The more you know

"The more you know who you are, and what you want, the less you let things upset you."
-Bob, Lost in Translation

I picked up Lost in Translation yesterday at Best Buy, not because I have a big crush on Scarlett Johansson (OK, minor contributing factor), but because it's one of those movies that I think genuinely explores a deep emotional aspect of the human condition. Clearly not many people are that fond of it, seeing as how it was only ten bucks, but I think it's brilliant.

The movie is about two people that are in a weird place physically, emotionally and spiritually, and find comfort in each other's company. The right people for the right the time and place. It's nothing more complicated than that. Maybe the fact that it is something so simple is the reason people don't like it, but come on, how could you not identify with that?

And that of course gives me the urge to write and make a film. That's something I desperately need to get out of my system. My first screenplay, Third Time, was pretty horrible. I think it's a good idea, but I can't even revisit it and get it beyond the first draft. It's horrible because the first act is stupid, and it's hard as hell to setup the main character as his own nemesis. I haven't thought of any clever plot devices like that.

I guess I want to make a film that has an impact on people the way some films have an impact on me. That's probably not even a realistic expectation for a first try, and maybe that's what's holding me back. I need to write something more simple, that I can shoot in a day or two. It doesn't have to be something deep... there will be plenty of time for that down the road.