Lost In Translation
apalehorse said:
Joe Brody said:
I was pretty disappointed in this, especially after all the hype. Why do you like it?
There?s nothing that I like more than a small film that captures a little piece of reality [I say "small film" because 'Lost in Translation' was made for about $4M and shot in twenty odd days]. For me, there is the way stories unfold in movies and the way things really happen in real life. Once every so often a movie nails what I perceive to be real life (Sean Penn?s ?The Indianrunner? being the last one). I love how ?Lost in Translation?s? narrative is built on the small-scale hand-to-hand aspects of regular (usually dull) human interaction like missed connections, misunderstandings, dead-on observations and snap judgments, self-doubt (loathing?), dead time, awkward moments, things left unsaid but clear for all to see, and the intimacy of the moment. Coppola takes all this and slides us perfectly into the lives of what could be two very dull (practically stereotypical) characters ? all against the much talked about jetlagged and ?dreamlike? Tokyo backdrop ? and delivers something unique. A lot of films try to deliver something so simple and they almost always fail.
True, the film doesn?t tackle much, but at $4M . . .coming as it does from an extremely talented individual with more resources at her fingertips that anyone has a right . . . why should it? The film is practically an autobiographical whim. I saw the film early on because I had read a good article on Sophia Coppola so I had no pre-conceived notions and more importantly I didn?t have any real expectations -- so it was much easier for me to like the film (in fact, I was went into the theatre looking to dislike it). For example, I loved the slowness/timing (which I agree was right for the film) ? which I might not have been so accepting of if I had come at the picture with high expectations.
As for the movie itself, I won?t gush over the performances (which I think were very good but not great or profound), the camera/editing gimmicks, the perfect kick*ss music, and location details ? but taken together these key parts of the film come together as a coherent, very complete perfectly wrapped package that add to the appeal.
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Also, I recommend 'Thirteen'. As a parent of two young girls, it made very, very afraid. Watching it, I was like, 'this is what I've got to look forward to?' Holly Hunter was O.K. The girls were good. On teen-angst stories, I'd give it a solid 'B', 'B+'.
[Edited by Joe Brody on 02-25-2004 at 07:36 am]