LOST IN TRANSLATION (page 2)

GinnyTosken

since I understood the Japanese

So, Seattleniceguy . . .

Please do help. What does "Kaze Wo Atsumete" mean?

(I'll laugh if it means "Sweet Baby James" in Japanese.)

Inquiring minds want to know.

Ginny

nowisee: I presume you're talking about the scene where the director is talking to Bill Murray's character and the interpreter gives incredibly short translations? I can't remember the exact words, but it's something like this....

Director (in Japanese): Look, this commercial is not about whiskey. It's about the experience you have with it. I want you to sit down as if you're meeting with an old friend, one you've known for years. You slip into your old, comfortable chair, pick up the whiskey, and drink in the experience. I want to feel the familiarity. (He goes on for a few more paragraphs here. His speech is quite impassioned, and it's good stuff, too. I was pretty impressed with what the commercial meant to him. But....)

Interpreter (in accented English): More...energetic!

This happens a couple more times, and every time, the interpreter misses the point with outrageous success. There was certainly a great deal "lost in translation" during that scene.

SNG

seattleniceguy

What does "Kaze Wo Atsumete" mean?

Is that a line from the movie? It's kind of meaningless without context. It's not a full sentence, but it means "Gather the Wind" either as a polite imperative, or as a sentence fragment (like, "Gathering the wind, she something-something-something."). Sounds like the name of a song or something.

SNG

GinnyTosken

Seattleniceguy,

Sounds like the name of a song or something.

It is, indeed, the name of a song from the Lost in Translation soundtrack.

Domo arigato.

Ginny

seattleniceguy

Dou itashimashite.

tink

holy crap. this movie was so amazing. i was so affected by it...after i left the theater i just thought about it for hours. it is AMAZING. the theme of human connection is one that's very important to me, and i thought this was rendered so beautifully as well. i know quite a few people that went and saw it and were underwhelmed...i have absolutely no idea how that could be.

nowisee

seattlenice guy --

thanks.

it is days later, but if you see this, i was actually talking about the scene at the end of the movie when he whispers into her ear....

the first time i saw the movie i had one opinion, the second time my opinion completely changed!

wasasister

I saw the movie for the second time with a Japanese friend. She whispered into my ear during the Japanese language dialogue. She told me this about the scene with the Director and the Interpreter during the filming of the commercial:

The director was impassioned about the commercial and was pushing Bill Murray's character into following his vision. The interpreter was too ashamed and humble to speak in such a pushyt way to a famous American actor, which is why she could not convey all of the words. Anyway, that was her take on the cultural aspect of it.

I, too, connected with the film. I loved the parts of the movie where the girl wandered around just observing people, but not really being part of what was going on. I often feel this way.

O di ja nee

Wasa

LOST IN TRANSLATION

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