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I recently saw this film and I have only positive things to say. The title "Lost in Translation" is very fitting, no matter how you look at it. I felt that there was a parallel between the communication of the two protagonists, as well as their lives in Japan.

Two Americans go to Japan, whose culture is completely different from their country and they feel out of place, they get culture shock. They cannot be adjusted easily. Mainly the female protagonist, as she's more sensitive. At the same time, the two have a big age difference and again there is this gap in communication. They get "lost in translation" both in their mindsets as Americans in Japan, and with each other.

One is middle-aged and going through an age crisis and the other is a woman who lives in a country she can't adapt to and is neglected by her husband, who works all the time. They find "comfort" in each other's face. He, seemingly depressed, seems to live through her again. Through her youth. She, among strangers, finds an "ally", a "companion", a person who understands her and possibly teaches her some things from his point of view, being more mature.

A typical example is that after Bob lives for a short time carefree with Charlotte, he begins to feel that not everything is over and that he has the right to live carefree, without thinking and overthinking situations. So when he talks to his wife on the phone and tells her what he did in those days, she, in addition to a cold attitude, also shows an icy indifference, something that makes him come back to "reality".

He, mostly rational, depressed, thinker and lonely. She, mainly emotional, needs to find herself. Even if they had no age difference, they would still be "lost in translation". However, oxymoronic it may sound, one complements the other. One finds meaning in the other.

Another typical example that shows both their age difference and the maturity of their thinking is when Charlotte seems to be jealous of Bob and being ironic to him, and he gives her the answer "Wasn't there anyone else there to lavish you with attention?" This scene shows that they have a different way of perceiving situations. Their relationship is not based on the sexual part. Their relationship is primarily spiritual. Romantic too. But it is presented in a very innocent way.

Some things I liked about the movie are as follows.

1) The first and last scene. The first scene, because it is a physical representation of a painting by John Kacere. It was a very original move by Sofia Coppola. The last scene, because it makes us wonder what Bob might have whispered to Charlotte. Instead, Bob makes a cliché, more impulsive and not for his age move, which is beyond even him, showing us that in order to go through with this move, he has quality and pure feelings for Charlotte.

2) Louise the owl. Need I say more?

3) The atmosphere of the film is not like typical mainstream American films. It's more artistic, with an aura of an independent film. I would venture to say that it is closer to European cinema than to American cinema. This particular film is a purely artistic intervention with romantic elements in a purely minimalist context.

It is a film that, if nothing else, makes you think. It does not present anything obscene and the result is perfect.

The film "Bella Martha" is a German romantic comedy-drama (or at least that's how it wants to be identified), which is about a lonely, strong woman, Martha, who works as a chef in a restaurant and after a tragedy, takes guardianship of her niece. In addition, she is forced to work with an Italian sous chef, Mario, who is the exact opposite of her, enthusiastic, happy and creates a very pleasant atmosphere in the otherwise stressful kitchen.

My thoughts on this particular film are mixed to bad.

I should mention that I love the minimalism and simplicity of this film. It has the ultimate European essence and I really appreciate it. The protagonist's performance is very good. She plays a lonely, workaholic woman, who's trying her best to live peacefully with her niece, but doesn't make the expected impact.

Furthermore, her relationship with Mario is not good at first. Supposedly the trope of this film is "enemies to lovers", but of course in my opinion, this particular love story is incomplete.

The film is 90 minutes long and very little happens, so it seems to go on much longer than it should. At some points I dare say I got bored.

I should mention the fact that it bothered me that the actual voice of the actor Sergio Castellitto (Mario) is not heard and they just dubbed it, precisely because his German was not good. But that's the thing, Mario isn't German, so it would be perfectly normal for him to have a strong accent. It would be much more realistic. Also the dubbing actor makes it even worse because he has "no life" at all and I got tired just listening to him.

Also, the film is being promoted as a romantic comedy/drama. You will allow me to say that it is simply a romantic drama. I didn't find anything comedic at all. I didn't laugh anywhere. I think it's misinformation. Before I wrote my review, I read a few others to see if anyone agreed with me and although few reviews mentioned it, I was relieved I wasn't the only one who noticed it.

Now I will mention the most basic part. The love story. I think that although both actors are very good. Having seen Gedeck's performance in the film "Das Leben der Anderen", I was sure that I would like her performance here as well, and I was not denied.

But in the case of Castellitto I can't say the same, because although I've seen his movies and he was admittedly very good, in this particular movie his acting skills don't stand out at all, as they gave him this awful dubbing. It didn't feel alive and above all it didn't feel like there was a real performance. A real shame.

Also, the two actors, although very good, had no chemistry at all in my opinion. I didn't feel like their flames matched. And that's too bad, because we're supposed to be talking about a mostly romantic film.

Some other things I didn't like were the following. Martha decided to look for her niece's biological father and eventually found him. Throughout the film we didn't see the process at all. Just out of the blue, the girl's biological father appeared. Very steep. Also, the character played by the Danish actor Ulrich Thomsen (whom I adore) I think was unnecessary. I think he was added simply to serve the script. Only then did he appear. At least let him do something! This particular actor speaks fluent German (having a Danish accent of course) and they didn't overdub him and it was really fine.

Also the film tries to tell us that "love goes through the stomach", but only two small scenes showed this. I didn't feel so much that the film is about the food. Also I didn't feel the romance. It felt like everything unfolded so quickly and so slowly at the same time.

In closing this review, I would like to mention that I appreciated some things in the film, such as the fact that Martha is German and Mario is Italian, this I guess symbolises the fact that based on stereotypes, Germans are more cold people and Italians are very warm and friendly. Like also the fact that Martha, having lived all her life alone, doesn't know how to manage a child at all and cooks gourmet meals for her, because that's how she learnt, while Mario cooks to the girl simple, but very tasty meals and then she likes him straight away. Simplicity wins.

In short, I can say that I was disappointed by the film. I expected something different, because the actors were very good and also from the trailer I expected to see a special European film, which will combine romance with comedy and food. Unfortunately I felt none of the three. And of course I won't see the American remake, because I don't like that they remake everything.

The film was short in duration and fast paced. I don't think anyone would get bored easily, because there was something going on all the time.

Then, for fans of action and violence, it is a very good choice, as it has plenty of them, also gore.

Some viewers may want more dialogue, which is reasonable, but I believe that the whole concept of the film was planned. That is, they wanted to create a film based on violence and gore. A real horror film, to the point where it can make you disturbed.

After all, the film belongs to the "New French Extremity" film movement, which is about films that are quite extreme, unconventional, with the aim of shocking. Therefore, I believe that the creator of the film did not want to emphasise Oscar-winning performances, nor to develop a horror film and at the same time touch on the social factor. Instead, he wanted to make a horror film with lots of action and lots of violence and gore.

In my opinion, the effects were very good and I believe that the violence was very realistic. Of course they made a big waste of cans of fake blood.

I have to give an honourable mention to the soundtrack of the film and in particular to the song "New Born" by "Muse". It was a great fit and made me nostalgic for those times when good, quality music was released.

In short, it was a fast-paced film that doesn't promise things it doesn't deliver. It does exactly what it was supposed to do. It's short-lived and from start to finish, it gives you that "hypertension" (since that's what the title means). It does exactly what it was created to do. Although they have hired very well-known and skilled actors, their acting skills are not highlighted, since the plot is comprehensive and clear and the dialogue is meagre and quite laconic.

Therefore it emphasizes the facial expression and the violence that accompanies it. It also had a very good twist, which I don't think many will notice a priori, although I did suspected something.

If I were to change something, it would definitely be the first scene in the mental hospital, because that kind of foreshadows what's to come.

I really enjoyed watching this film. French cinema never disappoints me.