As someone who lived in Japan for 2 years, it made me happy. Nevermind that it doesn’t have much of a plot, I spent the time recognizing places I’ve been. I don’t think it insults Japanese culture the way some people think it does. I think it does a very good job overall of revealing how an american with little or no japanese language skills would feel when in that place. And how the time difference can cause extreme jetlag and insomnia.
I particularly liked the shots of people sitting in the hotel windows with Tokyo behind them because the quality of the lighting is exactly how it looks there on a hazy early morning.
Does anyone know exactly when this movie was shot? It looks to me like late spring/early summer, but when, 2002?
I’ve only been back in the states for a week now, and already this movie has me missing japan!
May I ask you if you have japanese friends there? I ask because if everything works out as I plan then I will go there as well. I heard stories about foreigners living only with foreigners because the cultures are so different …
I’m so glad that somebody else said that. I watched the movie expecting something wonderful and Oscar worthy and was just extremely unimpressed; I thought it was just me.
There. I’ve said it and I’m glad.
Sorry, acrossthesea. I’m sure that the movie meant a lot more to you, and I’m glad that you liked it. But like sampiro and Munch, I was incredibly disappointed by how poorly done the movie actually was compared to the reviews it was getting.
sobbing…I’m not the only one! Thank heaven! I didn’t like that movie at all. I like visually appealing, dialogue driven movies (Snow Falling on Cedars, Big Eden, Character) . Lost in Translation was a HUGE disappointment. Boring is an understatement, if you ask me.
I thought the movie was pretty good until the adultery part. Seems to me like pretty much every movie out of Hollywood these days has an adultery theme to it. I get very very sick of it. I’m a loyal faithful person, and I have a husband who is the same, and it seems like Hollywood is trying to make adultery seems normal, like everyone does it.
Well, everyone DOESN’T do it. I can name a dozen couples off the top of my head who never would think about cheating. I get so sick of having this message that adultery is okay and forgiveable shoved down my throat. It’s NOT normal, it’s NOT forgiveable, and any movie that says it’s about friendship when it’s really about being a cheating fuckwad and which suckers me into watching it is a piece of crap.
I really don’t think Murray deserved an Oscar nomination for his performance. He was playing himself, after all. How hard could that be?
Trust me, if this was your standard “Hollywood” movie, they would have had Murray and Johannson humping before the third frame. And I didn’t get that it was “forgiveable”… it was just something that happened. You think you know couples who wouldn’t think of cheating? That’s like saying you know that Bill Murray was playing himself.
As for the OP, it doesn’t indicate when, but the imdb states that filming only took 27 days.
Best movie I’ve seen since Pulp Fiction. Absolutely great!
I really feel sorry for those of you who haven’t “seen” the film. It is so full of small things and has tremendous depth.
I note that a couple posters are confusing the traits of the characters with the actors. That’s something you should work on.
One of the reasons Bill Murray has been so honored for this role is that he isn’t playing himself. (Which is also why it didn’t attract the usual Caddy Shack crowd.)
Both stars won BAFTAs and a heck of a lot of other (esp. critics’) awards. It had more “rave” reviews than any other film released in 2003.
The documentary on the making of “Lost in Translation” on the DVD reveals that the movie was filmed in September, all in Tokyo, at the Park Hyatt, on location, and certain scenes on a sound stage (e.g. the commercial shoot, the photo shoot, and, IIRC, the hotel bar). With editing and post-production time, I assume it as in 2002.
Wow. Issues much? The reason you see so many movies about adultery is pretty simple: it’s more interesting than fidelity. I’m not saying you can’t make a good movie about a married couple that doesn’t cheat on each other, but adultery brings in illicit sex, betrayal, revenge, redemption, forgiveness, and a host of other factors that are dramatic gold. It’s a useful vice for a main character because it’s about as awful a thing someone can do that doesn’t require police intervention. Plus, it’s commonplace enough that most everyone in the audience is going to be able to sympathize with at least one party in the affair.
And damn few movies present adultery as a good thing. Lost in Translation sure as hell didn’t. It’s portrayed as a tragic outcome of a failing marriage, and an act of betrayal not so much against his wife (who, it seems, could give a shit what Murray does) as against Johansson’s character, who had seen him as a role-model for how to have a successful marriage. The act itself is pathetic, it’s not an act of passion so much as desperation. The movie isn’t promoting adultery, it’s serving as a warning against it: it’s saying, “Don’t be like this. Don’t let yourself end up like this guy’s, because he’s fucking miserable. Don’t make the mistakes he made.”
In case it ain’t clear, I loved the shit out of this movie. Absolutely beautiful movie. Murray was robbed at the Oscars.
Add me to the people disappointed in the film. It had its moments and it was somewhat though provoking, but it wasn’t as good as expected. I thought Bill Murray was great in the movie and did not get the impression he was playing himself. I actually was thinking this was more of a role very similar to the one he played in…I’m blanking on the name, but the movie where he is rich guy and becomes friends with the precocious high school student, then they argue over the teacher because they are both in love with her. I can’t believe I can’t think of the name.
Put me in the “I was sooo looking forward to this movie and then ended up being pissed off after I endured it” group. For some reason, every critic adored this movie. I love Bill Murray, I like quiet understated movies from time to time, but this movie actually angered me. If I had to sit through one more scene of Bill being grouchy and Scarlet walking around in a daze all goo goo eyed I would have walked out. I did not care one bit about either one of these characters, in fact, they annoyed the hell out of me. I would have enjoyed it if in the last scene- while they were feeling all lonely, lost, empty, and sorry about their miserable existence, they would have been hit by a bus filled with those wacky “look how different we are from you Americans” Japanese citizens. At least that would have led to some sort of plot movement.
Lost in Translation was my pick for best movie of the year. Movies that are entirely about character development are nearly unheard of in American film, and that it’s done so well here makes it even more special.
But what do I know. My second favorite movie of last year was about a boy who loses his sister’s shoes.