Film Lost in Translation - Movie Review Example

Download file to see previous pages 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 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 ...Download file to see next pagesRead More