Lost in Translation (2003)

For me, this film was very enjoyable. One thing that I particularly enjoyed was how realistic it was, it almost felt as though you were there in Tokyo while you were watching it. The lack strong of soundtrack, cutting between shots and the use of the hand-held camera really helped to capture the realism within the film. The narrative was also quite realistic as well since it was a simple love story about two people that feel out of place while in visiting Tokyo who eventually end up encountering each other. There was nothing out of the ordinary that happened throughout the film, there weren't any special effects or dramatic action scenes. The narrative was also realistic because I feel as though there are a lot of people who can relate to finding it very difficult to adjust to a completely different country or environment such as Tokyo. Having certain things that the viewer can relate to within a film is essential as it helps to make the film much more captivating to watch. The characters in the film all seemed like real people as well, because of this you could sympathise more with them. It was also made clear that the two main characters were bound to meet each other. For example, they ended up seeing each other a couple times before they got to meet properly. The fact that these two characters were completely spaced out from everyone around them also indicated that the two were bound to meet so they will no longer feel out of place. There was also one scene in the film which showed Bill Murray's character flicking through channels on the television that then eventually cut to Scarlett Johansen's character flicking through TV channels. I though this was quite a clever way to show that these two characters had a connection and something in common. Another scene in the film which stood out for me was the scene where Bill Murray's character was in the elevator along with a bunch of Japanese residents who were all much smaller in comparison to him. The reason why I liked this scene was because it helped to indicate that he does not fit in very well in Japan and is an outcast, it was also rather comedic as well. There were quite a couple comedic elements throughout the film which showed how this character found it difficult to adapt in Tokyo. For example there was a scene where he was struggling to use the treadmill and was struggling to fit under the shower. These certain parts of the film were humorous because as I mentioned earlier, a lot of people can relate to finding things confusing or difficult when visiting somewhere which is completely different compared to where you're from. Overall, I gave this film a ration of 5/5 as it it different to a lot of other films before, it had a simple yet entertaining narrative and the realism of the film made it very captivating to watch. I would definitely recommend this film to anyone who has not seen it yet since I really enjoyed it!