Mood and Pattern

In the blink of an eye, another year has passed.

Every year, when December passes, and January comes, it's time for the major media to discuss the gains and losses of all the movies in the past year. 

The days before March every year are awards season. 

For the media, the arrival of January means that busy days are coming. It's the same this year. 

Starting from the movies released in January, all the media have already found the names of the competitive films that were released one after another. For these movies, they need to find out their own reviews over the past year. Of course, they also need to comment on films that have been released for less than a week.

Now, among the recently released movies, the most eye-catching is Levi's Lost in Translation. How to evaluate this movie has also been discussed by people.

This movie has just been released a few days ago, and now the media is commenting on it.

"This is a smooth, clean, and fresh movie. Levi tells an extremely simple story in an extraordinary and pleasing way." 

"The movie is not about Tokyo, but the epitome of loneliness in big cities." 

"It's hard to explain. It's good to watch it."

There is a lot of praise for this movie. Levi's film is far from lacking support, and the beauty and sentiment of this film are enough to make people's hearts move.

"The movie tells a very simple story - the encounter between an old man and a little girl and the temptation of a charming man to a newlywed young woman. These are themes that will never go out of style. 

  Levi's film captures these things very well. He did not deliberately describe how complicated the story was but used an extremely simple lens to describe two lonely people. 

  Then, by simply getting along with each other, the love between the two of them was vividly displayed on the page, and everyone could see it.

  This method puts more emphasis on it. It's a sentiment, not a story. It must be admitted that when Levi tells stories, he can tell them very well, and when he wants to shoot a certain mood, he can also render it very well."

This was also after the movie came out. Many media have praised Levi: It is not easy to shoot a film with such emotion.

Unlike movies with a strong story, a film with a strong emphasis requires an excellent grasp of the rhythm. Such a movie requires the most delicate lens and the most unique perspective to capture every loneliness and passion in the heart.

Generally speaking, movies with strong storytelling pursue ups and downs, and what is required is the director's top-notch ability to control scenes and the ability to tell a story. 

It is such a mood-based movie. What is pursued is meticulousness, and what is required is that the director has the ability to observe carefully and be delicate. The two are entirely different styles.

Levi, in the first half of the year, had just filmed The Departed, which has a strong story, and in the second half of the year, he filmed Lost in Translation, which has an excellent mood. 

It can be said that he has demonstrated a director's control and observation skills, which is also unbearable.

And it only needs to be able to capture special emotions and reflect the sorrows of people of different ages. Levi's grasp of the story is also outstanding.

The movie does not solve the problem through a love story that seems vigorous but actually has no ending. Instead, it uses a mutual love affair to make two people progress. This kind of movie is very high-level in itself.

And, more than that, there are other satisfying parts in the movie.

"When you are in a foreign country, the best way to resolve your worries is to integrate into the local cultural environment rather than just passing by with a curiosity-seeking mentality. Director Levi's film explains this very well." 

Regarding the movie, the media gave high praise to the display of Japanese culture. Many films in the past have deliberately belittled and vilified foreign cultures, thus alienating American audiences from foreign countries. 

But in this movie, it's not handled that way.

Although, at the beginning, the movie also created a sense of alienation between the characters in the play and the outside world, the way it was done was not to vilify Japan. 

The neon lights in Tokyo are indeed gorgeous, but the movie cleverly creates a sense of isolation by using a layer of glass windows. Later, as Charlotte gradually integrated into Japanese culture, she maintained a calm attitude towards various Japanese scenery. 

This attitude is more important than the story of the movie itself.

Charlotte's several outings came with a different mindset. From the earliest one, where she was completely unwilling to integrate into Japan and was picky about everything in Japan, with the unique pride of an Ivy League school graduate, to the later one, who ultimately accepted Japanese culture and integrated into the local environment. 

During this process, Levi's camera has been calmly photographing all the beautiful scenery around, showing the characteristics of Japanese culture, which is rare in itself.

It has always been challenging to reflect culture in movies. Woody Allen is called the only literate person in the film industry because his movies can capture the atmosphere of culture. 

Although Levi shot this movie about Japanese culture, it is also a manifestation of culture, making many people praise it.

A movie that can capture both culture and unique emotions can be considered a good movie, no matter what. 

Although the plot is simple and focuses too much on emotion rather than plot, it seems that it cannot be compared with the top classics, but this is definitely the most emotional among Levi's movies.

"This is a movie worth watching."

In this regard, the media also made their comments. For the audience, the movie itself is a kind of emotion.

"This is a failed transformation of Levi."

However, for other media, they don't think so. In their view, Levi was wrong to pursue the mood of the movie when he had nothing to do.

"What the audience likes to see more is a movie like The Departed rather than one like Emily. Indeed, Levi has an excellent level of shooting movies from a female perspective, but he should do more and use his talents elsewhere."

Not everyone can appreciate movies that emphasize *emphasis*. Although everyone recognizes Levi's film quality, some media do not agree with the story of this film. He could do better. Why film this?

The story is relatively deep in thought in Levi's past few movies. Compared to this one, which is simply about the loneliness of two people, even Emily has a certain quality — an anti-traditional spirit. In comparison, the scope of this movie is too small. Although the mood is high, it still makes people dissatisfied.

It is very unsatisfactory to give up the pattern and choose the mood.

In the eyes of the media, Levi did this because he was affected by some not-so-good influences.

The filming techniques, narrative structure, cultural tone, and film style can all reflect the characteristics of a director. The film's unique female perspective and the erotic emotions that flash throughout the film are rarely seen in Levi's previous films. 

They are also analyzing whether Levi has been affected by this. And what impact could be there?

Everyone knows that a director is constantly making progress when making a movie. Some directors like to make their movies bigger and bigger, elevating the issues discussed from morality to philosophy and then from philosophy to physics to deepen their thoughts. 

Some directors like to absorb other people's works of different styles to make new attempts and shoot new things. Levi's film style has greatly changed this time, and many wonder whether he has integrated some of other people's styles.

Levi's interview with reporters after the movie was broadcast seemed to confirm this.

"This film is indeed influenced by the styles of some other film directors. The most important one is Hong Kong director Wong Kar-Wai. His films are very personal and were my source of inspiration when filming this one." 

Although Levi did not pay homage to Wong Kar-Wai in the movie and did not use his characteristics directly, this does not mean he cannot admit this.

And his words also explained the media's doubts: Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai is a somewhat famous director. His movies have always been known for their small emotional appeal. If Levi learned from him, it is no wonder this movie focuses so much on emotional appeal.

***

"The media all say you should be learning from Scorsese or Oliver Stone rather than an unpopular director from that little shabby place in Hong Kong..." 

In front of Levi, Alexander read the newspaper with a hint of schadenfreude: "They all think that what you should shoot is a sequel to The Departed or some deeper and more thought-provoking themes. It's enough to leave this kind of subject matter to Woody Allen. You don't need to get involved anymore." 

"I have the final say on what I want to shoot." Levi shrugged, expressing his disapproval of these people's words, and commented in one sentence, "Moreover, I have already said that this movie is not for my own fame but for other purposes. Why should I care about the reputation it can bring me? What I care about most now is how the media evaluates the actors."

January is here, and awards season has begun. During this period, Levi also knew that the work of publicity and canvassing should also start. The purpose of filming Lost in Translation was not to gain too much benefit for Levi himself. He had other motives.

How Theron is evaluated after filming this movie is what matters.

"Well... Nick, I'm afraid you won't believe it. This time during the awards season, we are definitely the biggest winners."

*****

Thanks and kudos for my patreons 

Scott DePaepe

MMMCMXCIX, or 3,999

Britanna

Mandy G

Marcelo Maia

Danny York

DragonEz

You can read advanced chapters on my Patreon account: https://www.patreon.com/Sayonara816.