Gregory Todd Williams

Gary and I saw Lost in Translation last night. I was going to write a bit on how excellently it was filmed, but Chanpon puts it more eloquently than I could hope for in Nothing Lost in Translation:

Coppola displays an effortless mastery of visual language, constructing transparent layers to suggest her themes. One marvelously delicate scene shows the two characters in conversation, but we only see their reflections in a window, through which we can see the expanse of night-time Tokyo blooming with glittering lights. The scene immediately precedes and prepares the moment that the characters finally open to each other: “I’m stuck,” Charlotte admits, “Does it get any easier?”

The filming (especially the cut-scenes) was astounding.

Watching the movie, I felt as if I was stuck between the two audiences: understanding all of the Japanese, thereby appreciating the tension and underlying meanings put in play during the scenes of talking past one another; and understanding none of the Japanese, thereby being able to relate to the main characters’ inability to understand the world around them. Despite this, there were few scenes that weren’t wonderfully crafted.