Paul Humphreys rambles on....

Paul Humphreys rambles on....
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Friday October 13, 2006

Lost in Translation

This is an excellent film. I have been to Japan twice and understand how lost Bill Murray felt out there. He is out there doing a recording for a whiskey advert I think. The story is light; nothing really happens it is just an observation of what it is like to be in that country on your own. But for me there was no Scarlet Johansson to meet and share my evenings out there with when I visited the country on two occasions. Don't get me wrong I liked the place but it is hard to adapt when points of reference you expect to see are not there, like English words, telling you where things are which direction to go on the tube etc. The Japanese I think know more English than they let on but dont' have the confidence to use it I think. I remember having a meal once and had a glass of beer. The glass was a bit to far too reach so I moved it nearer to me. Whenever the waiter came to my table he moved it back to where he wanted it to be. The other nice thing about the film for me is Bill Murray and Scarlet Johansson don't end up having an affair as most Hollywood films would have them do - they just enjoy each others company.

( Oct 13 2006, 12:00:02 AM PDT ) Permalink Comments [1]

Comments:

Can't say I've ever been a big Bill Murray fan... and when I watched this film it did nothing for me. But last year I watched Broken Flowers and was more or less blown away -- a really great film that left me wanting to re-evaluate Lost in Translation. I certainly agree with you about Japanese confidence in English... I've rung up Japan on a number of occasions and asked if they speak English to receive a response of "no," before going on to have a full conversation with them. Very odd. I'll definitely have to get around to a re-watch, but before that it's going to have to be Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal :)

Posted by Lewis on October 16, 2006 at 12:24 AM PDT #