9/22/2003 » Film

I just saw 'Lost In Translation,' here are some unfiltered thoughts, no spoilers. 3 1/2 stars out of 5, because I loved the mood, but I like some intellectual content going on as well ('The Tailor of Panama').

This movie didn't hit 'Amelie' level with me, but a definite 'wow', a must-see, the best flick I've seen in a long while. The film had the deep craftsmanship of something you make for yourself, beautiful credits font at the end like the Coppola wine label. It's much more assured than Sofia Coppola's age would indicate because of her dad's influence.

It's a deeply romantic movie, all about mood, not sex; nothing much happens, but lushly done, like the long shot of her sitting on a high rise window ledge like a trapped kitten. Very chick, subtle. Lots of sexual tension, delicious, I’ve lived and lived for this, that instant connection at a hotel or an unfamiliar place while traveling. Sexual politics, they had a mental romance going. Old souls connecting, age irrelevant, not into sex for sex’s sake. He didn’t want to sully it. Why do people marry people they’re not compatible with? And then stay when they're not happy?

Scarlett Johansson is a modern-day Molly Ringwald. Very cute, not hot, the camera seeks out her face. She can look plain and luscious at different times. Lots of ‘80s-inspired songs on the soundtrack, felt like ‘Say Anything.’ Some hilariously absurd scenes, the comfort woman, the TV show host, the video games, the entire theater was laughing.

This is a colonialist romance, like ‘A Jewel in the Crown,’ Brits falling in love in a hostile country. Tokyo and the Japanese were just props, ignored for the most part. The film used Japan’s whiter-than-white culture and impenetrability for the sense of alienation from the rest of the world and comfort in each other. Japan and Britain are about the perils of obsessing about order, you lose innovation. I give her some credit for showing cool Japanese guys, wanna-be rockers, artistic types, ganja smokers, not salarymen. It could’ve used subtitles, but the effect would’ve been lost, you were experiencing the world through the eyes of the characters. Some ugly American feeling, making fun of the oddest things about the Japanese, I would’ve liked to have watched with a Japanese speaker to get his reaction.

There was a significant foot theme, he touched her toes, deliciously sexual, yet also permission-based like Laxman touching Sita’s feet. And her toe injury.

Go see it. Bring a date.