thevoid99's Classic Films # 2 Pt. 5: Lost in Translation
Jul 30 '04
The Bottom Line A Look Into The Film's Historical Impact & Significance Towards Cinema & Moviegoers.
Everybody Wants to Be Found Part 5: Arigato & Sayonara to Tokyo
Since its official release in September in the U.S. along with acclaim in several film festivals including Toronto, London, and Venice, which Sofia Coppola won, the Volpi Cup and Scarlett Johansson won the Upstream Best Actress prize. The film has grossed over $100 million worldwide with nearly $40 million in the U.S., alone which isn’t bad for a movie that only cost $4 million to make with small promotion. Though it’s not new that a personal independent film can gross that much money with that kind of success. For “Lost in Translation”, it’s very surprising not just because it was a very personal film for Sofia Coppola but it struck a chord with its audiences.
Several months since its release that was followed by a major DVD release in late February of 2003, “Lost in Translation” is on its way to becoming a classic film now that its currently ranked at #139 in the Internet Movie Database Poll for the Best Films of All-Time with Sofia’s father Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather” at #1. For the company Focus Features, the independent film company has found its most successful film to date now that it’s becoming one of the best independent film studios in the industry with more recent hits as “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”, “Swimming Pool”, and “The Pianist”.
With all the hoopla concerning how great the film was, equally as great though it deserved more attention is the film’s soundtrack. Released on the Emperor Norton label, the soundtrack to “Lost in Translation” in ranks with many classic film soundtracks of the past does stand on its own legs. Notably with a lot of thanks the film’s music producer and supervisor Brian Reitzell along with William Storkson, Roger Joseph Manning, Jr., and Richard Beggs. With many of today’s soundtracks just choosing the hottest acts of the moments with songs that really have nothing to do with the film, the soundtrack to “Lost in Translation” is a return to how music is supposed to be used in a film.
Sofia Coppola and Reitzell aimed for a dreamy accompaniment to the film. Sebastian Tellier’s “Fantino” was used to convey the beauty and loneliness of Charlotte with its eerie synthesizers riffs while Air’s “Alone In Kyoto” was a lovely accompaniment for Charlotte’s exploration of Kyoto with its ambient tone and acoustic string textures that brought a new level to the French electronic duo’s sound. Aside from the karaoke cuts and the climatic uses of My Bloody Valentine’s “Sometimes” and the Jesus & Mary Chain’s “Just Like Honey”, there were two pop-laden tracks on the record and film but in different spectrums. Phoenix’s “Too Young” was used in a fascinating way for the party scene in Charlie’s house with Bob and Charlotte while “Kaze Wo Atsumete” by the Japanese group Happy End was a lovely ode to 70s AM pop sung in Japanese in a lovely reference to “The Virgin Suicides” 70s flavor. With the dense, score of Roger Joseph Manning, Jr. and Brian Reitzell for two key tracks in the subway and Shibuya walkway also comes Squarepusher’s eerie “Tommib” and Death in Vegas’ “Girls” that really opened the introduction of Bob Harris.
There were also some notable songs that weren’t in the soundtrack but should be mentioned in the film. With a track from the Chemical Brothers in the party scene where Bob and Charlotte meet Charlie and a Rick James song in a scene where Bob is swimming in a pool watching water aerobics. There’s also a hilarious track in the film from Peaches with the song “F*ck The Pain Away” in the strip club scene. Finally, the film’s best musical contribution goes to Kevin Shields. Aside from his contribution of MBV’s “Sometimes” comes four amazing tracks in the soundtrack. One of the cuts, “Goodbye” didn’t appear in the soundtrack though it did encompass what the film’s tone had with its ambient guitar shimmer and wailing synthesizer that showed Shields’ experimental approach to electronic music. Used aside from the bouncy “Are You Awake?” is the melodic “Ikebana” which showed Shields’ brilliance in guitar by displaying a minimalist-chord melody played repeatedly in its simplest form with a synthesizer wash background of ambient music. Finally, there was “City Girl” in which I think is one of the most unheard pop songs of 2003. I don’t need to explain about this song, I wrote an essay on it with a link of it below.
Overall, the film soundtrack wasn’t just a great accompaniment to the film but a soundtrack to my own life. It was the only thing that I related to in my own descent to isolation and madness that somewhat peaked during that ill-fated cruise trip this past Thanksgiving. I listened to that record in my CD Walkman at its loudest to the crushing winds above the ship outside as it sailed through the night. I was hoping that my ears would bleed and someone would pay attention to me knowing that I wasn’t alone and that I was alive at that time. I think in many cases, it’s an album that is filled with all sorts of emotions that I wanted to feel and more in hoping that this is a blueprint into making my own musical accompaniment to my own scripted works.
A lot of thanks should go to Brian Reitzell and the artists involved but for me, the person I want to thank for the music for the most aside from Sofia is Kevin Shields. Though he didn’t try and do anything new, to have him come back after 12 years without making a fool of himself was welcoming. I was hoping that “City Girl” would get an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song just to have Shields play the song in front of a world audience but that was a dream. I was glad though that the British Academy Awards did recognize him when they nominated his music from that film for Best Musical Contribution. He didn’t win but at least I hoped he got some attention and attention well to MBV.
The award nominations were just a starting point for me as I was glad “Lost in Translation” was getting recognized and it did win several awards that I’m glad it won. For Sofia Coppola, she became the first American woman to be nominated for Best Director for the Oscars with previous nominees like Jane Campion for “The Piano” and Lina Wertmuller back in 1977. Though she won the Best Screenplay Oscar, what Sofia did was open the door a bit for women filmmakers to get their art recognized and prove that woman can make great films. 2003 was the year of women filmmakers emerging with Nancy Meyers directing the hit comedy “Something’s Gotta Give” with Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton to more independent fares like Catherine Hardwicke’s “Thirteen”, Niki Caro’s “Whale Rider”, and Gurinder Chadha’s “Bend It Like Beckham”. With more amazing women directors like Rebecca Miller, Nicole Holofcener, Kasi Lemmons, Lisa Cholodenko, Lone Scherfig, and Kimberley Pierce already making landmark films in the past five years, it’s clear that Coppola’s nomination might get women a step closer into getting true respect as filmmakers.
While Coppola deserves all the credit for the brilliance of “Lost in Translation” for its highly personal screenplay and dreamy direction. Credit also must go to the film’s crew and producers. Everyone from Sarah Flack, Lance Acord, Nancy Steiner, Richard Beggs, Mitch Glazer, Ross Katz, and the whole gang deserve all the credit for their hard work. Also deserving some thanks is the film’s Japanese cast including those who played smaller but memorable roles including Fumihiro Hayashi as Charlie whom I hope gets some acting gigs after this. For Giovanni Ribisi, obviously he’ll be in another film with Sofia in the future as he is constantly making great films and bringing out stellar performances, even in a bad film. “Lost in Translation” is just another great film added to his resume while Anna Faris’ resume will be more interesting with the addition of this film where she received a recurring guest appearance on “Friends” and landed several film roles in the process. She certainly surprised me with her performance in that film and what “Lost in Translation” will do for her is give more opportunities for her career.
Now we come to the film’s two principal actors, Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson. The age difference between the 50-something Murray and 19-year old Johansson was pretty much thrown out of the window for something more soulful in their collaboration together. Yet both actors were awarded with several amounts of acclaim for their chemistry and how they handled each other’s acting styles.
For Bill Murray, “Lost in Translation” was not just a creative peak but a resurgence of sorts for the actor as he is now being offered lead roles in Wes Anderson’s upcoming 2004 film “The Life Acquatic” and an untitled project for independent director Jim Jarmusch after appearing his 2004 segment film “Coffee & Cigarettes”. Murray has now displayed his true ability as an actor for his improvisational approach towards comedy and a laid-back format towards drama. To me, it’s Murray’s best role to date and he deserved every honor he received for that film though he’s admitted to not make movies for awards or to be a bigger celebrity. Yet, the world was rooting for him to win the Oscar for Best Actor, which he ended up losing to Sean Penn for his performance in “Mystic River”. Though Penn deserved an Oscar, some felt he should’ve gotten it a long time ago when really, the strangest thing was it was a battle between the nitwits of Murray’s Carl Spackler character of “Caddyshack” against Penn’s Jeff Spicoli from “Fast Times at Ridgemont High”.
I was disappointed he didn’t win the Oscar but I hope he’ll get one for “The Life Acquatic” which is one the films I’m anticipating to see. The reason I want him to win the Oscar not just because he’s a great actor who finally come on his own. Really just to host “Saturday Night Live” and everyone will have to bow down to him including rival Chevy Chase so people could prove how far he’s come from an SNL cast member to great actor. Murray may be an unconventional personality who sheds the celebrity spotlight and its trappings but he deserves all the fame he’s gotten and hopefully, he’ll be regarded as a great personality in comedy. Sure, people will remember him for “Caddyshack”, “Ghostbusters”, “Groundhog Day”, “Rushmore”, and “Stripes” but I hope that “Lost in Translation” will prove to the world that’s he more than a funnyman, just a great actor who can do it all.
The second and final principal actor who also came out of her own is Scarlett Johansson. Prior to this film, I only had seen her in “Ghost World” and was impressed with how she handled herself among the likes of Steve Buscemi and Thora Birch. Then once I saw her in “Manny & Lo” when she was only 10, I was more impressed at how far she came along with films like “An American Rhapsody” and “The Man Who Wasn’t There”. After “Lost in Translation”, I knew there were great young actresses around and I had a few of my favorites in Maggie Gyllenhaal, Zooey Deschanel, and Jena Malone. In “Lost in Translation”, I found myself for the first time an actress in my age group that I can relate to but someone who can move me with doing so little. A few months after “Lost in Translation” was big and on my 23rd Birthday on December 5, 2003, I went to see a sneak preview of “Girl with a Pearl Earring”. Now I knew she did a great job in “Lost in Translation” but her restrained, minimalist in “Girl with a Pearl Earring” really struck me that this is an actress who is in own her own world.
I’ve stated for a while that Johansson is the best actress of her generation and judging by the landmark films she’s appeared in, she is an enigma among her peers while the likes of Jena Malone, Zooey Deschanel, Agnes Bruckner, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and international starlets like Anna Paquin, Ludivine Sagnier, and Eva Green aren’t far behind. In Johansson, she possesses a beauty that isn’t just external but internal in its soul and craftsmanship. She ended up becoming the first actress for me who made me see a film more than once in the theaters. I would see “Girl with a Pearl Earring” in January again and I so wanted to root for her to win awards and such.
Though I was disappointed she didn’t get an Oscar nomination, I was glad she got two Golden Globe nominations plus a Best Actress award for “Lost in Translation” at the British Academy Awards and another award that I find to be very prestigious, the L.A. Film Critics New Generation Award. An award that was given to the likes of great actors and filmmakers like Pedro Almodovar, Jane Campion, Wes Anderson, Paul Thomas Anderson, Martin Scorsese, Jodie Foster, Emily Watson, Alfonso Cuaron, and Sean Penn, who I’ve compared to Johansson to as far as range and brilliance at young age to since Penn was considered the actor of his generation.
While I was happy that people are paying attention to her, there’s a certain guilt that I’m living with. On the one hand, yes you’re happy that she people are knowing her name yet there’s a part of you that want her to have a bit obscurity. While I know her upcoming films like “A Love Song for Bobby Long” with John Travolta and “A Good Woman” with Helen Hunt won’t be in the levels of “Lost in Translation”, I just hope she gets some good notices for those performance. While I was happy she signed on for “Synergy” and a voice role for the “Spongebob Squarepants” film, I was ecstatic that she signed on for Brian De Palma’s “The Black Dahlia” although I have my concerns with the casting of Mark Wahlberg and Josh Hartnett in the leading roles since I’ve found them to be unproven dramatic actors. Then there’s one film that I don’t think I’ll see which is “Mission Impossible 3" starring Tom Cruise. Even more problematic is the “It” Girl title she’s getting that I know she hates but I was more disturbed with the tabloid rumors she’s gotten with flings with Benicio del Toro and Jared Leto.
For me as a fan, I’m both thrilled and scared for her. I don’t trust Hollywood very much knowing that once you’re the “It” girl, you’re pretty much the thing for 15 minutes and then, you’re gone. I know she’s recently said to those concerned about her career, “Worry about yours and I’ll worry about mine”. I do worry about her; hell I don’t even a film career yet. What I would like to do is write a screenplay just for her and be a frequent collaborator that she can trust. Sure, we’ll have some tension creatively but I just hope we have a good time doing it and I want to her to see with other actresses that I love in an ensemble film. I really just want the best for her and to win the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival, which I think is a much bigger award than the Oscar.
Every time I see those performances in “Lost in Translation” and “Girl with a Pearl Earring” along with “The Horse Whisperer” and other landmark films, there was that engagement she came across me that was beyond the screen in the same way Maggie Gyllenhaal possessed in “Secretary”. Just to do something so moving and just play with my own mind and emotions. I want Scarlett to keep doing that, it’s addicting but it’s the kind of acting that I love. Where you just don’t engage the audience but also cause them to break down at the same time. That’s all I want from Scarlett to do and I want to do the same to an audience when I write my own work.
Finally, we go back to the film’s visionary. While she did lose Spike Jonze to divorce, I think Sofia finally gained her own identity away from her famous father and the stigma she had to carry for her performance in “The Godfather Part 3". For me, she’s truly come out of her own as a director and screenwriter. The original screenplay Oscar I think is just the beginning of Sofia’s accomplishments. Though I’m not sure what her next film will be, it will be no in doubt highly anticipated and might even top “Lost in Translation”. We’ll definitely have to wait for a few years but let’s hope it’s worth it. Right now, Sofia Coppola is a filmmaker whose work I will be anxious to see in the years to come and I hope to just do soundtrack work for her. Yet with only two feature-length films, Sofia is becoming a master of subtlety and dreamy textures and she’s definitely raise the bar for filmmaking in the years to come.
In the end, I think “Lost in Translation” will be a film that will endure in the years to come not just for its story, dreamy visuals, and minimalist acting. Notably for the fact that it struck a chord with its audience, particularly in post-9/11 isolation and confusion about the world that we live in. Many have stated the film was just a bore and was just too simple. I think simple stories are all that we really need sometimes and what “Lost in Translation” is an unconventional yet simple love story about two people lost in Tokyo. That’s what the whole film is about and I don’t think it should change in any way or form. It was a very personal film that helped me understand my own loneliness and realized that I’m not alone in the world. So to Sofia, Ross, Bill, Scarlett, Anna, Giovanni, Fumihiro, Kevin, Brian, Roger, Lance, Nancy, Stephanie, Sarah, K.K., Mitch, Francis, Richard, Fred, Anne, and the rest of the crew, Arigato and Sayonara for making a new age classic known as “Lost in Translation”.
Very Special Thanks to: Focus Features, the Lefont Garden Hills, Phipps Plaza, the Gang @ Disc-Go Round, Lost-in-Translation.com, Areyouawake.org, the people at ScarlettJohansson.org and its forum, Allmovie.com, IMDB, Epinions.com, Emperor Norton, and everyone who loved this film more than I did.
© thevoid99/Ikebana/Okrad/Charlotte Holloway Publishings, 2004.
Related Reviews:
Secretary Essay:
Part 1:
http://www.epinions.com/content_3458572420
Part 2:
http://www.epinions.com/content_3458965636
LIT Essay:
Part 1:
http://www.epinions.com/content_4022968452
Part 2:
http://www.epinions.com/content_4023951492
Part 3:
http://www.epinions.com/content_4025852036
Part 4:
http://www.epinions.com/content_4028735620
The Virgin Suicides (2000):
http://www.epinions.com/content_113280716420
Lost in Translation (2003):
http://www.epinions.com/content_113414475396
Lost in Translation Soundtrack (2003):
http://www.epinions.com/content_113940795012
City Girl Essay:
http://www.epinions.com/content_3871711364
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