I don't think it deserves all the "masterpiece" hype it got. It jacked up my expectations way too high, which is probably why I felt let down.
3. The Virgin Suicides—her debut—was much better and more original, and it didn't get nearly as much credit. Again, just compared to this one.
4. Great soundtrack and solid acting.

David Edwards83 Member

16 messages
joined May 2003

#119 · Feb 29, 2004

Richard Hernandez13 said:No.

Do you honestly see some deep, heavy-handed metaphor in that sentence? 🤔

Nah, I think I’m just out here searching for my actual self. 🙄

Henry Anderson47 Active Member

94 messages
joined Aug 2004

#120 · Mar 1, 2004

Richard Hernandez13 said:Maybe you'll change your mind once you hit that midlife crisis. I guess. 😁

Unless you've already been through it yourself. I don't know, man. Why does it always feel like everyone on these forums was born around the same time as me?

So, I guess you and Jose Miller3 were born around the same time—at least from what I can tell—so does that mean you guys are already hitting a midlife crisis??? Or maybe I'm just totally misreading the situation?

Lost in translation

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