Lost in Translation

A beautiful film of love and life

Lover: Taken from IMDB
“First of all: I can understand why people dislike the movie. If you are looking for an actual plot or comedy in the general sense it's probably not the right movie for you to watch. Lost In Translation is a "Feel"-Movie, it touches you or it doesn't. If you have an understanding for a feeling of loneliness which doesn't stem from actually being alone it might be very important for you to watch it. Sofia Coppola describes this feeling and the hope that still exists nonetheless in visual perfection and, by that, captures it perfectly. The colors, the music, the humor, the strange scenery and the two main protagonists, amazingly portrayed by Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson - everything falls into place. What remains is a movie experience so beautiful that you'll probably never forget it. Plus an ending that might touch you more, than real relationships ever could to that point. A truly important movie for our generation.”

Very much my kind of review, mainly because it starts with “I can understand why people dislike the movie”. Though I agree the plot and the comedy aren’t that complicated anyone thinking so is looking to closely at what is actually a simple story about loneliness and finding love where you least expect it.

Hater: Taken from IMDB
“Lets go to japan and hang around in different parts of the hotel. Then lets go out to the street and see, "whoa, this is different from America"! People don't talk English! Signs are not in English! People sing karaoke! People eat different food than in America! OK, lets go back to hotel room, and talk about our relationship that has lasted two days, and if we should go back to America. After all, that's where the family is. I decided, we are going back to America, it is a better place after all. This trip to japan was very educating, the view from my hotel room was great.”

Short and sweet and the reason I love it so much, it couldn’t be more obvious that they just didn’t get the point.

What I thought:
This film is like marmite, even if people can see the point the film is trying to make it can still be hated. Some people will find it slow moving and the big laughs are restricted to Bill Murray’s scenes. It’s just one of those films where not much happens, however read a bit deeper and you can see some deep running themes of loneliness, emptiness and above all love. It might sound soppy but that’s what this film is about, these two people have ended up in a city that can seem overwhelmingly alien, they are both going through tough patches and find love and companionship in each other.

Both are likeable if not damn right loveable, the director does such a good job at making you feel so sorry for them and love the fact that they find solace in each other. The performances are key; Bill Murray has matured like a fine wine and this along with most of his recent roles have been utterly convincing, his sardonic style of comedy only makes his characters seem more tortured, It’s easy to say acting wise that Scarlet Johansen has picked the easy route since this film but she was heartbreakingly good as a neglected newlywed, she even gets to flex some sarcastic humour against Anna Faris’s dim witted actress.

Every element is there if you just want to see it, is cinema a form of entertainment for you or sometimes just sometimes a window into what it is to be human.