In response to Ryan's perfectly-within-his-right-to-adulation of Lost In Translation:
So I've been wanting to see Lost In Translation for quite a while. I'm a big Bill Murray fan, and everybody and their brother has been raving about it.
I rented the DVD this past weekend, sat down and watched it, and now I thought I'd pass along my thoughts.
The movie was dull. Brilliantly and gorgeously dull. I did not care about the characters, and found the only suspense in the movie to be "are they gonna sleep together, or what?"
He's old. She's young. You see her butt a lot. He wears a crazy shirt. They talk at the bar. They have drinks. Life is bad. Filming commercials is hard when the director only speaks Japanese. "Is that ALL he said?" They sing Karaoke. Her photographer husband is really busy (is HE having an affair?) and there's conflict. Bill Murray's wife is distant and picking out colors, and the kids "don't miss him." Then he sleeps with an older woman, and the younger one gets jealous. And it's Japan, and there's alot of shots of them looking at Japan. He leaves, then mysteriously sees her through a crowd on the way to the airport. They embrace. "It's gonna be OK." "Thanks, I needed that." "For what?" "I don't know, it's not in the script."
This movie falls into a long line of other "small" or "independent" or "important" films where the director does a wondrously stylish portrayal of ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.
Punch-Drunk Love is another such film.
Rushmore is almost another such film.
The Royal Tennenbaums most certainly is.
Maybe they are great films. Maybe everybody else on the planet thinks they are, too. And they can like them. There are some funny characters or scenes or lines, but I just don't CARE about any of it. I was disappointed because I thought this film was going to be more than it was.
What is the point of film anymore, anyway?
Let the culture beating commence.
Posted by colrus at February 11, 2004 01:44 PM | TrackBackHere's where I agree with Skinner: the value of this film, and I would argue the others you mention, is far more in the subtext than the text.
Posted by: ryan at February 11, 2004 02:32 PMi guess it boils down to do you watch movies becuase you want to think MORE or do you want to watch movies because you want to think LESS?
sometimes, i just like to watch a movie...
Posted by: bill colrus at February 11, 2004 02:43 PMMe too. When I'm in that mood, I don't watch Coppela or Anderson films. I watch Jerry Bruckheimer.
Posted by: ryan at February 11, 2004 03:21 PMI enjoyed the Royal Tennenbaums (it was at least mildly amusing), but after seeing just 5 minutes of watching Punch-Drunk Love, I had to turn it off. The movie just plain ol' sucked.
Posted by: ron at February 11, 2004 04:01 PMPersonally, Billy, I loved all three of those movies. (especially "Tennenbaums") Haven't seen "Lost...", but I think these films are character-development triumphs. That may seem boring on the surface, but it worked for me.
Posted by: stephan at February 11, 2004 04:10 PMI enjoyed the Royal Tennenbaums...actually, I "enjoyed" the movies, but I didn't really "care" about them...Is that possible?
Maybe it has to do with the fact that I'd heard people go crazy about all three--perhaps they were ruined for me...
I enjoyed watching them, but kep thinking--"Is this all there is?"
Sometimes reviews can get in the way of enjoyment.
Steph, ever heard Mike Keneally?
Posted by: bill colrus at February 11, 2004 04:17 PMI LOVE ALL THOSE FILMS, except for Rushmore. I tried, i really did. i even waited 3 years and attempted watching it yet again, thinking maybe i just couldn't appreciate it at 14. But no, it's just horribly, annoying, pretentiously BAD.
Lost in Translation as a whole is heartbreakingly beautiful, as is the bathroom scene in the Royal Tennenbaums(which i now own for the low low price of 5 dollars verses the 30 dollar late fee i would have had thanks to Blockbuster. ;) )
-emaleigh
weird. i LOVE rushmore and bottle rocket.
the criterion rushmore dvd is quite amazing...
Posted by: bill colrus at February 11, 2004 04:22 PMI was going to rent it this weekend. Should I not bother?
Wow, should I even chime in? Bill, you're an enigma sometimes.
I guess I loved Lost in Translation 'cause it connected with a surreal feeling I sometimes have. I guess if you don't, well, the whole movie will seem pointless. Which would make sense that you found it borring.
I can't even talk about Anderson. His films are too close to my gut. I'll just get pissed off, first because I think that they're close to objectively "good" (I say close 'cause I've got a funky attitude about objectivity), and second because each film money's certain emotions I connect with. Dignan wants a gang of friends. Max wants to be a hero and get the awesome girl. And family, well, Royal is sunovabitch but love and redemption is more important than those things.
Anyways...I'm out.
Posted by: JosiahQ at February 12, 2004 09:18 AMNope (re: Keneally), but I think I saw a post about him on this site a while back. I'll check him out, you seem to be amazed by the guy.
Posted by: Stephan at February 12, 2004 03:07 PMvery crazy stuff, but the guy is extremely talented.
Posted by: bill colrus at February 12, 2004 04:19 PMI'm in love with all of those movies. I think Josiah's response is quite close to my reaction. The other thing I appreciate about these films is their simplicity. Punch Drunk Love and Lost in Translation especially. Nothing more than they needed. No crazy plot gimmicks or gigantic explosions. Just stylish simplicity. I think films get so overloaded sometimes. I'm so refreshed when P.T. Anderson or Wes Anderson or Sophia Copola can come up with a movie that reminds me about the simple truths of human experience unmediated by all the crap that gets the hype.
Posted by: KornSt@r at February 12, 2004 09:03 PMIn a way, I think Lost in Translation was about nothing. What I got from it was a sense of pointlessness--a depressing nothingness.
Posted by: kathryn at February 13, 2004 03:23 AM