Page 1 of 1

Brand new to LIT - My Experience

Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2010 3:40 pm
by wideawakedreaming
Hello everyone,

I have just joined the board, inspired to do so after watching Lost In Translation for the very first time last week. I am glad to see that such a board does exist and I've spent alot of time lurking and reading, but decided to join on. I wanted to make some posts about LIT and what it has done to me.

I am 28 years old, and only heard of the movie for the first time a few months ago - I put off watching it because I didn't think much of it. In fact, the only way I even found out about LIT was through My Bloody Valentine. I am a massive fan of "Loveless" and when I saw the Sometimes/LIT video on YouTube, I was pretty moved from watching that, and was inspired to sit down and finally watch it.

So I watched it last week via netflix. I was speechless. I proceeded to watch it again immediately with my girlfriend. I get the sense that she didn't understand the movie the same way that I did. She said it was ok, and just left it at that. Meanwhile, I was absolutely devastated by this movie. I was left with the most peculiar feelings - something a movie has never done to me before. I was happy, sad, confused, depressed, hopeful and wanting answers!

I really think this is the most beautiful film of all time. I will admit, im not a film aficionado - I really dont' watch alot of films/movies, but I've seen my fair share. I was incredibly blown away by so many different elements of this film - the photography, the sound, Japan, dialogue, everything! The relationship between B & C is really beautiful. You watch this movie and you really wish you were one of the characters. I would love to be Bob and just run into Charlotte and have this one off relationship. To me, their relationship during their stay in Japan is very similar to the 'honeymoon phase' many couples have. Bob even said this himself laying on the bed with Charlotte; he had alot of fun with (his wife) when they were young, when he was doing movies. But it wasn't like that anymore. Charlotte is very wise for her age and detected this impending feeling very early with her new husband.

"Why can't it just be this way all the time?" - that's what I picture B & C thinking to themselves. Why can't they just have these feelings of connectedness everyday? Isn't life too short to be living in stress, incompatibility, alienation from your significant other?...it just goes on and on. This is something I personally fear in my own relationship - a stagnant relationship where the spark and compatibility is gone - just gone through time, or personal changes - changes in goals, dreams, desires.

I could go on, but I don't even know how to express the thoughts and feelings this movie has made me feel. Because of this, I regard it as the best movie ever made. To me it is absolute perfection and has taken me to a whole other world - a new level of consciousness that no other film can do.

Thank you Sophia C.

Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 5:05 pm
by LostCalls
Hey there!

Glad to hear you decided to join the group; I had what sounds like a very similar experience a few years ago. I think there's a thread on the boards here about the "kick in the stomach" feeling that this film has delivered to many of us--that combination of love, longing, wanting to be there, wanting to know more, and yet being oddly satisfied with the ethereal nature of the piece (the whisper, the floating vistas over Shinjuku from the Park Hyatt windows, e.g.).

And I think I know what you mean about that "why can't things always be this way" feeling that I, too, imagine Bob and Charlotte may consider. At the same time, I remember Charlotte's line to Bob while they're both lying on the bed: "Let's never come here again because it wouldn't be as much fun." Somehow, that suggests that things inherently cannot always be "this way"; "this way" exists only as a diversion, as a respite from the rest of our lives. As frustrating as that may be--and it may be a contributing factor to the kick in the stomach--perhaps this feeling's transience is also what makes such moments (and, by extension, this film) so powerful.

Thoughts? What were your favorite moments of the film, Wideawakedreaming?

--LostCalls

Posted: Mon Dec 27, 2010 1:20 am
by Suntory
Wow wideawakedreaming just got run over by the LIT bus! :lol: Glad to have you join us here!!

Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2010 4:30 pm
by nathan
thanks for sharing! keep posting.

Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 1:58 pm
by wideawakedreaming
I really wish I was involved in this board back in 2003 when the movie was released. All I can do now is read through the board history!

Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 5:49 am
by samwright8380
Welcome! Glad to hear you've become a fan. Yes I guess it's kind of inevitable that so long after release things are a bit more quiet but there are still quite a few of us that continue to visit this great little corner of the internet.

Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2011 12:27 pm
by hannidan
Welcome, wideawakedreaming.

Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2011 11:49 pm
by Flyonthewall
Welcome wideawake. Glad you found us :D

Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 3:16 am
by Bob_san
wideawakedreaming wrote:I really wish I was involved in this board back in 2003 when the movie was released. All I can do now is read through the board history!
You can do more than that! Feel free to reply to any of the posts you read. Whoever has the email on reply option set will get it and may come back for some new discussion and it will put that topic back up at the top of the list for all to see!

Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 11:46 am
by Cryogenic
Since my Chapter By Chapter discussion project is dragging on and on and on, you're well in time to catch the majority of upcoming chapters -- as well as being able to comment on any that currently exist, of course. Just a quick plug. :lol:

Welcome to the board. And get a new girlfriend. OK, I'm joking about that one. Well, half-joking. :wink: Great post there. Sounds like you're going to fit in here just swell. 8) Don't worry about just joining. I mean, people come and go. That's life, right? Bob, meet Charlotte. Bob, meet someone half your age. You see? I remember when I first found this place -- so many fans, so many threads! You'll have a trip. :)