Lost In Translation | Blogmas Day 10

Happy Blogmas Day 10!

I feel like this film has become somewhat of a classic, but I had never seen it until a few weeks ago, when I was searching Amazon Prime Video and chose it on a whim. Would you consider this a classic? Tell me in the comments!

Bob (Bill Murray) and Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson) are Americans trying to separately navigate the whole new world that is Tokyo, Japan. By chance, they happen to meet each other in the hotel bar one night, and strike up a friendship that changes them both forever.

The first thing I noticed about the film while watching was the contrast between how busy the city itself was, and Johansson's character's loneliness. There are many moments where the shot quickly changes from one to the other, allowing the audience to truly understand the extent of her isolation, and the way that she feels completely lost in this foreign city.

The film itself begins slowly. We as the audience get the opportunity to live and breathe with these characters for a while without finding out much about them. However, this actually helps us to learn who they are as people, rather than as characters created for the purpose of being in a movie.

What initially pulls you in to this story is the innocence of their friendship. It's an endearing and almost child-like relationship that reminds you of why these two people found each other. At no point do you think of these people as being 'cheats' or as wanting to have some kind of sordid affair. The innocents reminds you that, before anything else, they are just two human beings who happened to find each other.

In the 'New York Observer' review of the film, critic Andrew Sarris said that the film 'replaced sexual facility with emotional longing' and I think that this quote perfectly sums up the film. The film is completely based on emotion, it's totally driven by the thoughts and feelings of the characters, rather than the plot, which is what makes it special.

Once I had finished the film, what struck me about it was that it felt like you were watching it in real time. The audience experiences every aspect of the relationship at the same time as the characters involved. So not only do you feel like you get to know them as individual characters, but you also get to know them extremely well as a unit.

Overall, this is an in incredibly special film. The last exchange in particular is extremely poignant and significant. It was the perfect way to end the film, and the perfect way to see these two characters one last time.

8/10

It's 15 days until Christmas!

Come back tomorrow for Blogmas day 11!