Sophia Coppola's "Lost in Translation"(2003) starring Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson was our surprise film this Friday. What really struck me about this film was how socially and morally acceptable it makes affairs. When you marry it's supposed to be a commitment that's made for life. Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson) in the film drifts away from her husband a celebrity photographer, towards Bill Murray's character, a fading action star from the 70s. When husband and wife begin to drift apart it doesn't mean it wasn't meant to be. Communication lets someone know when you're not feeling loved. Granted in the film what forms between Charlotte and her new friend remains a friendship, it had the beginnings of an affair. Perhaps I was struck chiefly by this aspect of the film because Scarlett Johansson bore striking resemblance in the film to the woman that I love.
But it really upsets me how we glorify the very cause of the death of marriage in America in our films and in our television shows. Even loosely in this film it is still portrayed in a positive light.
The film is meant to bring out what's lost in translation across languages, cultures, and even from person to person. But while I enjoyed this aspect and the filmmaking employed in the film, the premise of an almost affair overcomes the positive feelings for this film and upsets me.
But it also showed me what not to do in the future. And that is to never let my work become so involving, never let following my film making dreams take up so much of my focus, that i lose sight of my greatest treasure: love.
No comments:
Post a Comment