The Godfather was an interesting film to watch and take notes on. I will have to state from the get go it was not one of my favorite films but it showed some unique aspects in the film that we have talked about in our class. I wanted to point out the Mise-en-scene in the beginning of the film. In the beginning of the film I felt like the opening was very slow and it had one man just speaking with a low lighting around him. I felt like this low lighting created a mysterious and tense atmosphere, which created the mood for this film from the get-go. With the light only shown on the man’s face, the background is almost completely black, accenting the dramatic and intimidating tone of the entire film. I thought this way of opening the film was very smart and allowed the setting for this film to set it’s place. I thought the entirety of The Godfather had a very foreboding mood. The lighting is operated very precisely, which usually only shows the characters and their faces, and the leaves the rest of the setting minimally lit. The camera angles vary from first person. which presents the scene as if you are there, observing everything that is going on, to a more distant point of view, as if you were stealthily watching the characters in action while trying not to get caught. overall this film was interesting but not my favorite and I thought displayed many important film qualities.
I have never seen this film before and was pretty confused about the whole film. Based on the plot of the film I was fully expecting Bob and Charlotte to hook up or have a intimate moment. I felt as if the whole film was building up to that moment but it never happened. I think I am also missing out on the whole purpose of the film. I did not like the ending of the film because this is how it made me feel. I felt that the cinematography was excellent and had a bunch of amazing shots such as when Charlotte was sitting on the window sill of her hotel room. In the end, the film did a great job getting the point of the movie across at first and when it was left hanging it just ruined it for me.
Brian Harris
This movie definitely exceeded my expectations. I loved the cinematography and the humor throughout. I found myself laughing more in this movie than I did in The Big Lebowski. I also loved the amount of contrast in this film. In every scene I felt like they tried to highlight how out of place both Charlotte and Bob were.
The scene that stood out to me most is when Charlotte is sitting on the ledge of her hotel window staring out at Tokyo. I loved the way the camera seemed to be moving around her, instead of trying to focus on what she was looking at, as many movies do. I find it hard to explain, but I liked the way the camera stayed on Charlotte the entire time, only changing the perspective of which the camera was looking at her. It was extremely beautiful and I really liked it.
While I didn’t hate the ending, I didn’t love it either. In the scenes leading up to the final scene, the audience kept waiting for some sense of closure between these two characters. The audience kept waiting for them to kiss or something. While they do kiss, I liked how it didn’t go much further. I felt like the point was to capture that feeling of not belonging and the desire we all often have for a companion in moments where we feel most alone.
– Lindsay Smith
I though that the use of sound in this film and the music that was used helped to create a very realistic sense and helped to show the sense of alienation in the characters. Between the translation issues experienced by Bill Murrays character and the way in which he and Charlotte conversed, the idea of trouble in communication was presented in a witty and interesting manner. One of the most memorable scenes of the movie that showed this concept was the directing of the Suntory commercial. When the director of the commercial tells Bill Murrays character what he wants him to do for the commercial and the translator simplifies it for him to “turn and look into the camera” was not only funny, but helped to create this sense of cultural tension and language barriers that were present throughout the film. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this film for its cinematic value as well as its simple and very relatable characters.
-Tyler Weik
I really enjoyed this movie. The cinematography, acting, and sound all created a very interesting mood for the film.
The whole film had a very realistic feel to the camerawork. There are lots of shots where the camera was handheld and moving around or with the characters. The film almost feels like a documentary because this. There were also several scenes that didn’t really progress the plot forward, but added to the film’s interpretation of Japan as well as Bob and Charlotte’s character. For example there is a scene where Charlotte goes on a tour in Kyoto, where no dialogue is said.
The acting and dialogue were both really well done, especially Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray’s’ roles. Both actors had very few lines of dialogue, but managed to convey a lot of emotion regardless. Most of their acting was through the looks and gestures they gave rather than the words they said.
Sound went a long way in making this film memorable as well. The opening of this film very quickly conveys that our characters are travelling in Tokyo by playing audio from Tokyo airport announcements. The soundtrack is all carefully selected clips of songs that are used to convey mood, and even make a joke or two. For example, the scene where Bill Murray’s character is first in his hotel room, he seems to be awkwardly sitting on his bed in his robe trying to figure out what to do while there is classical music playing, which is completely at odds with what was on screen. There seems to be a lot of attention to detail on the sound effects used in the film. When Bob and Charlotte are running through the city and go into an arcade, for example, the sounds from the game machines are all emphasized. All of the soundwork came together to make the city feel like its own character.
Lost in Translation is an amazingly deep and detailed movie which manages to show the traits and flaws of each and every character beautifully while being a touching “Valentine to Tokyo”. Sofia Coppola beautifully shows the stark difference in the lives of the two main characters, Charlotte and Bob, one trying very hard to understand the meaning and purpose of her life while simultaneously trying to make sense of her marriage which seems to be going through a plateau. Bob on the other hand has gone through all the riches and the fame and a long family life and faces a kind of mid life crisis as pointed out multiple times by Charlotte. He sees his role with his kids and wife diminishing and questions his own choice of work and perfection of his heart. He looks for excitement and energy in his life. And through their misery Bob and Charlotte relate to each other and for a fleeting moment provide each other comfort. The almost absent background score helps maintain a sense of uneasiness which disappears whenever Bob and Charlotte are together, singing, dancing and enjoying. Coppola’s beautiful shots of Tokyo capture not just the flashy, bustling, never sleeping city but also the quiet somber city at dawn, at peace with itself and warmly embracing its children. We also go through the conflicts that the other characters like Kelly face, trying to remain in prominence, catering to the need of the media and living in her own bubble. The close connected feeling that Charlotte has with Tokyo is contrasted by the ever lasting distance that Bob seems to have from everything and everyone.
Dipankar Mazumder
Lost in Translation is another one of those films that begs you to watch it a second time. Even though its narrative can feel bare at times, the little details Coppola carefully places throughout flesh out the world the two main characters inhabit. The arc of the relationship between Bob and Charlotte features little conflict, but their position in their own marriages questions the intimacy between them. Both Bob and Charlotte are deeply unhappy, Bob facing a midlife crisis in ways and Charlotte lacking a true connection with the partner. Bob doesn’t seem to care about much for family through the film, his calls with his wife more business-like than affectionate. Charlotte wastes away in her room while her husband seems to only care enough to occasionally plop an “I love you” in before running out the door. Charlotte is lost and so is Bob, and while they eventually find each other, their budding attraction to each other is called into question by Bob’s own actions. He sleeps with the lounge singer, an actions that frustrates Charlotte, and yet doesn’t do much to dampen her own attraction to Bob for more than a few minutes of screen time. It makes us wonder if these two really do have feelings for each other, or if they’re only with each other for company, bonded by their sense of isolation in Tokyo rather than any true connection. This uncertainty seems to be squashed by the classic romantic gesture that closes the film, but the uncertainty of the films final words continues the ambiguity established by the characters relationship, leaving the film with a question mark instead of a period.
– Ryan Quinlan
An obvious scene where music takes over the narrative is when they are in the karaoke room. First, this is significant because we’re finally seeing the fun side of Charlotte. Also up until this point, while Charlotte and Bob have been friendly, we haven’t seen yet that there might be something more between them. When she sings The Pretenders, the lyrics of the song seem to perfectly fit with her situation. Just as she sings the words, she uses her body to flirt with Bob, making direct eye contact with him multiple times while singing. This song kind of explains what her true motives are; Charlotte is seeking attention. She wants someone to fawn over her and tell her how special she is, and Bob points this out later when they have their terrible lunch. I really think that when she sings “I’m special”, she believes it.
Then, Bob sings More Than This, which seems to be describing the point that both he and Charlotte are at: a point of being lost and confused, and wondering where they’re going in life. The song literally says, “More than this, there is nothing”, which reminds me of the later scene where Charlotte asks Bob if life gets easier. There is also the line, “it seems like fun for a while”, which could refer to their marriages. I think the combination of these two songs gives us the full story of the narrative that is unfolding.
Alli Kenlan
I think that the title of the movie was very fitting with the overall plot. I loved how big the suspense buildup was with Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson throughout the whole movie and constantly kept me wondering what would happen between the two. In the beginning the movie introduced both characters as being married and at the start is was fairly apparent that their relationships with their spouses were somewhat tainted, however it is not until a majority of the movie unfolds, that we see just how bad their relationships were. Considering the age difference, and the fact that they were both married in the beginning, I didn’t really expect them to become lovers at the start of the movie, but as the movie progressed, I eventually kept wondering when “the kiss” was finally going to happen; and as stated before the buildup was immense. The end of the movie left me a little confused as to what was going to happen in the future. Bill Murray was about to head back to his wife at home, where all his troubles were, but still appeared to be happy in the very end because he got the correct “closure” with Johannsson However, to me the end suggests that Bill Murray will definitely be back soon.
When it comes to sound, my favorited scene was when Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson went to the Karaoke place. I went to a Japanese karaoke place about a year ago and the environment was very similar to how it was in the movie. I think that the music during the karaoke scene was symbolic of how the Murray and Johannsson felt whenever they were together throughout the whole movie and would describe it as, fun, colorful, exciting, and interestingly fresh or new.
~Kerry Long
Intro to Film 
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