brainsnorkel.com

Once upon a time on another blog I wrote about Lost in Translation (link, Directed by Sofia Coppola 1993). I didn’t name it and added a cryptic quip about that fitting The Theme. I’m no film critic, but I needed to say more than “I like this film.”

Looking back, I think I’d write about it a little differently.

Insert spoiler warning here!

The Virgin Suicides, though critically acclaimed was a very stylish flop in my living room. With Lost in Translation, Sofia harnessed star power and good writing to make a very clever film.

Lost in Translation is a film loved and hated with passion by equal numbers of my friends. I guess it comes down to whether you like being immersed in the content or the form of films. The form of this film is thought-provoking. The content is quite thin, though there are many moments of pure magic.

The Theme is painstakingly crafted in every scene. In all but one scene people communicate yet misunderstand. People seem to converse normally, but they misinterpret, or talk past each other. The movie shows a world of emotional emptiness where everyone talks and nobody understands.

Oh yeah, the name of the film, in case you missed it, is Lost in Translation. It’s like High Fidelity in that the theme is given away in the title.

In the final scene Bob and Charlotte finally manage to connect and understand each other before happily parting company. For this scene the director deliberately doesn’t let the audience hear what they are saying to each other that is such a revelation. This intriguing gesture at once applies The Theme with a sledgehammer and shows that the content is simply the writer/director’s device for communicating The Theme.

Do see it if you haven’t already.