Lost in translation

Lost in Translation is a story about two Americans, a man and a woman who are staying in Tokyo, Japan. Everything from the language, to the environment is foreign and doesn’t fit them. Bob Harris is an aging actor who cant find work in movies anymore, so he is in Tokyo to shoot a commercial advertising Japanese whiskey. Harris has lost all the enjoyment in his life, he barely smiles and is distant from his family in America and he feels his kids miss him but don’t need him anymore. The relationship Harris has with this American woman staying at the hotel begins as just company, a friend who speaks the same language and is willing to listen. Although they are both married they soon start feeling attraction towards each other. When Harris puts the American girl to sleep, it makes him want to call his wife and connect with her and his family. Harris progresses from having no feeling or interest in his life, to having emotion and attraction. Harris also accustoms himself to his surroundings, as he begins to live his life again he starts to enjoy the japanese food, can stand watching the Japanese tv, starts going out and enjoying the nightlife. Once Harris starts enjoying himself through this girl, trivial matters that bothered him, like the color of his desk at home and the shower to short for him, don’t phase him anymore. The film is directed and written by a female, though I could not tell until the credits were shown. Unlike the past few films we watched, this movie is less about having relationships or sex, but about finding connections with another and finding happiness in life. I also liked the characters in this film, which had a small amount of dialogue, as the movie was very quiet and driven by visuals not audio. The characters seemed very deep although they didn’t have much to say, but their actions and their expressions told the story for the audience.