Everyone wants to be found.

If you're intrigued by the title of this post, are looking to watch Lost In Translation, want to know what Lost In Translation is partly about and/or want to know what I think about it then you should read this post:

"Reality TV shows" aren't believable; they are often filled with too much excitement and too much buzz when in truth, life is not like that.

Reality. That must be the reason why some people found Lost In Translation to be a boring movie. You know why? Because it mirrored reality so much.

If you ask me though, this reality factor of Lost In Translation is what makes it a great movie. The feelings and emotions and every other thing are subtle in a way that you have to feel instead of seeing them. You don't interpret things based on what you see but what hits that something inside you. ("Oh, they kiss. They're in love." It's not like that.)

But this "subtleness" in communication is what makes the messages intense as well. At least, I think so. Once you feel something, it's there. It's very real. You know how some people say "It's so real, it hurts?" Well, it's kinda like that. (It's not about the "hurt" part I'm refering to, it's the "real" part.)

The way the messages are conveyed through feelings makes it abstract as well. It's up to the viewer to come up with what significance the characters, the events - the movie - brings to them. What we see often dictates how we should feel. This movie is not an exception. There's still that element in it. After all, that's what movies are about, right? They tell you something. In this case tough, you have more freedom in how you interpret the movie. More freedom with how you want to arrive at the message it tries to bring.

Have you watched Collateral? A reason why I liked that movie so much was that the screenplay was great and the portrayal by the characters was so great. That's how Lost In Translation is. (Only of course, Lost In Translation is definitely more ordinary than Collateral; I mean, driving for an assassin by chance is not something we get to experience at least once in our lives.) Both movies follow a great script, IMHO. And despite Collateral featuring an unusual event, the characters in both movies are not just believable. They're real. See the difference?

(Oh, and another similarity between the two movies is the driving-at-night scene. I loved that part because I just feel so alive when inside a moving car at night. You sort of can watch the world go by. A detached yet very much alive feeling. Meh. Call me weird. Not everybody can probably identify with that.)

Again let me add something to what I said earlier. The movie mirrored reality so much that anyone can probably identify with the characters, not because they're believable but because it all feels so real. And it's real. (And no, I'm not saying we all feel the need to fall in love with another person when we're already committed.)

A reason why Lost In Translation is such a big hit for me is because it's set in Japan. And I love Japan. I was near tears when Charlotte and Bob were inside the taxi at night and Charlotte was just staring outside. And that whole sequence when Charlotte went to Kyoto and was walking around. She sees a Japanese woman about to get married, in the traditional way, somewhere in the sequence.

The choice for the setting makes up much of the movie as well. Not only people who love Japan can identify with the setting. In the story, to the characters, it's a foreign place. It's like, you seek to understand the people, the customs, and everything else. I find that it blends well with what is going around in the story. With what is going around within the characters' selves. Japan seems to mirror the identity crisis or personal conflicts (about what to do with the rest of your life) tackles in the story.

Also the quirkiness of the Japanese adds to some of the comedy in the movie. The awesome gaming places. The karaoke places. The cultural-historical places. Amusing choice of clothes (I don't normally talk about clothes but I'd just like to say that I liked most of what Scarlett Johansso(e)n wore in the movie. Oh and let me add, I think her husband in the movie's pretty hot. hehe Although he seems to wear the same shirt over and over again.) Some crazy characters were in there too. I laughed during the whole scene with the crazy stockings woman (man, she was such a mental case it's just hilarious), the director, etc.

Well. It's the sort of movie that makes you ponder. You just want to understand what the hell Lost In Translation means. But it comes to you easier than you think. You don't have to stretch your mind too much because, at least I think, the movie talks about something we all feel or go through. As the movie line says, "Everyone wants to be found." I may not be a big fan of cheesy stuff and that line may seem like it. But actually, no. Not everyone's idea of being found is meeting a significant other. For me it's just, well, being found (I'm not dwelling much on by whom or by what. As long as I'm noticed, dammit.) It's like what J3, according to Dixi, said about humanity (or being humane, whatever): Humanity is about being appreciated, we all seek to be appreciated.

I may have explained a few things about the movie, I may have not. But I don't think I did much justice and you probably will not understand me unless you see this movie. It's that kind of movie, once again: You have to see it in order to understand, because it requires having to feel it first hand. Ooh, that rhymes.

And before I end this. I didn't feel very sad about what happened in the end. (Not telling, since I'd hate to spoil it for others who plan to watch it.) In fact, I feel glad. You know how something seemingly unfortunate happens to you but you just have to feel happy because you're at peace with yourself finally? You feel fulfilled somehow. I guess in this movie, it's the feeling of being found. Speaking from the characters' point of view, being found is better than finding somebody. Because the benefactor is yourself for the larger part. I think this is one of the reasons why some people commit, marry, feel in love. You see, relationships are actually more selfish than selfless. Why do you think you love your bestfriend so much? It's not just you have somebody to share fun experiences with you, you have somebody to notice you and encourage you and support you and be your number one cheerleader.

(And it just occured to me. Maybe that's an indicator of true love: "I've found somebody that found me," and not just "I've found somebody." And that that somebody didn't just find you. S/he also found somebody that found her/him. Again, I don't normally talk about love. And don't get me wrong. The movie is not just about love. It's more universal than that, as I implied previously.)

I hope you (whoever you are that's reading this) watch the movie. That way you can better relate to what I'm saying. (Yeah, yet again, a pretty selfish reason haha) But really, I guess everybody can learn, or rather discover or find a description for something that's already there, something from the movie.

I'm watching it again.

And I miss Japan.

I really do need to go there again. I feel like kissing the gravel in the huge crossing in Yokohama and then procede to prostating all the way to Motomachi. haha

And I want somebody to come with me too.