i remember liking lost in translation a lot when it first came out. i watched most of it again last night on ondemand and discovered that i didn’t really care for it at all, that all it is about really is the pan-desirability of scarlett johansson (i think i’ve now spelled her last name 12 different ways in the last year). it would be a much better film if the female lead were not someone who causes everyone’s chest to hurt when they look at her.
however, i am ready for a 10 disc boxed set of scarlett johannson from various camera angles and distances.
I must have seen LIT three times now, though not in the past six months. It holds up for me, mostly because of Murray’s character and the sheer beauty of some of the scenes: Tokyo at night, the hotel bar, at karaoke, Johansson sitting alone in her hotel room. The warmth and tenderness of Murray and Johansson’s relationship, and the way it manages to avoid ending up in bed, is almost pitch perfect. The alienation from their respective relationships perfectly echoes their alienation from their immediate environment as jetlag, culture and language cut them off from Tokyo and their hosts. Murray’s performance is so restrained and yet so powerful; I think it is the best thing he has done, and that includes Rushmore and Broken Flowers. Now that I’m reminded of LIT, it may be one of my favorite movies of the last decade. I first saw it on a rainy afternoon in Washington as part of a double bill with ‘American Splendor'(OK, not really a double bill; I sneaked in to see AS after watching LIT), and just marvelled that American cinema could produce such good films.
I agree completely. But I’ve also gone on record to suggest Coppola is one of the most interesting young American filmmakers working. She has a style, a sensibility and a vision of female subjectivity that is very unique. I certainly cannot think of any of her peers whose work (the attention to surface as well as depth; the use of color and texture and music; sound, silence and stillness; the ability to capture ambiguity and ambivalance in small, noticable yet subtle ways) can be compared to hers.