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I adore this movie but admit that I haven't thought about it that deeply, but I did get heavily swept up in the relationship of the two leads. Not to get too personal here but I've known several people who have been where Johansson's character is; someone who got married too young to someone they thought they had a connection with who is far too focused on their career while not being an excplicitly bad person. Ribisi's character is clearly not a bad guy, but comes across as someone not completely involved in his own marriage because of his job. Johansson's character facilitates it to a degree but it's because she loves him/is married to him and thinks that's what she's supposed to do. It's an unhappy marriage on one side and her being in a foreign land makes her feel even more isolated, and guilty because she expects this whole trip to be some kind of a booster shot to her marriage, which it absolutely isn't. Also, she doesn't really cheat on her husband, it could be argued that she does fall in love with another man though, where that goes is anyone's guess but she never acts on it, same with Murray's character, really, who is clearly in a relationship he's grown out of. I never got the feeling that they were selfish people at all, simply at a crossroads in their respective relationships. But a lot of that comes from personal experiences with people who have been in those places so it may be too easy for me to connect the dots there. As for the stereotypes, I agree that there are a few here and there but quite a bit of it came across as a love letter to Japan to me, and what the characters perceived as negatives or somehow culturally quirky or weird was mostly down to their own ignorance or inexperience and as such, ultimately was more of a joke on them rather than Japan's culture itself. I'm sure there are far more intelligent people out there who have analyzed this movie and can elaborate on my perspective more eloquently but this was my main takeaway when I first watched the movie. I should watch it again because it's been like 10 goddamn years.
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Mar 4, 2020 19:09
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I just rewatched it and I'd forgotten the bit where Murray's character sleeps with the bar singer, so he is unfaithful but even so he seems to regret it, not least of all because it briefly drives a wedge in the relationship he has with Johanssen's character. And throughout the film it's pretty clear that he is very much alienated from his family, and even expresses as much in one scene, saying that his wife and kids don't need him. The Japanese stereotyping is a bit heavier than I'd remembered but despite the lame joke or two, overall I still think it paints Japan very well and fairly accurately, just through the eyes of two westerners who haven't been exposed to the culture before. I can see someone not liking the movie and that's certainly fair, but to me it does what it says on the tin; two people who are completely lost in their own lives, emotionally, geographically and at the moment, culturally, connect with each other in a significant way.
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Mar 5, 2020 01:07
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BiggestBatman posted:The bar in the hotel is open to the public, the trip up goes past some crazy glitzy poo poo and the view is awesome. I'd just stick to local beer instead of the twenty dollar lost in translation themed cocktail they have though What's the cocktail? In the movie all they drink are a vodka tonic and Suntory whisky. JnnyThndrs posted:Apropos of nothing, but the soundtrack is excellent and holds up pretty well. I like it too. I'm not even that big of a fan of Air or Jesus and Mary Chain but they fit the movie really well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0SVd_Q5wIg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=470HnRobKLc Stare-Out fucked around with this message at 21:08 on Mar 7, 2020 |
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Mar 7, 2020 20:58
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BiggestBatman posted:It's very cutely called the L.i.T., and it was very orange I'm almost tempted to try it if I'm ever there.
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Mar 7, 2020 23:06
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