Lost in Translation really surprised me with how spot on they depicted Japan to be, especially to foreigners.

My mother is Japanese and owns an english teaching business over there with my father who is American. I was born in Japan and lived there for 5 years before moving to Florida. Due to some hurricanes knocking my house down, I also spent my 7th grade year in Japan and attended a "real" Japanese school (as opposed to an international school), and have visited my mother's side of the family in Japan every summer until the age of 18 so I feel like my experiences have provided me with a decent grasp of Japanese culture.

Lost in Translation just seemed extremely "real" to me. It highlighted all of the intricacies and differences that make it sometimes overwhelming to someone from another country. It portrayed experiences that you normally could only relate to if you went there yourself, from language barriers, to the television, to the little quirks and processes or things just don't make sense.

For example, the scene where they shoot the commercial for the suntory whiskey had my dad dying. He relies on my mom to translate and this exact situation has happened more times I can count where a store employee, doctor, or friend will give a long detailed explanation to a question, and my mom will give a one sentence translation to the frustration of my dad.

On the other hand, my favorite scene is when bill is waiting in the hospital talking to the old lady. It reminded me of the countless times I've seen my grandmother and dad interacting. It had my mom cracking up just like those ladies in the back sitting behind bill.