July 24th, 2006
Halfway through I couldn’t decide whether Lost in Translation was pretentiously pandering to potential Oscar wins, or unravelling a story that puts the troubles of our time into a spotlight. My decision was tipping on a knife-edge, but I decided to go with the latter. Too much alliteration in the former anyway.
I found it quite hard to get into the film, until I stopped expecting a significant plot to unfold. Ironically when I decided the purpose of the film was to lose you “in translation”, I began to understand it better. A heightened sense of malaise made the relationship between Charlotte (Scarlet Johansson) and Bob Harris (Bill Murray) believable, even considering the age difference. The subtlety of the acting also meant that while you could guess on whether the relationship would develop past the platonic mutual understanding of their situations, the film never lost focus to drift into the territory of how something more would work.
The stark cinematography highlighted the urban atmosphere of glaring neon and washed blue light. I felt it contributed a great deal towards the viewer understanding the alienation of the characters.
I’m glad it didn’t stray into the whole “infidelity” theme; I feel it would have diluted the main issues, as I see Lost in Translation more of an inaugural film of our time. Technology has made it incredibly easy for us to communicate or commute to different places, but at the same time some people have never felt so isolated. Modern day living doesn’t put pressure on us to get married, or have children at a certain age, or do many of what used to be seen as conventional things. Increasingly more people find themselves in the privilege of having the “freedom” to decide where to take their lives. The impression I get from this film is that this “freedom” is illusory. That sometimes having an abundance of choice and not knowing where to go can be as bad as a dead end. Or the places we think of as new and exciting leave us feeling uneasy, unsure on whether we would have been happier or more fulfilled in the places or times we left.
July 24th, 2006 at 12:45 am
Dude, I totally miss our daily conversations, but I’m always home so late. Bah…
remember this?:
Hal // Pacific Breeze says:
(Mum calls upstairs “Alex, what are you typing about?”)
Hal // Pacific Breeze says:
“Erm, nothing, erm…bitches and hoes!”
Aranil says:
XD
July 24th, 2006 at 10:24 am
It’s been crazy hot recently, I’ve had odd days when I don’t go on the computer at all! I’ll have to catch you sometime
July 24th, 2006 at 5:04 pm
Seems like england is all about bitches and hoes… totally kick ass- one more reason for me to get my ass over there.