Lost In Translation - TranceAddict Forums

quote:

Originally posted by USMC_Greg
IMO, the movie was an attack on commercialism and the post-industrial economy.

I disagree.

quote:

Originally posted by TuanAnh213
how is moving to somewhere like japan where the culture is completely different in all aspects of your life that you were use to in america or whever you came from not a conflict?

Because it's boring and it happens to real people every day. The conflict might as well be "oh shit, I need to make dinner but I don't have any groceries, and I don't want to go to the supermarket during rush hour!"

If I wanted to watch boring normal people in boring normal situations, I'd just go out and find some of them. If the characters were more interesting or unique, then it might be a good movie. If they were in a more interesting or unique situation, then it might be a good movie. If both were true, it would almost definitely be a good movie. But neither is. They are boring, average people living in everyday situations. What is the point?

astroboy called the movie a character-driven movie. I would agree to an extent - it certainly tries to be. But it failed to entertain me because the characters "driving" it weren't interesting enough to me. If they were interesting to you, then it probably entertained you, and there's nothing wrong with that, they just seem like pretty boring, mediocre people to me so I don't find them interesting. But that's really just my opinion.

i know the main plot didn't really have anything to do w/ japan...i think japan served more as the scenery. it was an excellent portrayal of the country and people i must say, because i lived there for 2 years in high school....especially the karaoke bar scene. classic. my friends and i used to get those rooms and drink and sing all night like morons. it was very close to home for me. but i still would have loved it even if i hadn't experienced japan.

and the whole conflict (i think) is scarlett's character second guessing her new marriage, judging from her observation of bill's character. they are both coming from the same problem, only different stages in life. i agree that they find comfort in each other (i forget who said that earlier). and the fact that they never really go through w/ the physical aspect of an "affair" is great too. they just "clicked". and the suspense of what he whispered in her ear before he left was great too. i think i'll go home and watch it tonight

another thing about this movie is that it totally inspired me to write. i've always had a knack for creative writing and i've recently taken an interest in screan play writing...after i saw that movie i went to borders and bought that "Screanplay writing for dummies" book. lol i really like sophia's style. she's definitely talented.

quote:

Originally posted by Slylee
i know the main plot didn't really have anything to do w/ japan...i think japan served more as the scenery. it was an excellent portrayal of the country and people i must say, because i lived there for 2 years in high school....especially the karaoke bar scene. classic. my friends and i used to get those rooms and drink and sing all night like morons. it was very close to home for me. but i still would have loved it even if i hadn't experienced japan.

Just a little bit of my own opinion here. I enjoyed the movie. But I think it was a very stereotyped portrayal of Japan. I grew up there, and to me, the point of the movie was not to portray an objective japan, but japan as "different" to the west aka, main characters. WE are Short, we are always so Polite, we try to be perfect at everything, that kinda of stuff that just hit me a little bit the wrong way. It appeared to me that the director really was putting the Eye of the Camera as they Eye of western perspective. So I dont think its accurately depicts japan and the japanese people, rather Japan and the Japanese as the west would see it.

Ohh yea.. and Blah blah blah AzN PriDe lol hehe

wanted to thro that in for the kiddies..

well i thought it was pretty accurate...and i wasn't just commenting from a western civilization perspective...i lived there. right outside of Hiroshima, to be exact. and everything is so "lively" there...lights everywhere...the pachinko parlors, etc...and the game show host scene in the movie was hilarious, cuz that's how a lot of japanese tv characters were..to me at least. it's a whole other way of life over there, of course it's different. maybe it was a little extreme, but as i said, pretty accurate. especially the way they all welcome him in the hotel lobby. i remember lots of japanese people coming up to me a lot, always eager to test their english skills. always very polite, and modest...same mannerisms. i know it sounds stereotypical, but there are stereotypes for a reason...because that's how things/people really are/were at one point or another.

what were you trying to say anyway? that japan is totally not like that, and more like america?

and i'm not being bitchy, just so you know....seeing that we both lived in japan, i'm just trying to see where you're coming from.

yep, its a great movie.

for some strange reason, after watching it you just feel realy good

quote:

Originally posted by USMC_Greg

What does "Grap on my tired since 2002" mean anyways?

quote:

Originally posted by Citizen X
I didn't like this movie at all. First of all like someone already said they portrayed Japan in a very stereotypical way. The movie conveys Japanese people as if they were aliens from outer space. Second of all the whole movie is just a cheap attempt at targeting sentimental and naive people who usually find meaning in anything. This is becoming very popular nowadays. I can literally film a guy walking in the forest the whole day and make this movie a success because people will say my movie represents isolation. If only I had the money.

no actually the ones being naive are the simple minded people who need the plot spelled out for them. get some creativity...

quote:

Originally posted by ShadoWolf
Lost In Translation is Metrosexual Alliance approved.

Being a forum noob...is there a way I can enlighten myself as to what the metrosexual alliance is?

-Clovis

quote:

Originally posted by UWM
What does "Grap on my tired since 2002" mean anyways?

quote:

Originally posted by Slylee
well i thought it was pretty accurate...and i wasn't just commenting from a western civilization perspective...i lived there. right outside of Hiroshima, to be exact. and everything is so "lively" there...lights everywhere...the pachinko parlors, etc...and the game show host scene in the movie was hilarious, cuz that's how a lot of japanese tv characters were..to me at least. it's a whole other way of life over there, of course it's different. maybe it was a little extreme, but as i said, pretty accurate. especially the way they all welcome him in the hotel lobby. i remember lots of japanese people coming up to me a lot, always eager to test their english skills. always very polite, and modest...same mannerisms. i know it sounds stereotypical, but there are stereotypes for a reason...because that's how things/people really are/were at one point or another.

what were you trying to say anyway? that japan is totally not like that, and more like america?

and i'm not being bitchy, just so you know....seeing that we both lived in japan, i'm just trying to see where you're coming from.

Our experience were probably different. I grew up there went to primary school there.. so I see things from that perspective. But I think japan and japanese people are more dynamic than the portrayal given here. I'm not sayin you can include all aspects of a culture in one movie, but the movie seems to highlight the stereotypical differences between western and Japanese culture for the sake of the story, and to further add to the sense of displacement for the main characters. I see when I go home, pachinko, karaoke, bright lights, but I also see, wise ass kids, gangs, crime, people being rude, people who don't like foreigners. I guess for me, its the case that if your saw your home being portrayed in a very specific light, one would be inclined to think, WAIT theres more to US than just that. Then again, from where I stand, it was always the West that was "different and exotic." lol.

Ohh and my mom lives in Shinjuku, (tokyo), my grandmother lives in Tochigi. I went to st. marys (american school). I miss it sometimes, but I love american I definately want to stay here because its so much fun, and also the economy here is a bit better than japan rite now.

I love this movie. Very smartly written and acted. I still think Murrays performance is better than Penns but whatever. And Murray is so funny in this one. Like his photo shoot. Very funny.

i loved this film.

i still love scarlett. she loves me too!

anyways, the ending was amazing, throughout the film i was expecting them to link up + fuck off to brazil and live happily ever after.

hard to describe, but damn i would have cut my leg odd to have been bill murray in that end scene..

had they got it on or anything it would have ruined the film. the ending was amazing. couldn't have been more... moving / touched me in the heart type thing..

aah Scarlett

who doesn't thou love me!!!

quote:

Originally posted by UglyDave
i loved this film.

i still love scarlett. she loves me too!

anyways, the ending was amazing, throughout the film i was expecting them to link up + fuck off to brazil and live happily ever after.

hard to describe, but damn i would have cut my leg odd to have been bill murray in that end scene..

had they got it on or anything it would have ruined the film. the ending was amazing. couldn't have been more... moving / touched me in the heart type thing..

aah Scarlett

who doesn't thou love me!!!

Your signature hurts my eyes.

-Clovis

When I saw this, my first thought was "Yay, the film can't getter any better than this!". Unfortunately, I was right.

When I rented this film, the description said it was a "comedy" suitable for "14 y.o. or older" and "100 minutes long". The name in Portuguese was "Meeting and failing to meet (Encontros e Desencontros)" and it seemed like a good romantic comedy, perfect for a Sunday afternoon at my girlfriend's house. It wasn't a comedy (or romantic whatsoever), it sure had embarrassing scenes you wouldn't expect in a "suitable for 14 y.o. or older" material, which deserved at least a warning and it lasted a lot longer than 100 minutes. At least the Brazilian name reflected what the film was: Two people met and they failed to meet logic or any reason behind it. I'd say the following paragraphs would contain spoilers, but in this case this might save someone's life.

What exactly was the goal of this film? Whatever it was, they seem to have failed. If they wanted to show the weakness (or subtle crisis) of both main character's marriage, it sure didn't, because even sitcoms could portrait the drama in a better way. Like Arbiter said, there was no conflict. No tension. No highlight (other than the girl's ass in the beginning). Even the pseudo-romantic-adultery of the two people not given proper attention by their spouses in this film seemed so fake you could've actually seen it coming, without any major expectations.

It's like... this part totally showed how brainy the girl was. Totally like... she didn't get any attention from her workaholic boyfriend and he hung out with stupid people. It's like she was in something like... whatever

As for the boredom, I wouldn't have watched a film if I wanted to be that bored. Even if they meant to show how bored and lonely the characters were, it was so shallow you could barely feel sorry or anything at all for them. That was not a "I'm lonely because I'm in a foreign country where I can't understand anyone". That was a "I've got nothing to do this afternoon and I can't think of anything better other than standing by the window". In Fucking Amal I felt loneliness and craving for attention. In "The Invisible" too. In "Chasing Amy (or Looking for Amy, I can't remember the right title)" there was an interesting conflict between the people involved in the relationship. In "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" you could feel the fear of that older couple of getting together and losing their mutual friendship, which was also subtle but interesting. There was this other Chinese film I've once seen that had a better view on adultery and marriages (which didn't show even one kiss, if you want to mention subtleneess). I've named only some titles because I can't be arsed to search through all the films I've seen in which you could find a similar situation. Even in the Lion King I felt loneliness and craving for attention when Simba's father died.

Was there any "comedy"? I laughed at the hooker asking to have her stockings "lipped" and the kids going mental playing videogames, but that was about it. That talk show was utterly pathetic. Oh, the conversation with the kid in the hospital was somewhat entertaining too (and the poor kid just wanted to know for how long he had been to Japan or something). I hopefully believe that once you understand a bit of Japanese the film gets boring, so that might've been my problem. I was the only one who had never been to Japan in the room, and I was also the only one who didn't sleep throughout the film. That must be a sign of hope.

Some can even argue that Japan was just used as a scenario, but it wasn't the main part of the film. It was just an attempt to show they were in an exotic foreign country. Heck, why didn't they go to Central African Republic or Nepal? Now THAT would be a big culture shock. I firmly believe it was just a lame excuse to spend some time in Japan. Better yet, they could've shot it in the United States, if the place didn't matter. At least the film would remember to focus more on the relationship and less on secondary parts.

As for the plot, I won't say a solid plot is necessary. In fact, many comedies are just an all-over-your-face attack of random jokes, which is good too. It's just a matter of hit or miss.

This film is absolutely a miss. The good part must've been lost in translation, if there was a good part in the first place.

i think the movie you are referring to is
In the Mood For Love.

10/10 great movie all around
Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung. WoW, fecking WoW.

as for Lost in Transaltion.
i got to say that it is one of my favorite movies of 2003.

ps. i just saw Infernal Affairs with Tony Leung.
is there anything this guy can't do.
great cop movie, highly recommend it.

pps. scarlett

quote:

Originally posted by josh4
Blah blah, blah blah blah blah. Blah blah, blah blah blah blah. Blah blah, blah. Blah blah, blah blah blah blah. Blah blah, blah blah blah blah. blah blah blah. Blah blah, blah blah blah blah. Blah blah, blah blah blah blah. Blah blah, blah blah blah blah. Blah blah, blah blah blah blah.

Blah blah, blah blah blah blah. Blah blah, blah blah blah blah. Blah blah, blah blah blah blah. Blah blah, blah blah blah blah. Blah blah, blah blah blah blah. Blah blah, blah blah blah blah. Blah blah, blah blah blah blah.

Blah blah, blah blah blah blah. Blah blah, blah blah blah blah. Blah blah, blah blah blah blah. Blah blah, blah blah blah blah. Blah blah, blah blah blah blah. Blah blah, blah blah blah blah. Blah blah, blah blah blah blah.

It was directed by a woman. End of story.

Did you see Die Hard?

quote:

Wow, another insightful post. Blah blah blah, that's exactly what they usually consist of.

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Originally posted by daydreamer
i think the movie you are referring to is
In the Mood For Love.

Yes, that one.

quote:

Originally posted by josh4
It was directed by a woman. End of story.

Pointless, stupid, but this line made me laugh for some reason.

quote:

Originally posted by Lira
Yes, that one.

Pointless, stupid, but this line made me laugh for some reason.

So you did, or did not see "Lost In Translation" ?

quote:

Originally posted by Clovis86
So you did, or did not see "Lost In Translation" ?

Yes, I did. That's what my first post was about

I just mentioned that other film when I started to compare LiT with some other films (and I didn't know the name of that one when I wrote that first posts, so daydreamer was kind and told me what the title was

I remember someone from school recommending me this movie. She said it would be something I would like. I was amused by her observation.

I didn't like the movie. The only reason I watched it was because it was recommended. It wasn't something I would like.

The movie doesn't make sense. It lacks the necessary elements, already pointed out by other members, in a good or decent movie. That the two main characters are lost or don't seem to find a way out of their confusion is understandable. It is because of that confusion that these two characters can't come up with a solution. They can't "translate" the problem and/or the solution.

Ugh, I hate it when I have to do much of the work to make sense out of a mediocre movie. It's not subtle, it's just poorly done.

The good thing about the movie was the music, some of it that is.

Final advice: Next time let Lira do the movie.

quote:

Originally posted by ierxium
Final advice: Next time let Lira do the movie.

Aye, gimme a camera

quote:

Originally posted by Lira
Yes, I did. That's what my first post was about

Oh well. I liked it