Film Lost in Translation - Movie Review Example

Film Review Edward Said's notion of 'Orientalism' is most relevant in the context of the Oscar-winning film Lost in Translation (2003), written and directed by Sofia Coppola, and this concept is most useful in understanding the Japanese culture in the film. Hollywood's tradition of Orientalism is very much evident in the film and the film's depiction of Tokyo essentially results in a fantasy version estimated by Americans abroad. All through the film, one realizes the impact of the American version of the Japanese culture and it is difficult to understand the real culture in the nation. Whereas Lost in Translation made a huge success in the United States, it failed to do so in Japan, where the movie's racism discouraged critics. In fact, the movie clearly traffics in stereotypes, but it does depart from the Hollywood's tradition of Orientalism. However, in the narration film, there is not much complexity as in the European predecessors. "The Orient was almost a European invention, and had been since antiquity a place of romance, exotic beings, haunting memories, and landscapes, remarkable experiences. Now it was disappearing; in a sense it had happened, its time was over Americans will not feel quite the same about the Orient, which for them is much more likely to be associated very differently with the Far East (China and Japan, mainly)." (Said 1978, P. 1). Therefore, Said's notion of 'Orientalism' is most influential in determining the way the Japanese culture is depicted in the film Lost in Translation. According to several critics, Sofia Coppola's Oscar-winning film Lost in Translation seems to depict the Japanese culture in an American way and there is essential distortion to several aspects of the modern Japanese culture all through the film. While the vast majority of critics give their thumbs up for this national hit, few critics of essential consideration voice interesting opinions to the contrary and criticize the film's version of the Japanese culture. Whereas there is no question about the quality of the production, all the controversy concerning the film results from the way the Japanese culture is presented in the film. It is truly a very significant modern illustration of the concept of 'Orientalism' which Said held decades before. Thus, the two lead characters of the movie are criticized as exemplifying the Americans abroad with a sense of superiority and shameless ignorance. There are some important critics of the movie who strongly argue that the movie is racist in some ways and many scenes in the film support such an argument. "Many of the jokes rely heavily on the stereotypes of Japanese, and seem to parade modern Japanese culture as something ridiculous Many scenes in the film do support this argument [i.e. the movie as racist]. For instance, Bob and Charlotte make fun of the inability of the Japanese people to distinguish R's and L's. If you consider the situation in reverse, you could perhaps see how offensive this might be to some Another scene at a Japanese restaurant, Bob takes advantage of the fact that the Japanese chef cannot understand English. He not only tells Charlotte to take one of her shoes off, but also yells condescendingly at the chef" (Suematsu). Therefore, one identifies, all through the film, several instances of the American way of viewing the Eastern culture, specifically the Japanese culture. Said's notion of 'Orientalism' helps one in understanding the American view of the Japanese culture and supports the important argument that the movie is racist in some ways. The ideas, cultures, and histories of the East are understood or studied in the West through configurations of power and there was an essential Western endeavor through which the Orient was created - or it caused, in the words of Said, the "Orientalized" concepts of the East. "The relationship between Occident and Orient is a relationship of power, of domination, of varying degrees of a complex hegemony" (Said 1978, P. 5). Lost in Translation can be significantly comprehended as making a major statement about the cultural identity and norms, namely the concept of 'Otherness' which is an important idea in Said's notion of 'Orientalism'. Thus, Harris, and to an extent Charlotte, cannot overcome the language barrier and both of them are 'lost' amongst the linguistic misunderstandings and misappropriation of the linguistic difference which fail them from appreciating just how accommodating and cooperative the Japanese character's are. There is an essential linguistic imperialism evident when the Japanese characters communicate with Harris in English and a major example of this linguistic imperialism is the 'rip my stocking' scene in Harris's hotel room. Bob's inability to comprehend what the Prime Fantasy Woman is the major contributor to the misunderstanding in the scene. "In this sense then, Lost in Translation is making a statement about cultural identity and norms, namely that 'Otherness' does not only have to apply to the culturally marginalized (as is often argued about 'Orientalism' and the idea of 'other') but rather that it is an ambiguous term and by its very definition can be applied to any traveller anywhere. The 'Other' can '...include a battery of desires, repressions, investments and projections' and Coppola has expressed this with all the characters within the film." (Allsop 2004). The much celebrated introduction to Orientalism by Said has a major utility in the interpretation of the Japanese culture as depicted in the film Lost in Translation. The basic argument of the author is that the entire notion of the 'Orient' or 'Orientalism' is a body of culture, academic work and politics which makes an important endeavor to identify the East as the 'other' and the Western imperialism plays a major role in the interpretation of the notion. According to him, works that do not have an immediately political appeal also can influence the superior course of the development of Orientalism. The major arguments by Said are influential in the understanding of racism in stereotype discussions in the film Lost in Translation. Thus, the unsophisticated stereotypes and the images of the East evident in the film create a false understanding of the Japanese culture. "Lost in Translation relies wholly on the "otherness" of the Japanese to give meaning to its protagonists, shape to its plot, and color to its scenery. The inaccessibility of Japan functions as an extension of the alienation and loneliness Bob and Charlotte feel in their personal lives, thus laying the perfect conditions for romance to germinate: they're the only ones who understand each other The "otherness" logic has been a convention in English literature for centuries and has also informed cinematic storytelling. In fact, it is so deeply rooted that even in Lost in Translation, a film which takes place in a country of superior technological prowess, superior social conditions (crime and homelessness are nearly nonexistent) and superior politesse, the ethnic European protagonists cop the same arrogant attitude found in the jingoistic characters of Kipling." (Paik 2003) In conclusion, the concept of 'Orientalism' which Said held decades before is most useful in interpreting the depiction of the Japanese culture in the film Lost in Translation. Bibliography Allsop, Samara. (2004.) [online]. "More than This: Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation." Cinetext: Film and Philosophy. Last Accessed 03 May 2009 at: http://cinetext.philo.at/magazine/allsop/lostintranslation.html Paik, E. Koohan. (2003). [online]. "Is Lost in Translation Racist" RaceWire Article. ColorLines. Last Accessed 03 May 2009 at: http://www.arc.org/racewire/031112e_paik.html Said, Edward H. (1978). "Introduction." Orientalism: Western Conceptions of the Orient. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. P. 1-28. Suematsu, Dyske. [online]. "Lost in Translation" Is Lost With or Without Translation. White Paper. DYSKE. Last Accessed 03 May 2009 at: http://www.dyske.com/index.phpview_id=788 Read More