As part of my ~summer goal~ list, I had to A) lose weight, B) read more, and C) watch films. So I decided that to put off reading, I would do C (I guess that’s somewhat productive?) Anyway, I watched three really great ones and the first journey I embarked on (yeah, that’s right, YA novel summary language over here whaddup) was Lost in Translation, with Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson, directed by Sofia Coppola. I really liked the whole film.
Some of my favorite parts were just the view of Tokyo. While I know it wasn’t like ~about~ Tokyo specifically and just the relationship between Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray, I really enjoyed the scenes where they’re just gazing out of windows or taxi cabs, and the city seems endless.
Sofia Coppola (from what I’ve seen) tends to direct in a way that’s very minimalistic and understated but not so much that it’s boring. In Lost in Translation, she chose to focus the whole film on their relationship and how they felt together versus how they felt individually. I thought it was great how the moments between Scarlet Johansson and Bill Murray were documented.
It’s also cool to note the contrast between Charlotte and Bob’s physical and emotional expressions when they’re alone in their hotel rooms (see above) or when they’re drunk and doing karaoke and wearing pink wigs (see above) because it seems that’s the only time they have some real physical expression of livelihood in them at those moments. While in reality that’s not the case, the way they look is different, and so is the way they act. In addition, I think it was also interesting how the other characters (Charlotte’s husband, Bob’s wife, Kelly) are all extremely exaggerated in their personalities, which brings the focus more and more on Bob and Charlotte because in comparison to their friends and family members, they are blurs on the personality spectrum.
Pretty great how they used insomnia because of the time change (on a less serious note, how DID the other people do it? Isn’t the time change, like, 19 hours??) as a means of bonding and how they both solved their problems just by being together in the same room, another way she compared them individually and not.
Generally speaking, her films are always very understated and they’re never the most entertaining, but that’s really, really beside the point. I know people who are into fantasy and ostentatious special effects don’t enjoy these things, but I think that her films are more about little things in life that happen a lot and they’re still beautiful. Just because Sofia Coppola does not make wizards kill dragons in huge elaborate battle scenes does not mean her films aren’t as heavy weighted or intense or meaningful. Just because you don’t “ship” characters (fun as it is) doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give a damn about what happens to them. I guess I’m biased because I’ve never been interested in fantastical things anyway (having never finished all of Harry Potter) though, and I acknowledge that, but again, just because her films look superficially simple (plot, clothes, whatever) doesn’t mean that they are and they definitely should not be taken as such.
Aysedune, Glasgow Fields, in ALL caps, Vivianlostinseoul, Joelmayward, A tiny balcony in Athens
Lovely, Dark, and Deep 