Lost in Translation

Posted on 2004/03/05 13:14:48 (March 2004).

[Tuesday 2nd March] Had burgers for dinner, then rushed out to the cinema to watch Lost in Translation. I was extremelly impressed by Chie's timing - we only had to sit through approximately 25 seconds of adverts. There's genius there, you know. As for the actual film, well I'm not really sure that I have a solid opinion about it. It was entertaining to watch, I didn't feel like I'd wasted my time watching it or anything, but at the end I was left wondering what the point of it all was. I don't know, perhaps the plot was just too subtle for me. This is the second film I've seen recently which has been an American film set in Japan (the other of course being The Last Samurai). It seems to be a general trend of Hollywood films about Japan that they have to spend a large part of them film basically showcasing Japan. It seems like a bit of a cheap trick in a way - you don't need to invent anything yourself really to do a film about Japan, just show Japanese culture, and that will be unusual and therefore interesting to most people all by itself. Not really sure what my point is here... Anyway, it seems to have been a big success, regardless of whether or not I truly appreciated it. I was amused to hear recently that apparently Francis Ford Coppola now introduces himself as "I'm Sophia's Father".

Seconded. Although it was pretty enjoyable to watch, everyone I've talked to has agreed that there didn't seem to be any point... I was sort of enjoying it until the end, waiting for, well, something to happen. But it didn't, and that changed my whole impression of the film. After all, most films tell a story, with some form of conclusion. Seeing a film which just ended felt like getting towards the end of a book to find the last chapter has been ripped out.....

Posted by Byrn at 2004/03/08 11:48:57.

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