Lost in Translation

9/10


Writer/director Sofia Coppola presents a hilarious and touching romantic/comedy so unlike all the others it hardly stirs any reminders of them.

The closest film that resembles this would be Richard Linklater’s "Before Sunrise," a film about a man and a women traveling across Europe who’s paths cross in Vienna where they then have heart-to-hearts on life, love, religion, and other sweet nothings, all the while falling in love.

But there is still a large disparity between these two great films. Lost in Translation is quieter and funnier. Compared to Sunrise, there is less camera time documenting conversation and more time capturing the characters soul-searching and encountering their frustrations.

The great Bill Murray plays Bob Harris, a movie star who can be recognized all over the world, as evidenced by the fans who notice him in Tokyo, the story’s setting, and the advertisements that display his image next to Suntory whiskey, whose advertising gig brings Bob to Tokyo. As he explains in the film, he came to Tokyo for a $2 million advertisement when he “could be back home doing a play.” He leaves his wife and kids behind and journeys to Tokyo alone.

Staying in the same hotel as Bob is a young married couple, John (Giovanni Ribisi) and Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson). John, a hip photographer, is in Tokyo for work and Charlotte is a recent college graduate who wonders whats next (she received a degree in philosophy) and tagged along with her husband as she “had nothing better to do.”

Charlotte begins to grow an uncertainty about the man she’s married and about her future in the career world. Bob’s marriage has declined over the years, losing its spark and romance. His inspiration as an actor has also plummeted (why else would he be doing an ad instead of a play?).

Bob and Charlotte both experience a lonely stay in Tokyo. Much of John’s time is absorbed by work and later he must leave Tokyo and Charlotte for a short trip. Bob’s only encounters with other human beings are Japanese photographers, their meager translators, and the bar tenders of Tokyo until he meets Charlotte one night in the hotel’s bar where they relate their desire to get the hell out of Tokyo. After frequent run-ins with each other, the two forge a friendship.

Mr. Murray turns in one of his strongest performances yet. Sure, Bob verbally expresses his feels at times, but they would mean nothing if he couldn't portray those thoughts and feelings through his actions. It is not his words that tell us he is disillusioned, its the way his move when he's sitting at the bar, the way he walks down the street, the way he breathes, and the way he asks the Japanese-speaking photographer how to appear in the ad. The same goes for Ms. Johansson.

The theme of loneliness is greatly portrayed in Lance Acord’s cinematography. He frequently juxtaposes the two main characters against large backdrops - monuments and cityscapes - to further emphasis their “living on an island” mindset in such a crowded and foreign city. Mr. Acord also captures his subjects’ reflections as they gaze out of windows in deep thought, possibly to further emphasize the self-analysis and uncertainty each character goes through.

The relationship between Bob and Charlotte is remarkable. They are strangers of different ages and classes and yet in all of Tokyo’s heavy traffic the two lost souls find each other and help each other. They establish a connection that really only strangers with nobody else could have. Their relationship is ambiguous, with no definite path. And its ending brings about both a whimper and a smile.