[brian183]

Ok this is the first romance type of movie that I actually enjoy watching. I don't know if it's the chemistry of bill murry and scarlett johansson(or maybe just scarlett...I think she's very attractive

) but I can't get enough of this film. It could also be that it's set in tokyo japan which is somewhere I am dying to visit some day. It's kind of weird movie because I never expected bill to be playing a part like this. Anyway, I just wanted to share my drunken thoughts on this movie.

BTW. At the very end of the movie when bill and scarlett say goodbye I'm pretty sure Bill says something like "When you start writing, always tell/say the truth. ok?". I'm almost positive the "always tell the truth." is in there. That whole part was ad-libed and the thing bill said was not in the script apparently but I think that's what he says to her.

 

[enjoi_rootbeer]

i've always wondered what he said. bill murray is so great.

 

[squall2072]

What a movie. Seriously, I got the DVD for Christmas and I've been trying to stop myself from watching it too much. Its brilliant. I think it hits harder when you've always wanted to go to Japan.

Happy New Year

Dean

 

[EdipisReks]

i had to see it three times in the theater to decide if i truly liked it or not, but i decided that i did, very much. if you check my "post pictures of your headphone rig" thread, you will see the bottom of a LiT poster hanging over my audio gear

 

[Squeek]

It really is an excellent film. It does a tremendous job conveying the sense of loneliness felt by Scarlett's character. Tokyo is a very foreign city.

I've been to many places in Asia, and nowhere but Tokyo did I quite feel so alone. Strange to feel that way in a city of 12mm people.

 

[Blitzula]

It seems like Lost In Translation-at home-invites polarization that wasn't there in the theatre. Maybe it's a better theatre movie.

I enjoyed it, but I can see why some people didn't.

 

[JJ15k]

It was also the first "romance" movie I enjoyed, I liked the simple storyline in contrast with all the exhuberant love stories, and the atmosphere is hypnotysing (sp?).
Definitely one of my favourite movies now.

 

[Jeff Guidry]

I don't see it as a romance. Bill Murray and Scarlett Johanssen behave much more like father and daughter throughout the movie than like lovers. She sees him as the attentive father she never had, and he sees her as being closer to him than he was to his own children as they were growing up.

That's why the ending scene works the way it does. Two lovers parting would have a far different dynamic. Since they both see each other as father/daughter, they understand the parting is very important so that they can go on to lead their own lives; she as an adult, and he growing into an old man, so there are no deep long lovers goodbyes.....

 

[Homeless]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff Guidry I don't see it as a romance. Bill Murray and Scarlett Johanssen behave much more like father and daughter throughout the movie than like lovers. She sees him as the attentive father she never had, and he sees her as being closer to him than he was to his own children as they were growing up. That's why the ending scene works the way it does. Two lovers parting would have a far different dynamic. Since they both see each other as father/daughter, they understand the parting is very important so that they can go on to lead their own lives; she as an adult, and he growing into an old man, so there are no deep long lovers goodbyes.....

I saw the movie in the theatre, and then I bought it about 2 months ago...anyway, I felt the same way. I saw it more as a father/daughter relationship...

 

[timo_nyc]

That movie inspired me to visit Japan with my wife. She used to work in Asia a lot and she found LiT very evocative of her experience in Tokyo.

Our trip was magic.

 

[brian183]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff Guidry I don't see it as a romance. Bill Murray and Scarlett Johanssen behave much more like father and daughter throughout the movie than like lovers. She sees him as the attentive father she never had, and he sees her as being closer to him than he was to his own children as they were growing up. That's why the ending scene works the way it does. Two lovers parting would have a far different dynamic. Since they both see each other as father/daughter, they understand the parting is very important so that they can go on to lead their own lives; she as an adult, and he growing into an old man, so there are no deep long lovers goodbyes.....

I think you are right now that I think about it. Makes much more sense from that point of view.

 

[jjcha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by squall2072 I think it hits harder when you've always wanted to go to Japan.

Yeah, it hits even harder when you've lived as a foreigner in Japan.

I saw it in Shibuya with a close friend of mine and we agreed that it definitely said something that resonated about the experience. Tokyo really can be that kind of weird special place - I'll always get "natsukashii" thinking about it... so the movie was a nice little gift almost with Coppola sharing her experience with others.

Best regards,

-Jason

 

[gaijin]

For those who have never been to Japan this movie can be misinterpreted.

Japan is fun and exciting; the Japanese are outgoing, "down to earth" - I spend a year there and never felt lonely. I miss it !

The hero has as much trouble communicating with his wife (by fax), with other europeans (the bar singer), as with Japanese. The heroin is also very distant from her husband and husband's crowd.

Japan is the context in which the difficulty to communicate verbally is emphasized.

Finally, most communication is non verbal - perhaps that is why the last words are not intelligible.

This movie reminds me of Antonioni movies - but it is more optimistic.

 

[AdamWill]

I'm with gaijin. I always felt the flaws (I mean the emotional flaws of the characters, not flaws of the _movie_) in that movie lay with the characters and their inability to adjust to their situation, not with the situation or the city itself.

 

[Jeff Guidry]

The dialogue and some situations indicate that, even in their interactions with 'friends' and 'family', they have a hard time communicating. The strangeness of the city to them is merely a metaphor for the alienation that the characters feel from everyone.

If one were to do a Japanese version of LIT, it would be a good job to put a Japanese character in, say, Moscow, or New Delhi, anywhere where the character was quite obviously out of place. .