Lost in Translation

Status
Not open for further replies.
I watched my copy on bluray last week and wanted to make this thread. One of my favourite movies of all time.

Edit: for those who don't get it, a major theme of the movie is communication, hence the title of the movie. On the surface, the main characters are stuck in a place where they don't understand the language and culture, hence Tokyo is "lost in translation" to them. However what is said between Bill's character and his wife as well as what's not being said verbally between Bill and Scarlett's characters, are also "lost in translation" even though they are speaking the same language, exactly because communication (when it comes to love) is difficult.
 
Ayumi said:
Can you tell me in spoiler tags? Google is giving me different results. :<
Click to expand...

hail-hydra-lost-in-translation.jpg
 
Mister Wilhelm said:
I can't find it now but someone posted a translation of what the whisky commercial director said that the translator fumbled, and it's totally hilarious.
Click to expand...

Haha so awesome.

Translated Suntory Scene
Translated dialog from the hilarious Suntory Time whiskey commercial scene from the film Lost in Translation.

Bob, who is in town to make a whiskey commercial, doesn't speak Japanese. His director (Yutaka Tadokoro), a histrionic Japanese hipster, doesn't speak English. In one scene, Bob goes on the set and tries to understand the director through a demure interpreter (Akiko Takeshita), who is either unable or (more likely) unwilling to translate everything the director is rattling on about.

Needless to say, Bob is lost. And without subtitles, so is the audience. Here, translated into English, is what the fulmination is really about.


DIRECTOR (in Japanese to the interpreter): The translation is very
important, O.K.? The translation.

INTERPRETER: Yes, of course. I understand.

DIRECTOR: Mr. Bob-san. You are sitting quietly in your study. And then there is a bottle of Suntory whiskey on top of the table. You understand, right? With wholehearted feeling, slowly, look at the camera, tenderly, and as if you are meeting old friends, say the words. As if you are Bogie in "Casablanca," saying, "Cheers to you guys," Suntory time!

INTERPRETER: He wants you to turn, look in camera. O.K.?

BOB: That's all he said?

INTERPRETER: Yes, turn to camera.

BOB: Does he want me to, to turn from the right or turn from the left?

INTERPRETER (in very formal Japanese to the director): He has prepared and is ready. And he wants to know, when the camera rolls, would you prefer that he turn to the left, or would you prefer that he turn to the right? And that is the kind of thing he would like to know, if you don't mind.

DIRECTOR (very brusquely, and in much more colloquial Japanese): Either way is fine. That kind of thing doesn't matter. We don't have time, Bob-san, O.K.? You need to hurry. Raise the tension. Look at the camera. Slowly, with passion. It's passion that we want. Do you understand?

INTERPRETER (In English, to Bob): Right side. And, uh, with intensity.

BOB: Is that everything? It seemed like he said quite a bit more than that.

DIRECTOR: What you are talking about is not just whiskey, you know. Do you understand? It's like you are meeting old friends. Softly, tenderly. Gently. Let your feelings boil up. Tension is important! Don't forget.

INTERPRETER (in English, to Bob): Like an old friend, and into the camera.

BOB: O.K.

DIRECTOR: You understand? You love whiskey. It's Suntory time! O.K.?

BOB: O.K.

DIRECTOR: O.K.? O.K., let's roll. Start.

BOB: For relaxing times, make it Suntory time.

DIRECTOR: Cut, cut, cut, cut, cut! (Then in a very male form of Japanese, like a father speaking to a wayward child) Don't try to fool me. Don't pretend you don't understand. Do you even understand what we are trying to do? Suntory is very exclusive. The sound of the words is important. It's an expensive drink. This is No. 1. Now do it again, and you have to feel that this is exclusive. O.K.? This is not an everyday whiskey you know.

INTERPRETER: Could you do it slower and ?

DIRECTOR: With more ecstatic emotion.

INTERPRETER: More intensity.

DIRECTOR (in English): Suntory time! Roll.

BOB: For relaxing times, make it Suntory time.

DIRECTOR: Cut, cut, cut, cut, cut! God, I'm begging you.

Posted originally in NY Times
Click to expand...
 
Easily one of the best films of the 2000's. In terms of atmosphere it is in a league of its own.

One of the few films I can watch over and over.
 
I saw this back in '03 when it was put back in theaters for Oscar season, and I think I saw it 5 times in that month. At the time, I wanted to be a filmmaker, and it being so effective while being so simple, was something I found really inspiring.
 
Fantastic movie. One of my favourite. I think the line where he is talking on the phone to his wife, trying to be excited about Tokyo, and says "I love you" but she hangs up at the start of it. Then he just hangs up and goes "Well that was stupid". That scene is really powerful I feel. Shows just how distant they have become.

I wish Bill Murray got an Oscar for it.

Something that may sound a little pretentious (maybe?), but when I was in University I noticed that my friends who liked the movie thought it was a romance about feeling isolated etc. My friends who disliked it thought it was a movie about Japan and being alone in Japan.
 
This is probably my all time favorite movie. I rented it when I was 19 or so and it really resonated with me at the time. A decade later and I'm not sure anything's really changed. I'll have to rewatch it, as I haven't seen it in some time.

Goreomedy said:
A nice rainy day double feature is this film followed by Spike Jones directed "Her".
Click to expand...

I probably couldn't hold all those feels. I absolutely adored Her as well. The translation behind the Suntory scene is hilarious
 
Honestly, I never got the appeal of the movie. Is not bad per say, but not particularly good. That said I've only watched it once when I was a teen. Maybe I appreciate it more now as an adult.
 
Yup. My favorite movie. The subtleties in the acting make the film. So much is played out in facial expressions and body movements; it's fucking fantastic. The soundtrack is amazing and Sofia got some great shots. I've watched it around 4 or 5 times now and I'm due for a rewatch. It's literally perfect. Now, the Before Trilogy is better as a whole and individual movies, but this movie holds a special place in my heart for even introducing me to the Before trilogy.

Goreomedy said:
A nice rainy day double feature is this film followed by Spike Jones directed "Her".
Click to expand...

I know Her got lots of praise when it first came out, but I still feel like it's underrated in a sense or maybe unappreciated? That movie is a modern classic and Jonze did so many things right in that movie. god. and it works so well when you realize Lost in Translation was Sofia's movie about Spike and Her was his response, like, they both crafted spectacular movies thanks to their failed marriage, lol.
 
Absolutely one of my favorite movies. I haven't seen it in ages but I vividly recall getting the same emotions I got from this movie the first time I moved to Japan. It was really something.
 
My #1 of all time.

Went to Japan 2 weeks ago, something similar happened to me.

I was the Scarlett Johansson of this movie,
 
DanteGhost said:
Honestly, I never got the appeal of the movie. Is not bad per say, but not particularly good. That said I've only watched it once when I was a teen. Maybe I appreciate it more now as an adult.
Click to expand...
For me it is the other way around. Liked it as a teen and am not too fond of it as an adult. I get the appeal though.
 
My favourite movie of all time. I make sure to watch it at least once a year. Somehow, it only gets even better with time.

I even have the poster hanging in my living room.

IgC9fCX.jpg
 
I disagree with hivemind Gaf. This is just an average film and I enjoyed it at the time but its not GOAT or anything.

Coppola had a holiday in Japan and decided to include every cliché one would expect a westerner would have in an Asian country. The best part was the hooker and even that was cliché.
 
The movie and the soundtrack were both really profound for me at that time.

That said I have actually not seen the flick since then.
 
One of my favourites.
It really captures a Westerner's perspective - the weird and wonderful - of Japan too. I love it.
 
arbok26 said:
I disagree with hivemind Gaf. This is just an average film and I enjoyed it at the time but its not GOAT or anything.

Coppola had a holiday in Japan and decided to include every cliché one would expect a westerner would have in an Asian country. The best part was the hooker and even that was cliché.
Click to expand...

Can't agree with this, but I will say that the actual script for the film - as written by Coppola alone - is much, much closer to your description. I was actually really disappointed to read it (years after the fact), it was lots of stupid shit like them just walking around and talking about how weird the vending machines are. Plus, in the script Charlotte is like the daughter of the former American ambassador to France(!). Maybe she still is? But thank God they removed any reference to that out.

From what has been said in interviews and such, it's clear that the film is the result of a massively serendipitous (and canny) machine of collaboration between talented people at the top of their game.

I don't think it's fair to criticize this film for being about "rich, white people problems", because it goes right for the more simple, human issues like connection/disconnection, communication....It's like, we never fear that Bob or Charlotte are going to be thrown out on the streets if they can't sort their lives out, because that's never the issue in the first place.

I'm poor as shit, but I related to the characters just fine. Just because they're loaded doesn't mean their problems aren't real.
 
daydream said:
One of the best movies of the 2000s, easily.

My appreciation only grew deeper after I rewatched it last month.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Lost In Translation and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind came out in consecutive years I think? Those two are one of my favourite movies of all time. Love Eternal even more than Lost. Still can't believe Murray didn't get an Oscar and Carrey hasn't even received a nomination yet. Meanwhile when drama actors appear in some second rate comedy (looking at you Tropic Thunder) they get nominated instantly.
 
moniker said:
Great movie.

Another great pick is Kar Wai Wong's In the Mood for Love. If I recall correctly, this was one source of inspiration for Lost in Translation.
Click to expand...

'In The Mood For Love' and its predecessor 'Chungking Express' are fantastic and possibly even better than Lost in Translation. The feeling of emptiness, expiry and alienation is strong in all of them (and Her, too).

Actually all four of these films also have exceptional sountracks/scores. California Dreaming in CE, Arcade Fire's score in Her, the 'Sucking on your titties' song iin LiT.
 
So uhm, would you show this movie on a date?
I wanted to see it for a very long time, but i don't know if it fits the situation lol
 
Philippo said:
So uhm, would you show this movie on a date?
I wanted to see it for a very long time, but i don't know if it fits the situation lol
Click to expand...

Depends on the person - there are some who will vehemently dislike this movie - but overall, yes. It is cool and romance-centred, if not explicitly romantic.
 
One of my all time favorites. That scene where they go out and have drinks and karaoke is one of my favorite scenes in any movie. I would love to have a night like that there
 
yogloo said:
I hated this movie the first time I watched it. Now I am completely enamored with it.
Click to expand...

I'd imagine a lot of people wouldn't have been that impressed after their first watch. I know I wasn't, but I also realised that it was a movie that needed to be watched at least twice.
 
I love this movie. It's definitely one of my favorites because it's got this weird quality that makes me feel like I am the character, and just reflects how I felt throughout most of my childhood and through my depressive phases. It never gets old to me.

Oh, and when this song plays I feel so damn lonely.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryRo35P_ACc
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Amazing remake of Raiders of the Lost Ark in the early 80’s
2
220
jason10mm replied
30 years ago we lost Selena.
11
1K
squallheart replied
LOST premiered 20 years ago
14
957
Tiago Rodrigues replied
Getting LOST official trailer (documentary about the show)
32
2K
Celcius replied
10 stone lost now 💪
2
73
3K
Vyse replied
Top Bottom