Lost in Translation

[sarah_03uk]

Did I miss something vital in this film, or does it have no depth or storyline whatsoever? I thought it was really dull...I kept expecting something to happen but nothing did! x

[wonderwoman1]

i dont get that film at all!! never have and i have seen it twice for my sins!!

[ellen_16]

i watched it last night and couldnt believe when it ended - it was far too vague!

[buttchester]

I also wasn't impressed. I think I was expecting too much because so many people say that they love it.

I've been told that it's more enjoyable if you have been to Japan though.

[jno]

awww, you guys need to watch Miami Vice or the DV Code or something with lots of action and killing. Lost in Translation is a film about things that don't happen; that's the point. Doesn't anyone enjoy a relaxed pace and unspoken thoughts any more? Is it true what they say about short-attention-span cinema?

[sp1814]

jno

I've never seen LIT, but these posts back up something that was said in '50 Films To See Before You Die'.

Apparently people either love or hate LIT - there's no in between.

I couldn't say - never seen it. I can't stand Bill Murray. I'd like to slap him until he stops moving.

[buttchester]

I'm not really interested in action films. I'd rather watch a moving movie with a meaning but I didn't enjoy Lost in Translation.

[yinyang]

Totally agree with jno. It's about the bond that develops between people who are in a place completely unfamiliar to them and what they can learn from each other. They were two normal people living fairly ordinary lives who for that brief time shared something special before going back to their day to day existance. It would have been ruined if there had been a big action or sex scene because that's not what it was about.

[dolliebird]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who found this film boring! (Apparently it has won oscars - they were obviously a bit short on good films that year!!) I gave up watching half way through and decided to do the washing up instead.

[Octavius]

I too, most unusually, agree with jno. The simmering unspoken thought provoking "action" did it for me and I haven't been to Japan. I quite like a film that leaves you wondering as you can make up your own endings.

Incidentally sarah, what were you hoping would happen?

[kags]

As yinyang says, If something did happen, then the film would have been spoiled. It's about opportunites and possibilities. Bill Murray is amazing in the film, unbelievably sexy, and as for Scarlett, she is so effortlessly charismatic. I think it is a wonderful film.

[LeMarchand]

Hated it - dull, dull, dull!

Been there, done that, was boring enough doing it in person - let alone watching BM do it.

[sarah_03uk]

I dont know octavius...just....something!

[Sozzie]

I was expecting more cos it had been so hyped up.

[robbo82]

I agree with jno et at. Just because a film isn't moving at a riproaring pace with lots of action, doesn't mean it's a a bad or 'boring' film. It's a wonderful exploration of the characters of these two lost souls, beautifully acted, shot and directed, well worthy of all the awards and acclaim it garnered.

[paul06]

very boring unfunny film!

[paul06]

am entitled to an opinion!

[LeMarchand]

It's not the lack of action that makes it dull, it's the lack of (for me) anything interesting about the main characters, the rinky-dink music, and the (admittedly well-evoked) sense of ennui the film has.

[Backdrifter]

"Rinky-dink music"?! Didn't notice any of that. I really liked a lot of the soundtrack.

It does seem to be a love or hate one. I'm more on the 'love' side. I love that it's just a fleeting glimpse of 2 people's short-lived friendship. And I really loved that you don't hear what he says at the end.

It partly depends on what you expect of films. If done well, a film doesn't have to necessarily tell a story, it can evoke a feeling or an atmosphere - but, as I say, only if it's well-made; films that try to do that, but aren't very good, end up a terrible dreary mess.

If you demand a beginning/middle/end plot from films, then atmospheric pencil-sketch films like LIT aren't for you. By the way, I think it's a bit presumptious to say that anyone who didn't like it must therefore only like gung-ho action films!

[Backdrifter]

By the way, though I loved it I would just say the "lip my stockings" scene stinks.

[Octavius]

Agree with you on that scene backdrifter, made me cringe.

sarah - Perhaps they could have had Steven Segal fly in to the hotel and do some moves on the poor unsuspecting hotel staff, before finding a nuclear time bomb and disarm it just is it got down to 1second left?......

Love or hate it, everyone is entiteld to an opinion.