Translated Well

Rating: 9/10 (13 December 2004)

Lost in Translation is another favorite film of mine, which appealed to me and entertained me on many levels. First the film is an astute exposition on Japanese culture and how westerners might perceive or misunderstand it. Though much of the humor originated from this, Lost in Translation could almost be a documentary on modern Japanese city culture, I think. Also the film mirrored a very similar experience I had when I lived in Japan for a short time. I can totally identify with Scarlett Johanson's character, as I too wandered around in a jet lagged daze, marveling at the sometimes strange, sometimes more efficient, sometimes incomprehensible differences in the Japanese solutions, customs, and tastes. But my main reason for liking this film is that I think it truly showed an uncommonly realistic love story. It was a love story of a different sort with two married people that meet and connect intimately (seemingly more intimately than their respective spouses) without overt sexuality, despite a gulf of age, and, I think, maturely and honorably. To me the ending was apt and perfect.