lost in Translation

Lost in translation,lost in cultural difference,lost in loneliness.

With no special visual effect, no striking sight, no high cost, Lost in Translation is definitely not a so called blockbuster. Still, it undoubtedly grabbed the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay in 2003. It was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor for Bill Murray, and Best Director for Sofia Coppola. Coppola won the Best Original Screenplay and Scarlett Johansson won a BAFTA award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. The film was also a commercial success relative to its production cost, grossing $120m from a budget of only $4m. So where do its selling points lie?

The film centers around two Americans in Japan: Bob Harris (Bill Murray), an aging American movie star,and Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson), a young, recent Yale graduate. Bob arrives in Tokyo to shoot an advertisement for Suntory whisky, for which he will receive $2 million. Charlotte, was there to support her new husband who is a celebrity photographer on assignment in Tokyo. Charlotte, who is usually left alone in an unknown land, is unsure of her present, her future and the man she has married who seems to takes more interest in his celebrity models than his new wife. Meanwhile,Bob's 25-year marriage is tiresome and lacking in romance as he goes through a midlife crisis.

Both characters spend a lot of time in the hotel's bar, where the two finally strike up a conversation. They quickly become friends and begin to get to know each other through various excursions outside of the hotel. They find themselves 'lost' in a culture that is foreign to them, and their displaced location during their blossoming friendship enhances their connection with one another.The movie ends with their departure. Bob embraces Charlotte on a crowded street and whispers something (substantially inaudible to the audience) in the tearful Charlotte's ear. The two share a kiss, say goodbye and they depart.

Suffering from insomnia, they get up and meet in the bar

I sum two key themes from this film: loneliness and cultural difference. I have to admit that one?s interpretation of a film is not standstill; it changes according to one's life experiences. When I first watched this film eight years ago, I was totally confused and bored by its implicit, lifeless, limp scenes. However, now that I am studying in a place which is thousands of miles away from home, surrounded by a dialect I hardly comprehend, I found myself watching again with feelings of empathy towards the characters, and  I finally realized what it reveals.

Charlotte is looking for "her place in life". Far past his prime, Bob is tolerating a mediocre stateside marriage and loses his zest and purpose for life. Similarly once I was drowned in a sea of terrible loneliness, in which the shivering consciousness looked over the rim of the very verge of despair. The dominant cause attributing to this feeling was actually confusion. I got perplexed and dazed about the road ahead. I felt lost on the vast and hazy highway of life. I tried to find my place in this world as a human being and not merely as a student. I walked out of the siege after several spiritual explorations and struggles. Everyone will be caught in life at some time with their soul lost and adrift, but it's not permanent. We have to seek the way out by ourselves, correct our spiritual vision.

There's no doubt of the existence of cultural difference, which sometimes are larger than you imagine. The very first "difference" one meets is language. This film displays this difficulty by shooting an example in a detailed and focused scene. By depicting the disappointment of the actor when he talks to the Japanese director, the film unfolds the unavoidable gap caused by translation between different languages. Unfamiliarity with the concepts of another culture makes one even more dejected. But I am not implying that we should avoid stepping into an alien culture. Instead we should accept the diversity of cultures and seize the opportunity to taste new things. Learn to accept and comprehend, then you might feel better if you have to live in another country.

Language gap makes him lonely and isolated

Losing your way is an inevitable stage of one's life, however drowning in this kind of situation for too long could stifle you. Find ways to get out of these dilemmas or self-made traps. We might lose ourselves for a while, but not for ever.

This stands original