Lost In Translation

Okay, so when I eventually got round to seeing this film I'd heard a lot of good things about it.
Not enough to spoil it for me, although to be fair there wasn't that much to be spoilt.

I wasn't too impressed by it all though.
I'm still not sure whether I liked it or disliked it.
Speaking with people since they've raved about the characterisation, but to me the characterisation alone wasn't strong enough to make it a good film.

The beginning third of the film seemed to me to just be nothing but really slow moving clichéd cultural stereotype.
This was probably the point, I'm sure, but it was just overdone.

The second third I really enjoyed, the plot started moving and it actually became quite a touching tale, with some funny moments and stuff to think about and relate too. Concepts of finding one's place in the world stood out a lot.

But then came the final third where it all disintergrated into sloppy forbiden romance, negating all the positives of the previous third.

Looking back at it now, the only real positive I have about it was that the audio was really well done.
Crisp and clear and atmospheric enough for the film.