Lost in Translation: Karaoke Scene

films and music, inseparable like childhood friends, feed of each other to develop a certain mood, feeling and meaning to a specific scene, and in general to the whole movie. in this specific film, lost in translation, music is an integral part of the complete experience. the kevin shields songs that construct the score, peaches in the i'd-rather-not-be-here bar scene, the jesus and mary chain at the closing credits and, in one of the loveliest scenes in the movie, the roxy music song more than this, sung in a karaoke version by bill murray himself.

of course, by this moment in the film, there's already a tension between our characters played by scarlett johansson and murray, there exists a need that's been fulfilled in their own mysterious feeling of disappearance/unacceptance from the rest of the world, but a single thing like experiencing this "horrible" singing, clicks inside the heart of johansson's character like the right key in the right door at the right time.

i say "horrible" because obviously, it was offkey, but if by that moment one got touched by the film, maybe one can look through johansson's character's eyes/heart, and really feel it. by no means i think that it was terrible, it was actually beautiful, and i have a friend that went as far as to say that it was even better that bryan ferry's own singing in the roxy music song. that shows how strong the situation can be.

what i'm trying to say is that when hearts are starting to click, one is always trying to do the right thing to impress the other, and that's a terrible mistake. it's the little things, the embarrassing things, the cute little things that we think don't have any impact, that will seal hearts, and hopefully make that last sounding click in the door of love that only tells us one thing... it has been open.

oh, let us not try to so hard.