I watched Lost In Translation for about the tenth time today and it has settled in my mind for sure as one of my favorite movies. Every time I watch it, I like it more. I see more. I find more. I allow myself to perhaps translate more of that which Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson are saying with their faces, which Sophia Coppola captured so beautifully in this film.
When I had finished watching it today, I thought for the first time that I knew what Bob had whispered to Charlotte before he took off for home and I thought I knew what her answer to him was, whispered back, and I studied those faces in the wordlessness which follows and I think I may be right and it doesn't even matter.
But if there were ever a movie in which yearning is made palpable, I think this one would be it. And I also think that yearning is something which, as we grow older, becomes smaller and yet, at the same time, sharper.
It's sort of like a knife blade which has been sharpened into razor thinness. It is not the same tool it once was, but its ability to cut has only become more powerful. It is too thin to use thoughtlessly- the blade is in danger of snapping. But. If the edge is touched, blood will flow.
Yes. I do love Bill Murray but it's not because he goes around and crashes on people's couches after participating in Karaoke parties, although that is an incredibly charming thing for him to do. It's because as he has grown older, he can, with his face, portray emotions I would not even have recognized as a young woman.
He translates them with that face of his.
I get lost in them, in those emotions, in his translation of them. I get lost in that face of his, that older, completely human and imperfect face which is a sort of perfection.
And that's what I'm thinking about on this chilly evening in North Florida and soon I'll be going to bed and it's all okay and I am filled with a sort of yearning myself and I'm not even sure for what but I know that it's human to yearn and it's part of the bargain of life and I'm okay with that.
I am yearning, almost constantly.
ReplyDeleteThank you for putting it into words more eloquently than I.
I had a guest on the river that had a different Bill Murray T-shirt to wear everyday. Here's one picture. I'm kicking myself for not taking photos of every one (he was not as dopey as it looks in this picture) He was fun and hilarious. I definitely thought of you.
ReplyDeleteYea, I'm definitely getting acquainted with that emotion... or is it more a state of mind? Anyway, thanks for this. It makes me feel less alone in my head.
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I love that movie, too.
ReplyDeleteOur yearnings open us up.
I love the word yearning and I think you've written about it exactly as it should be written about. We feel it.
ReplyDeleteAs for Bill Murray -- I, too, adore him. There's something about his face that makes me bust out laughing and feel sad. Whenever I think about "Lost in Translation," I remember, among other things, the scene when he gets stuck on the exercise thing and yells for help. That kills me every single time I think of it.
I'm here from Birdie's blog (a few days late!) and I just wanted you to know, I read through several posts and added you to my reader. I like you. :) (Not in the creepy way.)
ReplyDeleteMy name is Roxanne and I live in Northern Alberta. Totally curious about where your husband went hunting! Your grandies are adorable!
My aunt told me over and over to watch that and I started it and nothing was happening so I stopped. But you make me want to try again. I will see if the library has it for the weekend. Yearning...yeah.
ReplyDeleteSo well written and expressed dear you.
Guess what? I had a date with a man planned for Sunday (my first date ever really). Guess what? I blew it. Only I could break up with a guy before my first date. And he was so smart and fine, but I think he was a narcissist. Sigh. Onward, I guess.
SJ- I believe it may be the human condition.
ReplyDeleteAjax- Ha! He's adorable! I wish I had a collection of Bill Murray t-shirts.
Ms. Fleur- You ain't alone, baby.
Denise- Don't they? Yes. They do.
Elizabeth- Yes! A sadness which makes us happy. Or a happiness which makes us sad. He's definitely tuned into the universal goof.
That scene is fucking classic.
Heartinhand- Howdy! Welcome! And don't even ask me where in Alberta he is. Lord. But...somewhere. Glad you're here.
Bethany- You have to just relax into that movie. It's not what you'd call an action flick. It's like a slowly-unfolding piece of great art. In my mind, anyway.
You broke up with a guy before you even went out? Well, honestly, I still think that's progress. I am SO proud of you!
He is about town here quite a lot. But his press about the divorce was pretty bad: http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20080529/PC1602/305299860
ReplyDeleteI don't know if it was true but Robert Rosen is a tough attorney and no nonsense. Oh well....maybe he is doing well and I'll run into him at a meeting sometime.
Syd- Well, one never really knows, does one? He is not a saint nor a hero. He is an artist. And as such...well, you know. If you see him, tell him I say "Hey!"
ReplyDeleteYou response made my day. Thanks for "getting" me. It was a step anyhow. But yeah, broke up before the first date. I suck!
ReplyDeletePS I brought Lost in Translation home from the library for the weekend!
ReplyDeleteThat is a GREAT movie. One of my all-time faves, for all the yearning-related reasons you said.
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