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Lost In Translation

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Where is everyone????? This is the best movie of the year (last few years). Helllllooooooooooo!!!

>>By Minds Eye (Wednesday, 22 Oct 2003 00:19)

I'm waiting for it to come out in the UK, as usual we have to wait for ages before a decent movie crosses the pond. I am desperate to see the movie, have seen the trailer, various clips. Love Bill Murray and feel like this is one of those movies i just 'get', i can identify with the themes and the female character. Will have to buy the american dvd i think.

>>By Honeybun (Sunday, 21 Dec 2003 22:57)

I'm still confused!!
Everybody says (Including the critics) that I had the previlege to watch the second best american movie, since stone age.
Have people lost completly the critic sense. Or did I watch anothert movie? - Although she refuses that kind of examples, Sofia Coppola is like the soon of Julio Iglesias. The sucess comes with the name and all the "links" and "backstage" support from daddy. Am I completly wrong?
Jota

>>By jota (Monday, 26 Jan 2004 17:19)

It was very funny at the beginning, slower and more ambiguous towards the end. A simple story filmed with skill , tenderness and humour .

>>By Kara (Wednesday, 28 Jan 2004 20:12)

Two people who are not brilliantly happy in their respective relationships meet up with this in common and...mayhem ensues. Well, certainly not mayhem, but a warm, genial feeling ensues. The questions they put to their relationships never get fully answered. We are supposed to believe their lives are changed in some way by the end of the film, but there is nothing that registers this change. At one point, they are carousing around in the Tokyo nightlife and they are chased by villains, but the villains aren't very villainous or persistent. It is hard to find a concrete idea put forth in all this, however, film writers are ecstatic over this rather low key film. I enjoyed the film, but I am wary of the hype. Certainly there are plenty of low-key, enigmatic films produced annually that could warrant similar praise. Two actors do a scene with little dialogue and with matching expressions of "oh, well" written on their faces and are given endless praise and awards. Is less truly more?

>>By obelus (Thursday, 29 Jan 2004 21:51)

I guess the name Coppola helps getting some attention.

>>By Kara (Friday, 30 Jan 2004 22:14)

I guess the movie hit home with me; i felt i could identify a lot with scarlett's character. How alone she seemed, til she found a kindred spirit in Bob. There are similarities i can draw from my own situation. Although i wanted them to be together I think the ending was right and it didn't fall foul to the usual cliched woman meets man, woman goes to bed with man etc.
I'm also a fan of Bill Murray's style of dry humour and his delivery, very much reminds me of a good friend of mine.
I liked the way the movie was shot, the setting of Tokyo and the eclectic soundtrack too. All in all, for me anyway, it was a very special movie.

>>By Honeybun (Thursday, 5 Feb 2004 19:27)

i haven't paid too much attention to what the critics have said other than the fact that early on here in the u.s. there was a lot of talk about how the film seemed xenophobic (or racist) in tone and now they seem to have completely changed their minds. perhaps the changing of their minds comes from the fact that the director's last name is 'coppola', i dunno.

i can say that personally, i thought the film was amazing. it seemed to me to near-perfectly distill the dichotomous feelings of culture shock: the alienation and excitement one has when being implanted into a completely foreign society. the relationship between johansson and murray only existed because of the way they were feeling in the situation they were in. together they were able to deal with wanting to at turns reject or embrace new things as japan presented them, but never knowing how they would react ahead of time, which is a difficult way to live. they never would have connected so well in any other context, and that's the point.

>>By incongruity (Sunday, 8 Feb 2004 02:55)

Yeah this movie did nothing for me. But it was easy to watch. Nothing unpretentious. But nothing extrordinary

>>By ftad (Monday, 9 Feb 2004 02:58)

Although I agree with most of the positive comments here, I have to disagree that the film was actually about being in Japan. It could just as easily been set in, say, India or Moscow. The point was that the surreal and bewildering environment enabled the characters to gain some perspective on their lives and their relationships. And the simple fact that day is night for them is a clue that they're in bizarro land, which just happens to be Japan.

The most stunning thing about this film was the restraint that Coppola showed; when the two main characters have their parting scene, and the camera pulls back to a distance where we can't hear what he murmurs to her -- it was an incredibly daring device, and incredibly effective. The silences in Bill Murray's conversations with his wife were likewise impressive.

>>By M@ (Wednesday, 11 Feb 2004 16:18)

did this movie win awards????...and it got rave reviews????i don't get it. way overrated..coca

>>By coca (Saturday, 21 Aug 2004 03:36)

meh.........

why the hype?

it was a really simple movie with a really simple plot.
I think that it was good but a far cry from great...

>>By bagelboy13 (Sunday, 22 Aug 2004 07:26)

This is a minor point, but could anyone hear what he whispered in her ear at the end? I get so frustrated with "realistic" audio. In the forties, you could hear what the actors were saying. No, I'm not from the forties!

>>By paulajune (Sunday, 22 Aug 2004 09:23)

OK, I just realized it was on purpose (referring to my post, just 30 seconds ago). Forgive my naiveté.

>>By paulajune (Sunday, 22 Aug 2004 09:26)

I thought this film was superb! I do think, although some of you have disagreed, that the setting of Japan was important since Japan is the kind of country which aspires to copy America's lifestyle in nearly all aspects of life. Western ideals and celebrities are idolised. People like David Beckham are treated like Gods...etc

But the point i'm trying to make is that while a city like Tokyo may strive to adopt America's culture; the americans in the film are shown to be flawed and unhappy. Murray and Johansson were bored beings who seemed lost. Her workalholic husband is not making his wife feel wanted. That blonde celebrity is made out to be dull and a fool. And its the simpleness of Murray and Johansson's friendship which uncomplicates this hectic picture and allows us to see the charaters in this plain light.

Their ventures around Tokyo are our hands and eyes in an environment which is highly welcoming, yet surreally lonely and incomprehensible. It is this irony which asks us to think more about this film rather than merely watch it, and it is this thinking behind it which makes this film so good :)

>>By mathu (Sunday, 22 Aug 2004 15:27)

This movie was wonderful -- not tha Japan I experienced, b/c I'm not Bill Murray, but nonetheless, very well done. Scarlett Johnasen has been great in the two or three movies of hers that I've seen.
I like the alien/disorientation that is shown in the movie -- this is true for foreigners in Japan until you've been there for a long time and even then, once you leave the village and people you're used to, things change so much.
A subtle, true performance from Murray. Great slice of life.

---

In response to paulajane -- yes, beckham is very popular and a visible minority of japanese are crazy for foreign things, but they also love home grown pop stars... Japanese are very proud of their culture and only want what's fun from American culture. Talk to Japanese teens about their music choices and they're all Japanese bands or idols.

>>By Akubra (Wednesday, 26 Jan 2005 05:56)

I can't even give any words to describe how amazing this movie is. You really need to see it for yourself.

>>By cute_fluffy_death_thing (Sunday, 13 Feb 2005 04:28)

is that scarlette's ass at the beginning?mmmm...good ass.
anywayz loved the film-bill murry's a genius-scarlette's hot
nuff said

>>By endless_nameless (Wednesday, 16 Feb 2005 00:22)

Very nice movie!!

>>By trust79 (Tuesday, 6 May 2008 01:57)

I agree. Excellent leads and lots of weird quirks. Not for people who need films to have a strong linear story though.

>>By Flagg (Wednesday, 21 May 2008 10:23)

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