Lost in Translation (2003)

Strangers in a Strange Land
I just saw "Lost in Translation" for the first time today and I was impressed. However, in view of the many super-negative reviews, I should clearly state that the movie came together in the final minute or two. Had I not watched it to the end, I would not have has as positive reaction. Indeed, the bulk of this movie is sheer boredom. The writer and director want us to experience being in a lonely place (and boy do they suceed!).

Haven't you ever spent a week one day, or a month one week, or a day one hour in a place where you just didn't fit in? Whether it be at the height of your career or as a child in a room full of adults, there is a real sense of loneliness when you realize that you are truly and profoundly all alone in a crowd; no one to relate to, nothing to entertain you, nothing to distract you, and you don't have the power to get up and leave; you're stuck! I know that I can think of a number of times that has happened to me and there is a lonliness and sadness unique to such an experience. Now think of similar settings on whose several occassions, there WAS someone who, for that otherwise interminable moment in time, was someone who made the experience turn into an manageable one. It wasn't any "love at first sight" experience, it wasn't a "let's exchange phone numbers" (or even just Christmas cards) experience, and certainly not a "let's do this again" experience. It was a place you never should have been but with someone who made the experience bearable. That's what I saw in "Lost in Translation". Moments like that come and then they are gone. "Lost in Translation" is a tribute to all the misplaced persons who found each other briefly and then moved on. It is a beautiful movie with exactly the right ending. Share the boredom but share the blessing as well.

If you've been there, you really know the deal ...
Thumbs up for the real-ness and funny-ness, and err ... Japanese-ness(?). Good direction, sets and acting; nice ending. If you've been there, you really know the deal in traveling enough to Japan, France, etc. ...
Tom Ota

I did`t lost in translation
I had the fortune to lived in Japan (Tokio, Nagoya, Kyoto and Osaka) for one month, and enjoyed the style of life of the japan people. This movie is reflex of that style of life, not totally, but the atmosphere is magic, with the street and some interior places. Great movie, amazing direction, sweet acting.