Lost In Translation was fantastic because it showed us exactly what Tokyo is like. Everything you see in the film is true to life. I had the opportunity to live and work in Tokyo for over a year, so this film brought back some great memories. I lived in all the confusion and everyday was an adventure, just like it was for the main characters.

I highly recommend this film for its realism and its wonderful acting and directing.

enjoy

I saw this film tonite and I LOVED IT. It was so deep.... I mean there was so much said without going overboard on dialog. I also enjoyed the tasteful use of music. There were scenes with no music that set a mood and felt just right(the golf course comes to mind) I wish more directors would figure this out.

edited to ad:

Sofia Coppola made a great choice by using Jesus and Mary Chain's "Just Like Honey" towards the end. Not since David Fincher used The Pixies' "Where is My Mind?" at the end of Fight Club did a song perfectly encapsulate the mood and spirit of the movie.

The movie had a dreamlike feel to it which was heightened by Tokyo's surreal nightlife. Japan is one of the most fascinating countries in the world and I think it helps if you share Sofia's enthusiasm for the country. Bill Murray is great as always but I was really suprised at how radiant Scarlett Johansen was. Many people may find fault in Sofia Coppola as a director or the movie itself for not being Virgin Suicides Part Deux but its amazing someone so young has such a clear and well defined personal vision.

Caught this last night with my girlfriend. Funny movie, but nothing spectacular. I can see why the role was written for Bill Murray, because i don't think many of the scenes would be nerely as funny without him. I felt the directing itself was very lackluster. I hated Virgin Suicides with a passion, and while this is a much better story, it still feels like a Sofia Coppola movie which is a turnoff for me.

That Golf course at Mount Fuji is pretty spectacular looking.

It sure was.

Well, I'm another fan of this film. I really enjoyed it. And for what it's worth, I disliked The Virguin Suicides.

I thought it was a nice film, driven by a sense of being at life's crossroads for both of the main characters, Bob and Charlotte, though physically, they are set adrift in the hustle and bustle of Japan as they find companionship for their search for their place on their life's map as both seem to be feeling a little trapped by life's circumstances.

Bill Murray's charm is used to good effect to garner many of the laughs in the film, but he comes across a bit weary of the life he leads, and he isn't without faults and foibles, though he does appreciate a kindred soul when he encounters one, even if it is wrapped up in a young woman, Charlotte.

I didn't mind the "only in Japan" sequences that were sprinkled throughout the film as the principal characters experience them.

Their little adventures together are fun and involving. By the end of the film, the resolution gave me chills and goosebumps, but in a good way.

I give it 3.5 stars, or a grade of B+.

Bob probably said "if I were 25 years younger..." or "Burgandy was a 12 week wait, so we told them to surprise us."

Anna Faris was a hoot. I almost didn't recognize her from the "Scary Movie" films.

I liked Charlotte's trips to the more quiet places in Japan (outside of the energetic city landscape), and being a philosophy major, I could see her doing that just to soak up and observe religion and spirituality in action/inaction.

Some spoilerized comments:



I thought both Bill Murray and Scarlett Johanssen did a wonderful job of crafting characters that engage the audience and delve into a slice of "does age matter when you encounter a soul mate or someone you just instantly click with" and "can it be more than just platonic without ruining the underlying intermingling of their mind and spirit"?

Something has been bothering me.

That was brought up on the first page of this thread

D'oh!

Thanks, fumanstan.

From Ebert's review....

OMG, the translation by the on set translator scene where the director would just utter streams and streams of "direction" to Bob, and the translator would give Bob just 5-10 words of "direction" was hilarious.

I talked to one of my friends about the film, he lived in Tokyo for 5 years and can speak the language, I think I need to go see it with him as he told me it was hilarious what was going on in the direction scene.

Also the scene where he was talking to the old man with the 2 ladies sitting behind.

That was a great scene.

i'd like to know what was actually being said by the director there

I will ask my friend to recap for me tomorrow and type it up, he said he and his wife were in hysterics, and the rest of the theatre was staring at them, neither are Japanese, they have just lived and worked there.

Does anyone know if that scene was improvised? It seemed like an outtake that worked out.

TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION:

(SPOILERS):

My Japanese girl friend told me that the director was actually saying to Bill Murray:

"OK, so in this scene, you're drinking whiskey in the study, and your friends are coming over, etc...."

So, what was being translated as simply "intense" and "slower" doesn't really match what the Japanese director was actually saying to Bill Murray. His direction was quite more elaborate....It's just for comic effect.



OTHER TIDBITS: (SPOILERS)



- The game show with the flamboyant game show host -- that comedian actually does exist (he's straight, btw), but the game show is probably fake.

- The arcade games are really like that in Japan, esp. the one with the drums - that one is quite popular. But the one where the guy was hitting the buttons and jumping up and down -- that one was a little exaggerated. You don't need to do all that jumping to play that game.

question: in the hospital scene, what was that thing that was on ceiling that moved on a track: a camera?

Did anyone else notice an excessive number of boom mics? Since this is the second page and not one mention, I'd guess it was just a problem with framing at my theater, since a lot of stuff at the bottom of the screen seemed to be lost.

Some people found the manager and complained. He said "No, they're suppossed to be there." If so, what possible purpose could they serve? I'd guess the guy is just a moron.

Uh, maybe I was just lost in the film or something, but I didn't see any mics.

I absolutely loved the movie.

The soundtrack is also great.

There's a hidden song after "Just Like Honey" that's hilarious.

majorjoe23, I imagine what happened is that the projectionist at that theatre just matted the film wrong, and the manager was covering his ass.