Lost in Translation - one of the most depressing movies ever?

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Wow, I never realized that so many people actually HATED this movie. Ah well. I hated 2001: A Space Odyssey but I know people claim that it's some high form of art or whatever.

And I don't like Lost in Translation because I "want to be a part of something." I like it because it appeals to me and I really do think it's just a beautiful movie.

Anyways, sleep time now.
 
Alucard said:
Wow, I never realized that so many people actually HATED this movie. Ah well. I hated 2001: A Space Odyssey but I know people claim that it's some high form of art or whatever.

And I don't like Lost in Translation because I "want to be a part of something." I like it because it appeals to me and I really do think it's just a beautiful movie.

Anyways, sleep time now.
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I'm not saying you do. I love the film too, but there are people out there like that.
 
Nope, nice try, but that's not the reason I hate it.

The reason is because nothing happened. It was boring. The settings were lame. etc etc

Sofia Coppola is a hack. The only saving grace in the movie was Bill Murray. Everything else was shit.

The sad thing is I saw the Virgin Suicides, and I still went and saw Lost in Translation. I'll never see any more of her shit.
 
LinesInTheSand said:
Lost in Translation will be hated by anyone who needs action to move along their films. AKA the stupid mainstream masses.
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Like Punch-Drunk Love, people who shouldn't have seen this movie accidentally did. Take that.
 
i loved both movies. A slight nod goes to Lost in Translation for setting, and lighter atmosphere. Air (the French duo of space rock) made each movie that much better. *kisses my VS CD*

Spoilers for Jackie Brown too:
The kiss at the end almost seemed like too much; their insinuated chance meeting love affair was better left as just that. The kiss kinda made me want there to be more. It brought their feelings into more intimate, physical terms. i know some or many will say it was the highlight or maybe conclusion of their encounters, but i feel as though the whole of their encounter to that point was the highlight. i would've rather there been an almost kiss, and then Murray says something like "...yeah... I... we... shouldn't. You know, because i'm married... and... the kids" followed by a last wonting gaze. The movie reminds me of Jackie Brown, and myself in a way. i nearly cried at the end of Lost in Translation, and i really wanted to at the end of Jackie Brown. i really wanted to tell Max to chase after to Jackie, to tell her how it felt, but it just wasn't mean to be.
In a simplistic way, that's part of the appeal of movies like that to me. They're the anti-movie... There's might be some action and sex, but it's not just there to titillate. And amid those comic book moments of superficial, there's an interjection of reality in a very real, awkward, way.

Anyways, i've have a few too many beers and will go to sleep now.
 
Watch Last Life in the Universe. It's been called Lost in Translation for grown ups. Lost in Translation had some beautiful cinematography, but that's about all IMO. I love Sophia Coppola, Bill Murray, an Scarlett, but I don't like how the movie turned out.
 
LinesInTheSand said:
Lost in Translation will be hated by anyone who needs action to move along their films. AKA the stupid mainstream masses.
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That's a broad generalization, no?

I simply didn't enjoy the movie. I thought the sterotypes of Japanese people were way overplayed (alright already, we know they can't fucking differentiate between L and R, do we need to hear 70 jokes about it). Also I felt the relationship between Johansson and Murray seemed contrived, I didn't feel a sincere passion. I thought Giovanni Ribisi was underutilized, although he did a fair job with the small part given. Of course Murray had some funny moments don't get me wrong (carried the movie actually is what he did), but my overall feeling of the movie was that it was a forced piece of film making. Neither overly funny, dramatic, or anything else..just kinda blah

Is it a decent movie..maybe. Is it worthy of the praise it received..doubtful. And my view isn't skewed at all by the fact that I live in Japan.
 
Well... I liked the movie at least. Part of it had to do with the setting. It was a lazy Sunday, and I watched it lying down. It was all very relaxing. Also, I had been introduced to existentialism days prior and I was noticing things in the movie which I thought were pertaining to that theory. I tried my best to explain it to my sister who had seen it before with my dad (who thought it was boring and hated it too- but he also was sitting upright waiting for *something* to happen, obviously), and afterwards she said she enjoyed it more the second time around since my dad was not really into it.

And to make myself perfectly clear, I don't want anyone thinking I'm saying it can only be enjoyed a certain way and that's why everyone who hated it and thought it was boring are wrong.
 
The guys who liked it should check out 'In the Mood For Love' (2001) by Wong Kar Wai, the guy who Coppola thanked after winning the Oscars for screenplay (the director himself is known for never using a script, funnily enough). Lost in Translation is basically an inferior version of that film. I honestly don't think Coppola could have came up with the melo mood, the cinematography and the story without seeing that film. My main problem with Lost in Translation is that it underused Tokyo as a setting, despite the film's title and numerous jokes about the residents' height and their English. The story could just as well have happened in the Sahara as far as I know.
 
Hate for LiT can't be written off as "stupid mainstream masses", because a lot of the hate comes from the elitist crowd.

In my opinion, I can't see how this movie could be called 'bad'. To me, that just seems like an illfounded response to its popularity.
 
I thought I gave more reasons why I didn't care for the movie in my last post then anyone here with a positive or negative view, but no one tried to comment on that...pretty convienient.

BTW I don't like grapefruit juice either, am I part of the "stupid mainstream masses", or an elitist?
 
If it's such a "love or hate" film (as stated about a million times in this thread), what does that make me since I thought it was just ok?

I thought it was sweet (as in endearing), but had numerous problems in both direction and script. Some very nice scenes, some dull ones. Etcetera.
 
Some of you guys need to expend your horizons when it comes to movies. It doesnt always have to feature 13yo red-headed girls in a mechwarrior or a superheroes, for gods sake.
 
fart said:
in the mood for love is a hundred thousand times the film lost in piles of cash is.
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I'm in the mood for a poster with a hundred thousand times the substance is, but we can't always get what we want can we, '5 words a post'.
 
LinesInTheSand said:
Lost in Translation will be hated by anyone who needs action to move along their films. AKA the stupid mainstream masses.
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Oh shut up. Same goes for Demon. Listen, I could care less for all the shit that is shown in mainstream theatres. I hardly go to the movies because of it. Lost In Translation is a mainstream movie, even if you won't admit it. Just because it happens to be a very subtle and non-hollywood film doesn't mean it's not mainstream. Don't try to be a stuck up emo art snob and say I or anyone else doesn't recognize real art hates this movie, because that's not true. I've also been doing graphic design for 7 years and I'm one if not the most picky person I know when it comes to that shit.

Great way to group someone together just because they don't happen to like a film you must drool over. Always the excuse, someone never "gets it". There's nothing to fucking get, get it?!

GRRRR! >_<
 
I loved the movie myself not just for the excellent cinematography but for a number of things. One of the biggest was the actual relationship between Murray and Johanson's characters. They've lost the sort of human connection that people need despite having ties to others. Murray's character was famous and he couldn't spend time with his own family at all. He was away so much that he became detached from his own wife (evidence being seen in a number of scenes). With Johanson's character, she was in the opposite situation. She was recently married (comparatively) and lacking the connection with her husband because of his work. They find each other a sort of companionship they had needed for a long time and that's where the adventures were at in Tokyo. By the end of the film, they've sort of healed each other in spirit by being able to find someone to reconnect to. That's at least how I interpreted but it is 4am right now and my brain is on fried.
Oh and I love the fact that she used Tokyo because it's so symbolic of the predicament of the two protagonists.
 
It was a decent movie, but I had high expectations...so maybe that's why I was so letdown. I liked the actual concept and idea with the movie, but...there were far too many scenes where nothing really happened...it was more like they were just hanging out...and...hanging out...and hanging out. And talking about nothing.

It felt like too many scenes didn't do anything other than picturing their friendly times together in Tokyo, or simply picturing the exotic Tokyo. That's what made the movie boring for me...and the script and pacing wasn't exactly the type that kept my interest up either.
 
Pachinko said:
no LIT strip can be complete without the following bob the angry flower strip


lostin.gif
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:lol :lol :lol

fucking brilliant
 
I thought it was a decent ships-passing-in-the-night kind of movie, but for me, it was utterly forgettable. I can't say I regreated watching it once, although I can't imagine myself ever putting any effort into watching it again. I suppose that makes me a member of the mainstream-loving masses who's opinions in movies is WRONG. Honestly, I think Rushmore probably remains one of my favorite movies, for no other reason then that I simply really enjoyed it.
 
kitchenmotors said:
Oh shut up. Same goes for Demon. Listen, I could care less for all the shit that is shown in mainstream theatres. I hardly go to the movies because of it. Lost In Translation is a mainstream movie, even if you won't admit it. Just because it happens to be a very subtle and non-hollywood film doesn't mean it's not mainstream. Don't try to be a stuck up emo art snob and say I or anyone else doesn't recognize real art hates this movie, because that's not true. I've also been doing graphic design for 7 years and I'm one if not the most picky person I know when it comes to that shit.

Great way to group someone together just because they don't happen to like a film you must drool over. Always the excuse, someone never "gets it". There's nothing to fucking get, get it?!

GRRRR! >_<
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I didn't say ANYONE who hated it fell into that category. Chill out, Christ.
 
demon said:
Where exactly did it fall apart, and what about the ending did you not understand?
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I understood it completely, and the point she was trying to make, I suppose. I should rephrase. There was no payoff, no end game. No satisfaction. Just a sort of "Weeee, we had fun, fuck now we have to leave, and will never see each other again because we are pussies". I just don't think it was the best way to go.
 
SKluck said:
I understood it completely, and the point she was trying to make, I suppose. I should rephrase. There was no payoff, no end game. No satisfaction. Just a sort of "Weeee, we had fun, fuck now we have to leave, and will never see each other again because we are pussies". I just don't think it was the best way to go.
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This is how I would describe many foriegn films, they don't wrap it up in nice little package. US films seem compelled to give the closure of a episode of Friends.
 
mac said:
This is how I would describe many foriegn films, they don't wrap it up in nice little package. US films seem compelled to give the closure of a episode of Friends.
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The summer blockbusters espcially. The endings in Spiderman 2, i Robot or even Collateral feel forced, stuck on at the end of the movie with blue-tak almost. I don't think it's a US trait though, it's just what audience expect from commercially driven titles. Eternal Sunshine isn't like that, which I think put it into a similar category as Lost in Translation, somewhere between arthouse and mainstream.
 
fart said:
in the mood for love is a hundred thousand times the film lost in piles of cash is.
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I was waiting for someone to make a reference to In the Mood For Love (an extremely beautiful, yet sad film). I really cannot agree with those who say that Coppola ripped off Kar-Wai with LiT, I'm not saying that was your intent, just wanted to throw it out there.

They're similar in premise only, and branch off from there.

P.S. All of you, go watch The Station Agent.
 
I thought it was a good movie, seemed to be a very realistic depiction of how two people in those circumstances might be drawn to one another. I've seen much much worse, but I've also seen far better movies. Good acting for sure.

My wife hated it, because basically its message was "Having problems with your inattentive husband? Wife nagging you about things you don't care about? Why not try... CHEATING!"
 
SteveMeister said:
My wife hated it, because basically its message was "Having problems with your inattentive husband? Wife nagging you about things you don't care about? Why not try... CHEATING!"
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But they didn't cheat. I think she missed a key point of the film.
 
distantmantra said:
I was waiting for someone to make a reference to In the Mood For Love (an extremely beautiful, yet sad film). I really cannot agree with those who say that Coppola ripped off Kar-Wai with LiT, I'm not saying that was your intent, just wanted to throw it out there.

They're similar in premise only, and branch off from there.

P.S. All of you, go watch The Station Agent.
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I was just saying that if In the Mood For Love didn't exist, perhaps Coppola wouldn't have made LiT. They not exactly the same, of course, WKW's film is a period film where the feeling of nostalgia for a romantic and irretrievable time replaces the strangeness of being in a foreign country. When I saw LiT, I felt as if I've seen it before because the mood in the two are so similar, and that is what the films were about for me. The mood between the characters in each, when the the space between the man and the women feel as if it is a living thing, that is what I remember.

I'd be interested to know how different you think the films are.
 
LIT is a movie I think I need to see again to appreciate. I rented it and watched it with my GF. She hated it and became very restless and I tried to persevere to finish it. I remember the movie having some great moments.

If I were single again I could see myself really digging the film.
 
The feeling I got, oddly enough is of being lost. The movie makes you feel that feeling of being lost with the characters. Even at the end, I felt lost.

You know what I mean?

That's why I disliked the movie at first, I couldn't pinpoint why until after, but it was the feeling of being lost the movie instills in you. The problem with the ending is, a lot of movies will finally let you feel like you found your place at the end; so that feeling ends. Lost in Translation didn't let that end.

Anyways, that's how I felt about the movie. I quite enjoy the movie, hard to watch, but powerful in bringing out that kind of emotion.
 
Timbuktu said:
I was just saying that if In the Mood For Love didn't exist, perhaps Coppola wouldn't have made LiT. They not exactly the same, of course, WKW's film is a period film where the feeling of nostalgia for a romantic and irretrievable time replaces the strangeness of being in a foreign country. When I saw LiT, I felt as if I've seen it before because the mood in the two are so similar, and that is what the films were about for me. The mood between the characters in each, when the the space between the man and the women feel as if it is a living thing, that is what I remember.

I'd be interested to know how different you think the films are.
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In ITMFL, the two leads come together because their spouses are having an affair with each other, their bond is due to an obsession with understanding what lead to up this, with an underlying commentary on the Westernization of Asian relationships and daily life. This relationship leads to unrequited love, at least that’s how I see it.

In LiT, you have two Americans feeling extremely lost in a strange land who bond over this feeling of isolation, both emotionally and physically. Their spouses, while detached, are not committing adultery, as they were in ITMFL. The leads’ relationship in LiT appeared to me as more of a mentor/student or father/daughter relationship.

I do realize that Coppola has admitted her love for Kar-Wai and ITMFL in particular, more than likely she was inspired by it. The thing is, I’ve actually met people who say they hate LiT because it completely ripped off ITMFL.
 
nomoment said:
Please explain this quote.

Sure, I'd understand if you just didn't like the film, but why is Sofia Coppola a "hack?"
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I believe she's a hack because she gets all this praise just because of who her father is. She has not done a good film yet, but critics have praised the two films she has done - The Virgin Suicides and Lost in Translation immensely.

And honestly, those two movies are about the worst films I have seen in recent memory.
 
Celicar said:
I believe she's a hack because she gets all this praise just because of who her father is. She has not done a good film yet, but critics have praised the two films she has done - The Virgin Suicides and Lost in Translation immensely.

And honestly, those two movies are about the worst films I have seen in recent memory.
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Thats great, shes a hack just because you dont like her films. You know people need to get over their own opinion. Just because you dont like something doesnt make it overrated. And at the same time, other people need to realize that not all films are for everyone. Some click with people, others dont.
 
Well, I watched it with my wife (under her strong insistance on seeing it) as soon as the DVD came out. I watched it, and yes. There's not much going on, but it just was a beautifully shot and there were lots of moments, which reflected the person's inner dillema. I did like Mill Murray's acting, which partially was a saving grace for this film, which could have been totally dull in many scenes. I also rented "The Girl with Pearl Earing", which was also starting that female character of LITR, which I felt similar feeling in visual beauty and all...

However, it's not me who fell a sleep, but my wife. ;)

One thing about Lost in Translation - I was laughing at the cultural mockery of some Japanese things, although I felt bad about how some Japanese might take it rather offending. I hope someday, Japanese would make their own version of Lost in Translation in US too - complete with NRA and Far left, loony liberals, and big fat americans too. ;)

lachesis
 
I think the poster who called LiT a decent ships-passing-in-the-night story go it right.

The concept of it, I grokked immediately and realized where it was going: an "artsy" film trying to portray "really real life, unedited". With the assumption in place that really real life is kind of meandering and, well, boring. It reminds me of Cowboy Bebop believe it or not: part of the atmosphere of Bebop was tied to the characters having long, "normal" moments of semi-bored silence and not much to really say to one another other than the same old "hi", "how's it goin'?" each day.

Bebop however, uses those moments strategically. LiT tries to make an entire story out of nothing but them to reinforce its point. Personally, I think that only partially succeeds. I think that it <i>is</i> boring in the way that a lot of artsy films are boring because they're so "representational" and faux-zen. "Now, let us examine the empty parking lot for 20 minutes. See, as the Phillip Glass score reaches a discordant climax, the ant crawl silently along the yellow stripe."

The emotional punch in LiT is very real though, I think, and part of what saves the movie, such as it is saved. Bill Murray was the ideal choice for leading man, though I do have to agree leading actress was a bad choice for me and entirely uninteresting.
 
distantmantra said:
I do realize that Coppola has admitted her love for Kar-Wai and ITMFL in particular, more than likely she was inspired by it. The thing is, I’ve actually met people who say they hate LiT because it completely ripped off ITMFL.
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I have a feeling that it's due to LiT's popularity and those who hate it because they think it ripped off ITMFL don't really hate the film itself, but rather the way it was treated like the discovery of the new world all over again, as if no arthouse films have existed before it.

I have to admit that the ending most people talk about is particularly reminiscent of ITMFL: Murray talking into Scarlett's ear and Tony Leung talking into the wall their most initimate thoughts with the audience unable to eavesdrop. And since those are standout moments in both films, it makes it easier to say that LiT ripped off ITMFL. It is however no reason to hate the film, it might not deserve all the praise it had, but it is still good and if you like ITMFL, LiT should really be your cup of tea. Moreover, perhaps the ending is less of a rip-off, but rather Coppola's homage to WKW.
 
Timbuktu said:
I have a feeling that it's due to LiT's popularity and those who hate it because they think it ripped off ITMFL don't really hate the film itself, but rather the way it was treated like the discovery of the new world all over again, as if no arthouse films have existed before it.
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Probably, since it became popular with the mainstream press, I'm sure they were attempting to remain on top of the elitist pedestals they had placed themselves on.

As emotionally draining as ITMFL is, I have a strong desire to watch it again. Easily one of the best discs Criterion has ever put out.
 
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