MovieChat Forums > Lost in Translation (2003) Discussion > What was japanese reception/reaction?

What was japanese reception/reaction?

posted 7 years ago by Elmorado
7 replies | jump to latest

Hi

Love the movie, though sometimes I wonder if the peculiarity of the japanese is played up a little too much. Might also be on purpose considering the theme is two people being kinda lost in their own lives and how the strangeness of the enviroment underlines that...
but sometimes watching the movie I wondered whether the japanese audience ever felt insulted that they seemed to be portrayed constantly as really strange folk?
can someone shed some light upon this as to was the movie well received in Japan. Was/is it still popular?

[–] dos_azn 7 years ago

For the most part, it didn't seem to be well-received in Japan, with a lot of people saying the film's depiction of Japanese people being terrible. However, I would have never known about the movie if my Japanese coworkers didn't recommend me to watch it, so theres some people who don't seem to mind it.

If Ari Gold saw Chappie he would say:
"Chappie makes Elysium look like Citizen ƒvcking Kane"

[–] Elmorado 7 years ago

Yeah I was a little bit afraid of that. While there certainly is a lot of strangeness going on in Japan to a western viewer (and probably vice versa) and the film amplified that to push the "lost at a strange sea" feeling of the main characters due to what situation they were in life... it did create a ccertain monotony/one noteness that seemed to depict an entire nation.

[–] CapnKaos 7 years ago

For the most part, it didn't seem to be well-received in Japan, with a lot of people saying the film's depiction of Japanese people being terrible. However, I would have never known about the movie if my Japanese coworkers didn't recommend me to watch it, so theres some people who don't seem to mind it.

That's funny because I got the completely different reaction. Of my Japanese co-workers that saw it, they thought it was mostly harmless. They liked how Tokyo in particular was shot and thought the two gaijin leads were foolish for acting in the way they did.

This then begs the question, were you working or living in Japan when you saw this?

[–] dos_azn 7 years ago

You seem to have misinterpreted what I said. I mentioned my coworkers recommending me to watch the film and that is apparently completely different from your coworkers who also enjoyed it.

If Ari Gold saw Chappie he would say:
"Chappie makes Elysium look like Citizen ƒvcking Kane"

[–] CapnKaos 7 years ago

I wasn't responding to that, I was responding to this:

For the most part, it didn't seem to be well-received in Japan, with a lot of people saying the film's depiction of Japanese people being terrible.

Yes it wasn't well received in the sense that it didn't make a lot of money in Japan but the only people I know that said "the depiction of Japanese people being terrible" were Westerners. None of the Japanese people I know and worked with that saw it thought that way including my Japanese wife. But every time I heard somebody talking negatively about the movie it was an ex-pat who had lived in Japan for many years.

Which is why I also asked where did you work when you were there as that might shed some light on why there's this difference between our experiences. I was in Tokyo working for a large multinational investment bank for part of that time, moved into consulting at some point and finally back to doing IT stuff for another large multinational company.

[–] CapnKaos 7 years ago

but sometimes watching the movie I wondered whether the japanese audience ever felt insulted that they seemed to be portrayed constantly as really strange folk?

Actually they weren't portrayed as strange. That's to Western eyes. The Japanese people I know who saw it liked it or were indifferent to it. My wife included.

Problem is the movie didn't stay around very long in Japan, I think it was there for maybe a month or so and it disappeared quite quickly. So really it was nothing more than a short lived blip on the cultural radar.

[–] slimone (7996) 6 years ago

It seemed t me that the Japanese were badly portrayed yes in an insulting way. I hesitate to say racist, but it certainly bordered on racism. No wonder it wasn't well received in Japan!