The Wanderer and His Shadow

everyone needs to be found

lost in translation finally hit movie screens here in the philippines and i watched it with my boy. all throughout the movie, i was trying to figure out what moved so many critics to lauding it as one of the best films of last year. it isn't hard to understand why.

while i am a fan of hollywood and the usual hollywood summer blockbuster, i am also a fan of good storytelling. what i loved most about the film was the understated performances of both its lead performers. there's no heavy drama, no great monologues. it's all just there in the air. it's like you can almost feel it when bob and charlotte gaze each other. the tension. the chemistry. it's all so palpable. i'm thankful that kirsten dunst isn't in the role since sofia originally wrote the script with her in mind. scarlett's subtle mannerisms are just so beautiful. the way her voice breaks a little. her coy smile. this girl is one helluva a charmer. and we feel what bob feels just looking at her.

their dynamic manages to carry the film even with the sparse but apt dialogue. that's the real beauty of the film to me. the title and the story all play into the idea that sometimes, words are unneeded. they even become a hinderance to truly experiencing something or someone. whenever there are scenes where bob talks to his wife or charlotte to her husband, it actually feels like words are a burden. the conversations always seem to take so much effort that it drains them.

my favorite scenes in the movie are when their characters don't speak at all but what is happening around them seems to speak for them. that scene on the hotel bed with their reflections floating above the city lights outside the window. or the awkward moment when they're boiling sushi at a restaurant just as they are on the brink of an argument.or the fire that brings them to a necessary reconciliation. the symbolisms just really made me think a lot.

and that whisper that just makes you think about how we, as people, sometimes wait too long to say what we need to say.

sometimes, we take what we say for granted. we always have so much to say but never really say what people need to hear. or what we want them to hear.

posted by Russ @ 2:03 AM