15/11/2021
Disconnected and Doomed -the silent beauty of Lost in Translation
A pink wig leaning on a black coat in the country of cherry blossoms - that's what seduced me at first sight, The poster. The premise, the location. the idea of two strangers falling in love in a foreign country. But then I watched the film. I realised I needed it badly now, in my early 20s than ever. Bob is a washed off movie star who comes to japan for a whiskey commercial, a man not ready to embrace his impending obscurity and gone youth. Charlotte - a philosophy major who accompanies her husband to Japan, a lost, uncertain, old soul. It's definitely not a meet-cute. But a recognition, a connection that grows from subtle creeping fondness to tender intimacy as they lock eyes in the hotel's elevators, crowded halls, midnight bars and get lost in the noisy nightlife of Tokyo streets and cultural scenes. There is a deeply unflattering stereotypical depiction of Japanese culture and its people, caricature characters and the only moment of respite the audience finds, is in the sense of disconnection, that lurks from the calmness of a Zen temple to the dazzlingly rainbowy -neon streets of Shinjuku or the clamour of a Karaoke bar.
I heard this phrase somewhere, 'things people never say stay in their eyes' For me the entire beauty of this film lies in the scenes where they're looking nowhere, their eyes screaming their sense of alienation, when they're alone, subdued, sitting with nothing but their basket of modern loneliness, staring out of the window, or dispassionately looking at things that will never mean anything to them, knowing pretty well that their life won't just swell into a climatic happy ending. In this fast-moving world that desires excesses and fast-paced easy experiences, the intimate moments that they have with their own selves, their thrilling disconnect to everything around them, their constantly unsatisfied expression, where they feel like they will never be enough, struck a chord with my slowly diminishing teenage dreams, and half beaten adulthood Desires. Bob and Charlotte don't actually meet until we're introduced to their individual colour of loneliness. Bob's misadventures in translation with s*x workers and ad-directors result in his decision to get the hell out of a country he's still not used to, but this inability to understand someone is shown even when he talks to his wife, or while he comes across his past on a tv set. Charlotte is lost too, she can't feel anything at all, chaos or peace and every time the camera zooms on her sitting by the window and a glamorous view in a big hotel room, we cannot romanticize it but only relate to it on some level.
“𝑰 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒔𝒐 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒆, 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑰'𝒎 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆"
In romantic dramas, we see expectations being met. it begins with a lonely girl, in almost wretched circumstances- nothing a prince couldn't conquer. She never expects a prince to show up but they do show up, all charming, embracing stereotypes of what defines a man, romance and attractiveness, money-making story dipped and fried inside copied formulas. And they do it, they conquer each other's demons and stitch things up in the right places to get us, the audience into that happy place. One that makes us feel disconnected from our own selves for a while, as we try to live vicariously in between two worlds that eventually tires us. But this film took me to that place of courage, told me not to have any expectations. Told me to be satisfied with it, all of it- the heaviness of the human heart and the Mysterious burden it carries. It takes immense courage to make meaningful connections. Even more so when you know it won't come to a fruitful end, a pleasant unexpected thing happens to Bob and Charlotte and they find this connection in each other, while also acknowledging the other person's loneliness and that there's nothing they can do about it. They overcome the language barriers, turn exotic experiences, cultural shock and jetlag, together into genuine communications and mellow, compassionate love. They recognise each other and that's enough. Their relationship is spirituality consummated one night in a hotel room when they stay up all night, revealing their heart while basking into the absurdities of life.
𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦: "𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦"
Sometimes I think it's unfair, the fact that I am not the only one who's lonely, that everyone around me has that same card called loneliness lurking in the background of their long list of sublime stories that may or may not have occurred in life. It's an unpleasant thought but it keeps fiddling with my head nevertheless - nothing can ever make us complete, that all those myths about invisible strings and soulmates are just made up games meant for gullible teens and as we grow up something about life teaches us otherwise. This movie is meant for us all, the one who claims they can never find anything or anyone good enough. The ones who have found it but suddenly don't know what to do with it, the ones who are too late, or not ready, ones who are too romantic and keep waiting. Everyone gets some elements in the film that echoes their situation in life. You can cherry-pick the beautiful romance and dwell on it or you can pick the ending and try to explain it to yourself in a rational way. They have to meet. They will. You will end up coming back to one truth. That things end. But they're beautiful nevertheless. Does it get easier? Probably. Probably not but as Bob says -
"𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘶𝘱𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶."
The climax is a whisper not meant for the audience. Instead of connecting the dots and rewinding the ending to make sense of it, I choose to accept this absence. of dialogue. Whatever he whispered to her, really must have meant something because it was a look of content as they walked away from each other. As if the bond was sealed as a real experience not as an ill-fated encounter resulting in regret but a genuine thing that mattered in the world of trivialities and it would remain so forever, It's just not for us now. Maybe we should find something or someone that will give us the same moment of peace in the world of fury and rapid change. If not, we always have ourselves and it works, most of our time. “𝑬𝒏𝒋𝒐𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕.”
Written by: Nimisha Tiwari
(Junkyard 1.0- 3rd Rank)
Movie by Sophia Coppola
Painting by Holly Warburton
