Image: American Zoetrope Tohokushinsha Film
About This Quiz
The 2003 film, "Lost in Translation" has been hailed as one of the best film of the 2000s. While it has its share of accolades and criticisms, the film’s themes resonate with different kinds of people in various intersections of life. Think you can decipher the film with us? Then take this quiz and find out!
The film is partly based on real-life travels by writer-director Sofia Coppola. It was also co-produced by her dad’s production company. Who is her legendary filmmaker father?
Christopher Nolan
Neil Gaiman
Francis Ford Coppola
Sofia is from the filmmaking clan headed by Francis Ford Coppola. Brother Roman is also a filmmaker, who likes directing music videos.
Wes Anderson
The film’s main story takes place in which colorful and busy city in Japan?
Hiroshima
Tokyo
The vibrant city of Tokyo is where the film’s story takes place. While it is also as multicultural as New York, one could still get lost in translation there since many Japanese aren’t so fluent in English, and most signages also lack English counterparts.
Osaka
Nagoya
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Tokyo could look like any other cosmopolitan area in the developed world, but this city’s nightly displays give a unique vibe that characterizes the film. What kind of displays are these?
hologram posters
TV commercial screens
robotic ad endorsers
neon lights
The Japanese love their neon lights! Many of the colorful nightly displays of Tokyo are designed with these flashy colors.
The film’s story introduces us to Mr. Bob Harris, a visiting traveler, played by Bill Murray. What is Mr. Harris’ nationality?
American
Bob Harris is from the USA. He’s a middle aged American who looks disenchanted at Tokyo’s neon lights — or maybe he’s jetlagged.
European
Armenian
Iranian
Along the busy neon displays of Tokyo, Bob Harris spots a billboard with his face on it. What is his occupation, if he’s that famous?
New York playwright
New Orleans jazz singer
Hollywood actor
Bob Harris is a Hollywood actor. And if you have a billboard in Japan, he’s still a famous one.
Iowa author
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Why is Hollywood actor Bob Harris in Tokyo?
for vacation
to shoot a TV commercial
Bob is like many Hollywood A-listers who travel the world and do product endorsements. They seem to do that a lot more in Japan, though, where they shoot commercials exclusively for Japanese media airing.
to attend a press junket
to help open a branch of Planet Hollywood
What is the name of the product that Bob Harris is promoting in Japan?
Chivas Regal
Johnny Walker
Suntory
Suntory is a Japanese-originated brand. It is known as a top producer of alcoholic beverages in the country.
Jose Cuervo
Since Bob is a famous Hollywood actor, he can’t go outside that much — or even within the hotel’s premises — without this happening.
getting recognized
Bob easily gets recognized, especially by fellow Americans, whenever he steps out of his room.
getting held up
getting asked for an autograph
getting mugged
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What kind of alcoholic product is Bob endorsing for Suntory?
beer
vodka
whiskey
Bob is an endorser of Suntory Whiskey. It’s not clear if he is also an avid drinker of the product, but he’s happy to get the paycheck!
sake
Meanwhile, another character, Charlotte, is introduced to us in the film. Who portrayed this young woman?
Vanessa Hudgens
Lindsay Lohan
Scarlett Johansson
Scarlett Johansson played the twentysomething American college graduate, Charlotte. However, she was reportedly only 17 years old when they shot the film. Doesn’t look it!
Kristen Stewart
In the film, we see Charlotte doing more touristy things than Bob, like visiting ancient temples. What kind of people did she see in these temples or shrines?
monks
Charlotte is the one we see visiting Buddhist monks. There are many in Japan, for Buddhism is widely practiced there.
animators
robots
ninjas
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What traditional design-focused touristy exposure did Charlotte encounter in Tokyo?
samurai sword-making
a flower arranging class
Charlotte is also seen walking into a room where a class on the traditional art of Japanese flower arranging is being held. They call this art form ikebana.
anime drawing
Yamaha parts dismantling
Why is Charlotte in Japan?
her Japanese father sent for her
her husband is working there
It turns out that Charlotte, the young American woman in Tokyo, is there because her young husband, John, is working there for the meantime. Since she had nothing much to do, she went along for the ride.
she won a free trip
she’s looking for Totoro
What is Charlotte’s husband's job?
interior decorator
novelist
photographer
Charlotte’s husband, John, is a photographer who goes on shooting gigs wherever they are. And since he’s focused on celebrity shoots, he goes where he is assigned.
cartoonist
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As a concerned husband, John wants Charlotte to stop doing this daily vice. What is it?
drinking vodka tonic
biting her nails
betting on the lottery
smoking
Charlotte seems to smoke a lot. John wants her to stop, since he doesn’t smoke.
Both Bob and Charlotte are booked in the same Tokyo hotel. What top brand hotel franchise owns their hotel?
Hyatt
Bob and Charlotte are both booked at the Park Hyatt Hotel. The hotel rooms are actually part of the bigger Shinjuku Park Tower building, located in the Shinjuku ward commercial district.
Peninsula
Hilton
Ritz-Carlton
Bob and Charlotte meet for the first time inside the hotel’s premises. Where exactly do they meet?
at the daycare
inside the sauna massage
at the bar
Charlotte recognizes the lone Bob one night, so she sends him a drink. The next time, they start chatting, like what strangers or travelers do when meeting in hotel bars within a foreign land.
in the gym
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To entertain himself in the hotel, Bob tries out one of its sporty amenities. Which of these types of premises did he visit?
the volleyball court
the spa massage parlor
the hotel gym
To brush off his malaise, or to pass away time, Bob decided to visit the hotel gym one day. But since he had a brief gym machine malfunction at the treadmill, he quit after a few seconds.
the rooftop tennis lawn
Since Bob is shooting a commercial to be shown in Japan, his director is Japanese. How do they communicate?
via head signals
via sign language
via picture signs of filmmaking symbols
via a translator
A female Japanese interpreter doesn’t seem to be doing a good job for Bob, as he noticed. When the director would explain many sentences to her, she would translate it to Bob in just one sentence. So something indeed gets lost there.
What is the TV ad tagline that the Japanese director wants Bob to say out loud?
Sock it to the sake!
Swing it with Suntory!
It’s Suntory time!
The Suntory Whiskey tagline is “It’s Suntory time!†The director wants Bob to mouth the words in the coolest way possible, which he doesn’t understand via the poor translation.
We work for whiskey!
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Apparently, they use fake whiskey in the shoot, as Bob discovered. What do the Japanese film crew substitute for the whiskey in his glass?
Dr. Pepper
colored lemonade
iced tea
Since iced tea looks like whiskey, the Suntory commercial crew uses it as a prop substitute. Why they can’t use the real thing baffles Bob so much.
water
The Japanese photographer specifically wanted a “Sinatora pose†from Bob, which he didn’t understand. But when the photographer said “Old Blue Eyes,†he understood what he meant. Who is the photographer referring to?
Frank Sinatra
Sinatra is apparently known worldwide, so the photographer wants Bob to mimic Old Blue Eyes’ Rat Pack dapper pose. Bob gets it!
Bob Marley
Chuck Berry
Elvis Presley
When the Japanese photographer asked Bob to do a “Loger Moore pose,†the Hollywood oldie didn’t get it. But when the photographer said “007," he got it. What did it mean?
do a Rambo
do a James Bond pose
James Bond is another internationally famous character from western movies, popular in the east. So both the photographer and Bob knew what 007 meant.
do an A-Team pose
do a Mission: Impossible pose
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Every country has their own version of a Hollywood figure. In this case, Bob got invited to a talk show, of which the talk show is dubbed as the "___ ____ of Japan." Which American late night talk show host is he patterned after?
Conan O’Brien
Arsenio Hall
Oprah Winfrey
Johnny Carson
Bob’s agent told him that he got an invite from the "Johnny Carson of Japan." But the Hollywood oldie is not so sure about this.
Bob and Charlotte shared some stories over drinks while in the hotel bar. When it was revealed that Charlotte just graduated from college, Bob asked what her major was. What is her major, anyway?
film studies
Anglo-American literature
architecture
philosophy
Charlotte mentioned that she just "graduated last spring†and that she is a “philosophy major†back in school. She’s currently unsure of where to go next, career-wise, after school. Thinking too much?
How long did Bob say he had been married?
30 years
25 years
Charlotte confessed that she was only married for two years. Bob has been married for 25 years, so she says he’s due for a midlife crisis.
10 years
5 years
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Since Bob and Charlotte started talking, they also started hanging out, later doing touristy things. What specific entertainment activity did they do in Tokyo one night?
talked to a geisha
went singing in a videoke place
The very Japanese way of entertainment in a videoke place has become mainstream globally. But Bob was still game to sing a tune with Charlotte and her friends somewhere in downtown Tokyo.
drank all-you-can-drink sake
went Totoro-hunting
Bob and Charlotte also went inside a very noisy entertainment place usually full of kids and teenagers. What kind of place is this?
an arcade
Bob and Charlotte passed inside an arcade without engaging in anything there. It’s just like American arcades: too noisy and full of kids playing.
a teenage bar
an ice cream parlor
a tattoo place
Aside from trying Japanese entertainment, Bob and Charlotte also tried Japanese dining together. In what place did they go out to eat one time?
a ramen place
a sake bar
a sushi bar
Bob and Charlotte went to a small sushi bar to have a meal. Good thing they both like raw fish!
a dumpling joint
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Bob and Charlotte also experienced the weird side of Japanese entertainment, thanks to Charlotte’s bohemian friends. What type of adult entertainment did they walk out of?
a porn theater
a live sex show den
a strip joint
Charlotte took Bob to the Orange Place where she was supposed to meet some friends. But when they arrived, there was a dancing topless girl in front of them. They felt uncomfortable and left.
a peep show parlor
Global impact: One of Charlotte’s young Japanese friends decided to adopt a nickname from a classic American comic strip character. Which kiddie character was this?
Harry Potter
Dennis the Menace
Charlie Brown
One of Charlotte’s bohemian friends named himself Charlie Brown. Yes, they’re that bohemian!
Clark Kent
Once in a while, Bob corresponds with his American wife via this means.
long distance phone call
Bob still calls long distance and phones his wife. However, it’s hard for them to talk because of the time zone differences, as well as other unseen emotional differences between them...
fax messages
email
Whatsapp messages
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All talk and no oomph: So did Bob and Charlotte finally have a sexual affair?
no
While the emotional tension may have been leading to sexual tension between Bob and Charlotte, they didn’t have a sexual affair. However, an emotional one might be more powerful, so...
yes
just for one night
only through virtual reality
For their last Tokyo encounter, Bob rushed to Charlotte on a busy sidewalk, where he gave her a brief kiss. What else did he do?
whispered something to her
Bob whispered something intimate to Charlotte, and she responded positively, but the audience can't hear what it was. Director Sofia Coppola didn’t want us to hear it, as she said she wanted for that to be the two characters’ secret. But it worked!
gave her a postcard
patted her head
whisked her away with him
You Got:
/35
American Zoetrope Tohokushinsha Film