Last Tuesday we finished watching Lost in Translation by Sofia Coppola. I had already seen the movie (I saw it in theaters.) It was interesting to watch the movie again. I am definitely one of those people who can watch movies over and over again because I always miss something. What I missed this time I actually didn’t notice right away but someone else in the class had written about it on their blog. In the movie when people say “I love you” there is never a response from the other person (the person that is being loved.) We have been talking about places and non-places and Lost in Translation has some great examples of non-places but what about the missing dialog? Another one of my classmates had responded to the “I love you” phrase and said that maybe instead of non-places the phrase is a “non-word.” I find this interesting because I think that this actually is a “non-word” or rather a non-place that isn’t an actual place.
Normally when someone says “I love you” there is a response of “I love you too.” Maybe the “non-word” has no response because, like a non-place, people are just passing by, doing their own thing. A person feels that maybe they don’t have an identity, there is no substantial history. Yes there is history, but maybe the other person doesn’t feel it or maybe they say it out of habit. I’m not sure exactly what this “non-word” means but I’m interested to find out.
We had also discussed how in the movie there are scenes with no dialog and that maybe it meant something. I’m not sure if it meant something but I do know that in a few of Sofia Coppola’s movies she has those same scenes. I just recently saw Marie Antoinette and the movie had very similar scenes. Someone is just standing there with emotion, they don’t say anything, there is no music and then the movie goes to the next scene. Maybe it means something or maybe it is just Sofia Coppola’s style or signature mark.
3 comments:
I also love rewatching movies and picking up stuff I missed. One of my favorites is the beginning of Fight Club. Before we're introduced to Brad Pitt's character, we see second-long flashes of him a few times. The use of silence and no talking is always interesting in films. Bill Murray does this a bunch in "Broken Flowers." I think it definitely does something. It makes the viewer focus on any emotions the character may be having. I think not talking at all could be a greater challenge for an actor than a huge, complicated monologue.
I think it's a possibility that "I love you" could be considered a non-word (or phrase). I also think this is a shame because loving is one of the most important emotions, and it sometimes gets thrown about.
I can see how "I love you" would be a non-phrase, that it's thrown around in movies and in real life, seemingly without regard for what "love" truly means.
What's interesting to me is that, in a few languages I know of, there is no difference between saying "I love you" and "I like you." Because of this, I'd imagine saying "I love you" in these languages would be EVEN more of a non-phrase.
Makes me wonder about English then, where at least we have the ability to differentiate.
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