After yesterday, this is probably the nicest day we've had thus far this year. And I'm stuck in my office, printing and collating copies of everything I've ever handed out in class, as required for my third-year re-appointment review (the first step in the tenure process). This involves an alarming amount of paper-- one more black mark on the tenure system, no doubt. I can see the bumper stickers now: Tenure Kills Trees!
Anyway, I need to take a break from that for a little bit, and this would seem an opportune time to indulge in some movie commentary before the Oscars tonight.
Kate and I rented the DVD of Lost in Translation last night. This is a movie I've wanted to see (though, obviously, not badly enough to pay to see it on the big screen) since I heard an outline of the plot. Having spent some time in Japan, and enjoyed it tremendously, the idea of a movie about Americans wandering around Tokyo in a daze was pretty appealing.
It's an extremely odd little movie, all in all, and it's a little tough to understand the hype. There's not a whole lot of there there, really. There are some great scenes, and Scarlett Johansson is cute, but Bill Murray is basically playing a less zany version of the same character he played in Rushmore, and nothing much happens. The Oscar buzz is really sort of puzzling.
As I said, though, there are some great bits. If you've ever said "I wish there were a really great cinematic depiction of jet lag," well, look no further. This movie does a great job of conveying the heavy, unable-to-sleep daze that settles in why you fly halfway around the world. I knew exactly what the characters were feeling.
When you're dealing with Japan, of course, the jet lag problem is exacerbated by, well, being in Japan, and the movie does a wonderful job of capturing the fundamental unreality of Tokyo. The high-speed collision of Western and Eastern cultures in that city is enough to leave you a bit dazed even when you're well rested and used to the time zone. It's a weird clash of Zen simplicity and cyberpunk gadgetry: Neon signs next to Shinto shrines; people in kimono wearing cell phones at a tea ceremony; Japanese teenagers dressed as cowboys playing guitar next to the Meiji Shrine. It's a strange, strange place, and that's even before you start talking about karaoke and Japanese television (both of which are handled well in the film, though I wish they'd shown more of the wonderfully odd videos they tend to attach to Western pop tracks in karaoke bars).
They also show a bit of the forced camaraderie of foreigners in Japan. Not too much, as having too broad a group would run counter to the point of the story, but they hint at the way English speakers get pushed together across all sorts of boundaries. I didn't end up with any relationships as significant as what happens in the movie, but then I didn't hang around in a lot of high-end hotels. On the other hand, I did spend a terrifically entertaining evening drinking in Shinjuku with an Irish cook, a couple of crazy Australians, and the chef from the Belgian embassy. Not the sort of crowd I usually run with, but not unusual for Tokyo.
There's a lot that the movie gets right, but on the other hand, they blow it big time in two areas. First, Scarlett Johansson is shown visiting a bunch of different tourist sites-- shrines and temples and gardens-- and she's always completely and absolutely alone. I won't say that that never happens in Japan-- I did manage to be all by myself in a bunch of interesting places-- but it's unusual. The Japanese are firmly of the opinion that anything worth doing is worth doing in a group of ten thousand, and interesting tourist sites are usually jammed with people. The artificial emptiness is done to emphasize her sense of complete alienation, of course, and to show how important her connection with Bill Murray is, but it doesn't really ring true to the city.
The other major problem has a similar origin, but is even worse: Much is made of the language issue, with a number of situations relying on the lack of mutual comprehension for humor value. This is really badly exaggerated, not because Japanese is easy to pick up-- it's not, and written Japanese is hopeless for an outsider-- but because those few Tokyo residents who don't speak at least a little English would never be so rude as to leave a foreigner as baffled and stranded as the characters in this movie are.
When I was there, I never knew more than phrasebook-level Japanese ("Sumimasen, Eigo ga hanashimsu ka?"), but I had no trouble getting around. There were occasional moments of confusion, but they were navigated by means of sign language, broken English, and an incredible amount of good will on the part of the Japanese people I encountered.
One of my favorite stories from my time there has to do with my Christmas shopping. I wanted to get a Captain Santa shirt for my sister, so I went to one of the big department stores in Shinjuku to look for one. The store I went to first turned out not to carry the brand, but I didn't know that when I went in, so after a few minutes of wandering the store fruitlessly, I stopped and asked a salesgirl.
The first woman I talked to turned out not to speak English, but she went over to another department, and found someone who did. She was able to tell me that they didn't carry Captain Santa products in that store, but then went to find the manager. The manager got out a phone book, made a few calls, located a store in the area that did carry the brand, and drew me a very detailed map to guide me to the right place.
Given that experience, I have a hard time believing the hospital scene in Lost in Translation. It's not just that it would be unlikely for a doctor or hospital receptionist to not speak any English at all, but that it would be unimaginably rude for them to just jabber away at an uncomprehending American without a hint of embarrassment.
Again, I understand why it was done the way it was, but it did a number on my suspension of disbelief. That, combined with the slightness of the plot, means that I'll just have to root for The Return of the King to win Best Picture. But you knew that already...
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