Lost in Translation. Good movie – Sophia Coppola’s debut as a director, a phenomenal job by Bill Murray in a rare ‘dramatic’ role, and having been to Japan, a pretty bang-on portrayal of what it is like to be an American visiting there. (RPP Movie Critic Note: For those of you who have seen the film – and if you haven’t, go rent it – it’s NOT supposed to be GOOD in a “that was a Good Movie” sort of way… hence my wife not liking it… so I ask you to judge it by the criteria of did it or did it not accomplish its major goal – to portray the feeling of isolation and disorientation by being in such a place both physically and metaphorically in your life. Complicated, enough?)*
Barely coherent tangent aside, Italy has its fair share** of “Lost in Translation” moments as well… however they come more in the form of “Ha Ha, that was funny” as opposed to “Questioning my overall goal of life” variety. For instance, as has been mentioned on this blog before, the Italian word for hurt is broken. Which makes sense – if your TV does not work, it is broken, so therefore if your arm doesn’t work it must be broken as well. The comedy comes in the English translation, where ‘broken’ translates only to a fractured bone… so for the first month or two of the season, we (the Americans on the team) were seriously wondering if anyone here drinks milk, as arms, legs, and knees were getting ‘broken’ left and right. We would ask, “How can your ankle be BROKEN… you just tripped?” Definitely Lost in Translation. And don’t even get me started on the Italian use of impossible…
Christie and Valeria... not applying for jobs at the United Nations anytime soon.
However, the reason for this blog is the funny moment that happened this weekend at dinner. Christie, whose hearing is usually impeccable, was chatting with our friend Valeria about the pasta we were eating. Unsure of the exact way to say it, Valeria was trying to tell Christie that our pasta was homemade… but instead used the word “hands” – as in ‘our pasta is hands – made.” However, not anticipating this use of wording (and having just struggled though appetizers of Liver and other exotic local specialties), Christie suddenly exclaimed in a loud voice, “Our pasta is made by ANTS? That is disgusting!” (Thinking she had said ants – made, not hands - made!) Needless to say, all the surrounding tables in the restaurant began looking at us, while we began laughing hysterically. This is what we mean by, Lost in Translation!***
Friends enjoying dinner -- from left to right Ross, Rachel, Phoebe, Monica, Joey, and Chandler.
~ J. Twice
* See the film – it will make the last paragraph much more relevant.
** Funny Side Note: If you repeatedly write “Fair Share” as “FARE SHAIR” – is that an early warning sign of dyslexia – or just excessive Italian white wine, which can be translated as WATER?
*** I should mention that later in the dinner Christie also mistook the name of an Italian restaurant for “ECUADOR” – and exclaimed out of the blue to Valeria, “I’ve never been to Ecuador!” Dios mio!
