"Lost in Translation" questions (spoilers)

[TWDuke]

1. Someone chases Our Heroes out of a Tokyo bar with what certainly appears to be a toy gun, but people actually appear to be afraid about him. What was that?

2. At the end, Sad Older Man catches up with Sad Younger Woman on a noisy street and whispers something in her ear. It seems to make her feel better, and he leaves sadder than ever. Was I supposed to have some idea what he said, or was it just their little private moment?

[Tamerlane]

@TWDuke

1. Someone chases Our Heroes out of a Tokyo bar with what certainly appears to be a toy gun, but people actually appear to be afraid about him. What was that?

Got me. Looked like some sort of BB gun, which could be painful as hell.

2. At the end, Sad Older Man catches up with Sad Younger Woman on a noisy street and whispers something in her ear. It seems to make her feel better, and he leaves sadder than ever. Was I supposed to have some idea what he said, or was it just their little private moment?

Their little private moment, at least according to director Sofia Coppola.

• Tamerlane

[Gadfly]

@Tamerlane

Their little private moment, at least according to director Sofia Coppola.

Something encouraging? Something to the effect of “I’ll see you again”? Both would have that sort of effect.

[Miller]

1. Someone chases Our Heroes out of a Tokyo bar with what certainly appears to be a toy gun, but people actually appear to be afraid about him. What was that?

I think they were only pretending to be afraid. They were playing along with the guy with the gun.

[El_Elvis_Rojo]

1. I think the gun had some legitimate kick to it (ie. fired pellets/bbs/something small and metal that’s not quite a bullet at speeds not quite lethal), so I’m sure getting shot would have hurt like hell.

2. I don’t think the viewer is supposed to know what’s being said, but from what I recall, he didn’t go away sad, he seemed pretty happy and relieved as well when he got back in the cab. Whatever it was, it seemed to be enough that both of them seemed ready to go back to their lives and give their marriages another shot (of course, what happens after that little high dies down is anybody’s business). At least, that was my take on it.

It was a really good movie, I just found the bit with the lounge singer to be an insane let down. But hey, shit happens in real life, right?

[Tamerlane]

@Gadfly

Something encouraging? Something to the effect of “I’ll see you again”? Both would have that sort of effect.

Last I read, she was deliberately refusing to expound on it. No doubt someone will spill the secret eventually.

• Tamerlane

[Miller]

1. I think the gun had some legitimate kick to it (ie. fired pellets/bbs/something small and metal that’s not quite a bullet at speeds not quite lethal), so I’m sure getting shot would have hurt like hell.

It was an airsoft gun. They’re designed to be shot at other people. They shoot lightweight plastic pellets that, at worst, sting slightly if they hit exposed flesh. They’re very popular in Japan. They’ve got stores that sell nothing but hyper-realistic toy guns, and it’s not uncommon to see kids and young adults playing with them in public. Here’s a website that has more details and photos of various models.

[jackelope]

The point of the whispered words there was that after their lame parting in the hotel, he chased her down and they had a sweet, private moment for just the two of them, private even from us in the audience. (I found it hilariously ironic that their “private moment” occurs on a crowded street in the midle of the world’s biggest city).

He might have been saying, “Here’s how to reach me in the States,” or “Don’t be so mopey all the time,” or “Leave your husband,” or “I love you,” or “Don’t eat the brown acid”; the point isn’t what he said, but rather that it was a sincere, intimate moment between the two of them.

By the way, this gets my vote as second-best film of 2003, after City of God.

And oh yeah, I want one of those guns.

[paperbackwriter]

@TWDuke

2. At the end, Sad Older Man catches up with Sad Younger Woman on a noisy street and whispers something in her ear. It seems to make her feel better, and he leaves sadder than ever. Was I supposed to have some idea what he said, or was it just their little private moment?

It’s intentionally vague, and no-one has enlightened the viewing public. We are supposed to fill in the blanks for ourselves, but what you fill in and what I fill in may justifiably be different things.

[Marley23]

No doubt someone will spill the secret eventually.

There’s probably nothing to spill. Murray said could have said “I’m talking to you, look sad and win the Oscar.”

[ftg]

I have listened very carefully to the “parting words” and it has clearly (?) been muffled and covered with background noise so that you are not supposed to make out a word.

In all probability, the script has “say 23 words softly into her ear.” SC do doubt wouldn’t trust the actors and crew to keep it a secret if it was actually written down or recorded somewhere. It also was probably done with several takes and the random words might not have been the same in each take.

(And it’s my top film for the year.)

Perhaps though, if we got Harry Caul on it, he could clean it up. Problem is, Harry might still be friends with FFC.

[Marley23]

After seeing it again tonight, the only thing you can really make out from him is “okay?” at the end. He has his head next to her for a while and doesn’t speak for most of it. I’m perfectly fine with it as is- there’s no individual phrase that would do justice to the moment. That’s one of the things I liked about the movie; Coppola trusted herself not to do too much and just sort of let the moments be.

[TWDuke]

@ftg

(And it’s my top film for the year.)

It’s my top film with no wizards or folk-singers for the year. I have no problem with not hearing what he whispered at the end, I just didn’t want to base my interpretation of the film on thinking that’s how it was supposed to be, only to find out that everyone else clearly heard him say, “Meet me at the airport in half an hour.”

Miller, thanks for the airsoft gun info. It did seem to me like they were afraid of the gun, not like, “He’s got a gun; we’re going to die,” but like, “That smarts; let’s get out of here.”

El Elvis Rojo, I agree he seemed relieved as he got back in the cab, as if he felt better having left her with something more meaningful than “you stole my jacket.” But although I may have misinterpreted his expression, I thought he looked very sad or at least melancholy as he rode away at the end.

[Pepsi_Classic]

By the way, this gets my vote as second-best film of 2003, after City of God.

City of God is a 2002 film. It just wasn’t released until 2003 in the states.

[Grousser]

@paperbackwriter

It’s intentionally vague, and no-one has enlightened the viewing public. We are supposed to fill in the blanks for ourselves, but what you fill in and what I fill in may justifiably be different things.

Agree, pw. I cite Ebert’s review:

I loved the moment near the end when Bob runs after Charlotte and says something in her ear, and we’re not allowed to hear it.

We shouldn’t be allowed to hear it. It’s between them, and by this point in the movie, they’ve become real enough to deserve their privacy. Maybe he gave her his phone number. Or said he loved her. Or said she was a good person. Or thanked her. Or whispered, “Had we but world enough, and time…” and left her to look up the rest of it.

[Morbo]

@TWDuke

2. At the end, Sad Older Man catches up with Sad Younger Woman on a noisy street and whispers something in her ear. It seems to make her feel better, and he leaves sadder than ever. Was I supposed to have some idea what he said, or was it just their little private moment?

From Ebert’s Movie Answer Man column:

Q. After reading your review of “Lost in Translation” and subsequent discussion about how we do not hear Bill Murray’s final words to Scarlett Johansson, I was surprised to find that I could understand fairly easily what Murray whispered into her ear at the end. While I could not hear every word, it was obvious to me that he said something like “As soon as possible, call your husband and tell him you love him, OK?” The last six words I have no doubt about whatsoever.

Matthew Allen, Long Beach, Calif.
A. I saw the film again, and closed my eyes and concentrated every aural nerve during that scene, and still could not hear a word. Apparently I am not alone. In an interview with writer-director Sofia Coppola in the new issue of Sight & Sound, she’s asked, “Dare I ask what Bob whispers to Charlotte at the end?” And she replies: “Someone asked Bill, and he said, ‘It’s between lovers.’ I love that answer.”

Then she was asked if she had written lines for the scene, and said: “I wrote some stuff but I wasn’t happy with it. There was dialogue but it was really sparse. Ultimately I liked it better that you don’t hear it, that you can put in what you want them to say. You wish he’d say, ‘I had a great time and you’re great,’ but instead he says, ‘I left my jacket.’ That’s what people do.”