LIT Fan Reviews for the site

[Luigi]

I wrote this review last year and published it in my blog. Unfortunately, it's in Portuguese. Anyway, if you can read it I think you're going to enjoy my thoughts about this fantastic movie.

****

Encontros e Desencontros: uma janela para a vida

Em Lost In Translation, alguns elementos aparentemente poéticos revelam-se profundamente simbólicos. Ao assistirmos o filme despretensiosamente, não notamos esses aspectos. Mas uma observação atenta logo revela a perspicácia -- estética e cultural -- do olhar de Sofia Coppola.

***

Mais que perdidos na tradução, como o título em inglês sugere, os protagonistas estão perdidos em meio aos exageros da comunicação de massa, ou melhor dizendo, do entretenimento massificado. Por todos os lados, vemos luminosos, pôsteres, anúncios, luzes, música, cores artificiais, enlatados na TV, videogames, vítimas da moda. É a sociedade do espetáculo, usando o conceito criado por Guy Debord, em toda a sua glória. Na Tóquio do filme, observamos nitidamente o que os atuais teóricos da comunicação chamam de “síndrome do excesso de informação”. O fato dessa informação estar em japonês, língua completamente alienígena para nós, ocidentais, apenas ressalta o estranhamento, a sensação de solidão. A overdose informativa, ao invés de aproximar as pessoas, as afasta -- ficamos como pequenos náufragos sendo levados pelas ondas do mar midiático. O máximo que podemos fazer, como Bob Harris e Charlotte no filme, é observar com um certo distanciamento, tentando decifrar o que move todo aquele universo. Observar tudo por meio de janelas, janelas de automóveis em movimento ou da altura reconfortante do Hotel Hyatt.

***

De fato, janelas estão sempre presentes no filme. Charlotte vê Tóquio de cima, do quarto do hotel, durante o dia e também à noite, com sua miríade de pontos luminosos. Ela também vê Tóquio lá embaixo, circulando em táxis amarelos, iguais aos de Nova Iorque. E rua após rua, esquina após esquina, um mar de signos, significados e significantes. Um contraste brutal com a falta de comunicação íntima entre os casais do enredo, ou melhor, entre todos os habitantes das grandes metrópoles. Não é preciso estar em Tóquio para sentir esse vazio. Não é preciso fazer parte de um filme, pois todos nós somos Bobs Harris e Charlottes, personagens da vida real querendo ser encontrados, notados. A busca frenética pelos quinze minutos de fama jogou para baixo do tapete a busca por um relacionamento rico, simples e pleno de sentimentos.

***

Uma vez que as janelas da vida estão cada vez mais embaçadas pela tempestade da comunicação massificada, as pessoas começam a buscar uma saída em outras janelas. Ponto para Bill Gates, que soube batizar seu produto de maior sucesso. Ora, vejam só. É com ajuda do Windows, ironia suprema, que a maioria dos internautas busca companhia nas inúmeras salas de chat, nos blogs (como este), nos flogs e nos instant messengers. Lá fora, atrás do vidro, só vemos néons em japonês, por mais que nos esforcemos a entender -- então, quem sabe, talvez as respostas estejam atrás de um computador, com seus chips made in Taiwan. Quem sabe. Sofia Coppola não chegou a esse ponto, mas passou perto.

***

Falando em relacionamentos ricos, simples e plenos de sentimento, há tempos não via uma química tão forte entre personagens de um filme. Bill Murray e Scarlett Johansson transmitem um força intensa em cada ato, em cada “olá” simpático trocado nos corredores do suntuoso hotel. A ligação que surge entre os dois é tão pura que não merece ser conspurcada pelo sexo. É algo muito além da simples troca de fluidos corporais, coisa, aliás, que o personagem de Bill Murray faz com a cantora do bar, sem nenhum glamour, apenas um grande ressentimento na manhã seguinte.

***

O final de Lost In Translation é o pico emocional da história. Não é um final particularmente feliz, mas carregado de força dramática. Apesar de não ouvirmos o que Bob diz a Charlotte em meio à agitação da rua apinhada, conhecemos em nosso íntimo cada palavra. Em meu cérebro, toda vez que vejo esse cena, escuto algo como “Tóquio sempre será nossa. Lembre-se disso.” Assim como eu, cada espectador tem a sua versão, o seu desfecho oculto --, formulado enquanto começa a tocar os primeiros acordes de Just Like Honey, do Jesus & Mary Chain. É quase impossível não deixar rolar uma lágrima.

***

E você? Está acordado ou continua mergulhado em sonhos de néon? Quem é você, afinal? Está conformado ou quer More Than This?

[Gats]

http://www.screenit.com/movies/2003/los ... ation.html

Sex/Nudity
Extreme

I like this part

I'm still wondering which scene contains this EXTREME NUDITY ???

Aww, yes, I know, those ladies jumping/dancing in swimming-pool,
that was too much hehe.

Anyway, fantastic movie.

Best regards for LIT fans from Poland.

[Beery]

Yeah, that's an interesting site. Who would have guessed that some folks see LiT as a somewhat violent porn movie. We'd all better lock up our sons and daughters when filth like this is on our TV screens, LOL.

[LostCalls]

I love how the following represents "Disrespectful/Bad Attitude"

Bob and Charlotte lie side-by-side on a bed (clothed) as they chat and he briefly puts his hand on her foot. Although both are unhappy with their marriages, Bob and Charlotte teeter on cheating with each other (they do briefly kiss on the lips as they say good-bye, but nothing else happens).

Man...I can't even comment on how bad that attitude is!

[Beery]

LOL I missed that one. I guess touching someone's foot has a whole lot of implications I never even guessed at. Hey, I mean technically they DID 'sleep' together and if bob's hand represents his penis and Charlotte's foot represents her vagina, they could be said to have boinked like bunnies.

Seriously though, for someone to misunderstand the film so badly that they think Bob and Charlotte were "teetering on cheating with each other" then I reckon they have a lot more sex on the brain than they'll find in the average Hollywood movie.

I love the following quote:

"Following that night of partying, Bob carries Charlotte back to her room and she never wakes up (she may or may not be passed out and nothing happens between them)."

Because (according to whoever wrote this silly review on Screen It) when a woman has fallen asleep (or passed out due to alcohol poisoning) it's only natural for the man to want to rape her. Such an act is regarded as 'something happening 'BETWEEN' them - as if the woman is taking an active role. Not only does this show that the reviewer regards men as little more than brutes, but it also says something about his/her views on a woman's individual responsibility, which the reviewer seems to think exists even when the woman is asleep. The phrase "She was asking for it - they're all asking for it" (from an old comedy sketch about a psychopath) comes to mind. I mean how misogynistic can this reviewer get?

I notice also that the main problem the reviewer has with the film has to do with drinking alcohol in a bar - the review devotes more space to what happens in the hotel bar than it devotes to any other single subject (more even than sex/nudity). Apparently drinking in a bar, this perfectly legal and socially accepted activity, is beyond the pale for this reviewer. I mean heaven forbid that a child should walk past a pub and ask his parents what people are doing in there. Presumably this reviewer regards the idea of bars as being similar to brothels in terms of their potential negative effect on young minds.

All-in-all, I think this reviewer is potentially a LOT more dangerous for kids to be around than anything they might see in LiT (or any Hollywood movie for that matter). I worry that this person has kids and I worry what harm his/her 13th century attitude is doing to their minds.

[Cryogenic]

I know this is a really, really old topic, but I couldn't resist.

I love the following quote:

"Following that night of partying, Bob carries Charlotte back to her room and she never wakes up (she may or may not be passed out and nothing happens between them)."

Because (according to whoever wrote this silly review on Screen It) when a woman has fallen asleep (or passed out due to alcohol poisoning) it's only natural for the man to want to rape her. Such an act is regarded as 'something happening 'BETWEEN' them - as if the woman is taking an active role. Not only does this show that the reviewer regards men as little more than brutes, but it also says something about his/her views on a woman's individual responsibility, which the reviewer seems to think exists even when the woman is asleep. The phrase "She was asking for it - they're all asking for it" (from an old comedy sketch about a psychopath) comes to mind. I mean how misogynistic can this reviewer get?

I notice also that the main problem the reviewer has with the film has to do with drinking alcohol in a bar - the review devotes more space to what happens in the hotel bar than it devotes to any other single subject (more even than sex/nudity). Apparently drinking in a bar, this perfectly legal and socially accepted activity, is beyond the pale for this reviewer. I mean heaven forbid that a child should walk past a pub and ask his parents what people are doing in there. Presumably this reviewer regards the idea of bars as being similar to brothels in terms of their potential negative effect on young minds.

All-in-all, I think this reviewer is potentially a LOT more dangerous for kids to be around than anything they might see in LiT (or any Hollywood movie for that matter). I worry that this person has kids and I worry what harm his/her 13th century attitude is doing to their minds.

Their insularity/ignorance runs even deeper than that:

GUNS/WEAPONS
Bob watches a Japanese movie that shows a man with a sword already in his gut (we don't know from what and there's no blood or gore) as he falls over.

After a drunken patron gets rowdy, a bartender pulls out what appears to be a machine gun and fires at him and others (we see flashes of light from its barrel, but it must be a fake or toy as no bullets come out).

Even though this person has a section dedicated to GUNS/WEAPONS, they fail to realise:

1) In the former example, a character is performing seppuku: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seppuku

2) In the latter example, a character is using a BB gun: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BB_gun

Not knowing what you're talking about. That is the price of leading a sheltered life according to a warped moral code.

One thing the "guide" does bring to mind is how much drinking, or references to drinking, there are in LIT. A lot! Man, we should devise some drinking games.

On a more serious note, I am dismayed at their lack of thoroughness, which clearly brings the whole thing into disrepute. For example:

VIOLENCE
Bob accidentally breaks a lamp while trying to get away from an apparently crazed masseuse.

Bob watches a Japanese movie that shows a man with a sword already in his gut (we don't know from what and there's no blood or gore) as he falls over.

After a drunken patron gets rowdy, a bartender pulls out what appears to be a machine gun and fires at him and others (we see flashes of light from its barrel, but it must be a fake or toy as no bullets come out). He then chases after that man who then throws a bottle back in the bartender's direction on the street where it breaks upon impact.

As well as repeating their noted errors, this person fails to mention the two Americans who recognise Bob at the bar and start talking about a dangerous car stunt he performed, or another car stunt later shown on TV in Bob's room, or the ickiness of Charlotte stubbing her toe against a piece of furniture (ouch!), or the deadly golf swing Bob makes in the direction of Mount Fuji or, worst of all, the extreme violence of Best Hit TV's Matthew Minami's jacket. I am appalled.

Finally:

Disrespectful/
Bad Attitude

Heavy

ROFLCOPTER!

[Beery]

I started reading the bit where you quoted me (I didn't notice that it was me), and I was amazed how much I agreed with that guy. Then I realized the guy was me, LOL.

So long since I've been back here - I love getting the occasional notification from this site.

Must watch LiT again soon.