What is the basic message conveyed in the film "Lost In Translation"?

Pretty much that away from capitalistic society we are hardly adept to life the natural way yet are haunted with the political process within even small groups.

OR

A guinea pig society where an outside force is in total control of products essential to survive.

OR

Put simple, I have no clue either! Haha

Contentment is elusive?

There was no message. It was Bill Murry’s worst film ever.

I loved that movie. For a while I commuted back and forth to Japan and could relate.
For me the overall message is: there is a different culture, different language. different needs, even the 13 hours jet lag results in a different circadian rhythm for the foreigners: wake at night, sleepy and exhausted during the day. Disoriented. Where am I?
You just flow with it.
The opening scene where the lights and signs of the city, written in a jumble of Kanji, are reflected in the windows of the cab while the passenger stares out blankly is priceless. What does it all mean? It obviously means something to someone. But the message is lost on visitors.

Another great scene is the photo shoot for the whiskey commercial. He has a translator who is supposedly helping him. As he is being posed he asks a simple question something like “Where should I look?” The Japanese director explodes and starts ranting in Japanese for what seems like a full minute. After he is finished the translator says . “Look at the camera.”

I speak Japanese so I can understand the director. He was actually ranting something like: “What is wrong with this guy? He is supposed to be a professional. He should know what to do. This is wasting time and costing money….” . You, the viewer are not supposed to know what he really says . You just know he is angry.

The translator says a few words but the feeling is lost in translation. “Look at the camera.”

I’m not sure about “messages” in movies. I enjoyed the movie. The best way I could explain why I did was that I related to it somehow. While I have never been to Japan, I have certainly dealt with alienation, isolation, craving a need for emotional connection, and temporarily establishing a deep connection to a woman while in a strange environment, etc.

I loved lost in the translation for many reasons. But the message I took away from it is that communication, speaking, can mean literally nothing. Words hitting on the glass while the other person stares untouched by alienated behind the glass.

But even in that time you can find someone who is on the same side as you. You may not know them but in that moment you share and soothe each other. Learning to see and love the simple things again. To know what being alive is, and that the playful inner child can be reached no matter what age. It’s life; pointless, poignant, and frustrating. A battle or balance between mature responsibility and carefree bliss.

OMG I read, “LOST”

Disegard my answer above.

The basic message was for me, in corporate life repetition becomes mundane, so youth becomes infatuated with the symbol of older and vice versa. The lesson is, where ever is, one may eventually long for something else

I don’t know, was there intended to be a message in it? I prefer calling it Lost in Boredom. When I was younger I looked up to this movie in an almost religious manner. Nowadays I enjoy mocking it from to time.. whenever it comes up, such as now.

With respect, I disagree with @Dan_Lyons—Murray’s performance was spot on. Having worked in advertising and commercial-making for many years, I knew guys like the one Murray played—lonely, alienated, bored with the money and fame that even bad commercials that they know are beneath their talent—and I thought Murray captured that character perfectly.

For me, that’s the movie is about two lost souls—an sad, aging actor and a sad, unappreciated young wife—finding momentary love and solace in a relationship that couldn’t last but will be remembered for the rest of their lives.