At the beginning of the year one of my goals would be to rewatch more movies than I did last year. In general I tend to prefer watching movies I have not seen yet, but revisiting movies which you have seen is like meeting an old friend you have not spoken to in a long while. You might wonder if you still enjoy their presence as much as before and I had that feeling with Lost in Translation.
Directed by Sofia Coppola this film tells the story of Bob Harris (Bill Murray), a successful actor who has to go to Japan to do an advertisement for a whiskey company which will pay extremely well. He stays in a luxurious hotel for the couple of days he has to be there. Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson) is also staying there. She’s been married for a short period of time and is there as her husband is a photographer who isn’t around most of the time. The two of them meet at the hotel and start hanging out together. It’s an unlikely pairing as they are both in different stages of their lives and both struggling with different issues.
The reason I initially fell in love with this movie were two things: Japan and the ambiguous ending. I have always had an interest in Japan and the country really is a third character in this film. It shows a lot of beautiful locations, but also some of the weirder sides of the people. It result in some hilarious scenes (the ones for the commercials are my favorite (“with more intensity”)), but the movie also has a lot of drama. The unlikely friendship feels genuine and you can feel the insecurity about the feeling the main characters have. As a viewer you are hoping for something and never know if that will happen. The movie is not one everyone enjoys and I can understand why as there are a lot of scenes where not a lot happens. It’s people hanging out as they would in real life. But if you feel a certain connection to a movie you can look past that. It’s about two people connecting in a country where they both have trouble connecting/feeling at home and it’s exactly that reason these two get along. They make each other feel comfortable and make their time in Japan enjoyable. They make each other forget (even if it’s just for a moment) the issues they each have. To me this is a classic movie which I gladly revisited and will do so again in the future.
Damn I’m about to publish a review for this right now. Great review, too, man! 🙂 Hope you’ll drop by to read mine.
Funny when that happens, recently had this with another movie as well. Of course I will drop by later to check it out!
Love it too. If I had to make a top 5 of films from the last 10 years, Lost in Translation would likely be on that list.
Yes, the ending is very moving and ambiguous, and for me that song Just Like Honey by The Jesus and Mary Chain contributes to how unique the scene is.
It would be high on the list for sure although in the last 10 years so many awesome movies have come out I don’t know if it would be top 5 for me 🙂
That ending is awesome…it reminds me a bit of Before Sunrise…it keeps you wondering and interpret in your own way.
Pretty much my favorite movie. Glad to hear that you’re a fan as well. Keep up the good work!
Wow, high praise. It would also feature in my top 100 favorite movies (and probably top 50 as well)
Haven’t seen this in a while, should definitely see it again soon! Great review!
It was way too long since I last saw it so I was happy to finally come around to seeing it again. Will do so now with the other movies I’ve been meaning to rewatch.
Nice review. I love this movie as well. One of Murray’s finest performances.
Yeah, he puts so much in his role. It’s both dramatic and hilarious.
I really need to watch this movie again. I loved it right away, and that feeling didn’t slow down in the repeat viewings. I went to Japan in 2001, and while my experiences weren’t the same as in this movie, I definitely shared this feeling of being adrift in a much different culture. That’s one of the reasons that I responded so well to it.
I had the same experience, the feelings about the movie stayed the same as well. I also went to Japan after seeing this movie and even visited some of the places the movie was shot. The culture is very different indeed, but from all the holidays I’ve been on it has been one of my favorites. In three weeks I saw quite a lot of the country and I would love to go there again one day.
Nice review of a nice movie.
Thanks a lot!
One of my favorite Bill Murray performances, bar none. Well, except maybe Ghostbusters.
Such a great, understated film; a lot of my friends didn’t like it, but then they are cinema rednecks, really! 😉
Have to agree, although I would like to add Groundhog Day to that!
Indeed, I’ve rewatched it with my wife who hadn’t seen it yet and she fell asleep during it. So not a movie for everyone.
Glad you liked this one! It’s one of my favourites.
I found the first third of the movie quite bravely done by Coppola; she keeps our main characters apart from each other in order for the audience to understand both Bob and Charlotte until they finally meet. What I find so interesting about when they first glance at each other in the Elevator is how it makes you think of how many life-changing connections you’ve missed in your past by just being passive.
Really terrific stuff. Nice review!
Also one of my favorites. Yeah she gives you time to get to know them. True, there are so many small moments which could have changed your life in big ways.
I had a similar reaction to rewatching Lost In Translation recently. Loved it even more the second time around — a 10/10 for me as well.
Nice to see how many people love this one and rightfully so 🙂
No film means the world to me more than this one. It didn’t just open the door for me about cinema but also in the fact that there was a film that could say something to me as a young adult at the time it came out. I owe a great debt to that film as I always watch it on Bill Murray’s birthday every year as I saw that film on his birthday back in 2003.
Great to hear how this opened the door for you and more! Nice to have a tradition like that 🙂
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