Two Americans meet in Tokyo and spark off a surprising friendship which will lead both to discover a new belief in life's possibilities.
Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation is one of the most quietly beautiful films of the last decade; a deeply moving character study of two people who have become lost in their own lives.
It tells the story of Bob Harris (Bill Murray) and Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson), a middle-aged American film star and a young college graduate.
They find each other whilst alone in a foreign land trying to figure out what is missing from their lives. On the surface, neither has much to complain of: both are wealthy enough to be staying in the luxurious hotel in which they meet, are in comfortable marriages and enjoy lives free of violence, addiction or anything more dramatic than a general sense of ennui.
From a wider perspective, perhaps their troubles do seem trivial: Bob is no longer as famous as he once was and is frustrated with himself for selling out to do Japanese whisky commercials when he could be doing theatre. Charlotte has a great deal more intelligence than any of the people around her and a college degree but no real idea of what to do with either. Both are in marriages that are no-longer truly satisfying, Bob's because the romance has gone after 25 years, Charlottes because her husband's interest in her seems to be fading after only a few. Simply put, neither really love their partner the way they once did.
With a lesser cast such a story could easily have come across as nothing more than the whining of the rich and bored. Fortunately it has, in Murray and Johansson, two actors who are both immensely talented and perfectly cast. Neither come off as spoilt or self-pitying, merely unsatisfied with life; a feeling no amount of money can entirely safeguard us from.
Murray in particular is impossible not to empathise with. Bob seems simply exhausted with his own life, displaying brief glimpses of the charm that once made him a star but which he no longer has the energy to sustain for longer than is absolutely necessary to get him through the next chat show or whisky commercial. His marriage suffers similarly as he struggles to summon the energy or enthusiasm he once had for it, calling his wife each night with nothing much to say.
When around Charlotte we see him spark back into life; the desire to make her laugh or even smile revitalises him, reeling off jokes with typical Bill Murray charm.
Lost in Translation is set apart from typical Hollywood love stories by its refusal to follow the usual arc: Bob and Charlotte never declare their feelings for each other or explicitly admit that their relationship is anything more than friendship. They wind up in bed together but the most physical contact they share is when he touches her foot. By allowing their relationship to progress in such an understated way, Coppola makes it far more intimate, seeming like a true meeting of two lost souls, rather than a mere fling caused by two failing marriages.
Of course, the love story is tinged with melancholy from the very beginning: to get the ending the audience desires - Bob and Charlotte riding off into the sunset together - would require them both to betray and abandon their partners, neither of whom have done anything to deserve such treatment. Add in to the bargain the fact that Bob has a young daughter and it becomes clear that such an ending is impossible. Bob and Charlotte seem to grasp this, we sense from the beginning that they know they will have to return to real life soon, that the quasi-romance they are enjoying can be nothing more than a temporary escape.
Tokyo makes the perfect backdrop for such a story: its futuristic neon-clad buildings and towering skyscrapers give it an otherworldly feel, only enhanced by the mixture of familiarity and strangeness it offers to Western visitors. This environment only enhances the characters' sense of displacement; surrounded by a city similar to those of their homeland and yet made different by the many quirks of Japanese culture, such as the hotel employees constant desire to thank Bob or the incredibly melodramatic "masseuse" sent to him by his associates.
The effect is to create a setting that feels almost otherworldly, allowing Bob and Charlotte to escape briefly from the real world where there relationship would be impossible.
The location is also rather wonderful from a purely aesthetic point of view. Few places on earth offer the spectacle of Tokyo at night; a sleek and futuristic veneer covering a seedier underworld, all drenched in neon lighting and all utterly gorgeous. Coppola takes full advantage, showing both sides to the city in all their glory, though perhaps the most moving shots are those of the entire city as Bob or Charlotte looks out from their hotel room window, capturing both the beauty of the city and their sense of utter isolation.
Lost in Translation is a highly unconventional film: a love story in which a happy ending is impossible and in which the main characters never share so much as a kiss. Its unorthodox nature combined with the talents of Murray, Johansson and Coppola produce a film of rare beauty depicting a romance almost completely devoid of sexuality and which is all the more intriguing because of this.
A true modern classic and a must-see.
5 years on since first seeing this film at the cinema, I still find myself returning to it on a regular basis. Sofia Coppola shows a huge maturity above her career years with this, only her second film. It seems she learnt a few things from her acclaimed father Francis Ford Coppola, and her husband Spike Jonze.
Lost in Translation is based around the relationship between Bob (played by Bill Murray) a once famous actor now nursing a marriage breakdown and possible midlife crisis whilst away selling his soul to advertising, and Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson) the lonely wife of an up and coming photographer who seemingly has no time for her anymore. The story twists and turns through a variety of sub plots, all ranging from the funny, to the romantic and heartbreaking. Set in Tokyo and scored with a dreamy shoe-gazing soundtrack you cannot help but be sucked in by the beauty and subtle grace of the simple story. Set in almost another world, yet something everyone can relate to.
With outstanding performances throughout (especially from the reliably superb Murray) and great cinematography this film is, in my opinion, as close to perfect as any. There is not one aspect I would change and the relationship between the two leads (so open to interpretation) always brings you back for one more stab at working it out.
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Winner of an Academy Award in 2003 for best original screenplay and three Golden Globe awards including best actor for Bill Murray, Sofia Coppola's poignant drama about Americans abroad stars Bill Murray as Bob Harris, a movie actor well past his prime who is in Tokyo to shoot a whiskey commercial. Jet-lagged and disillusioned, Bob spends most of his free time in the hotel bar, where he meets Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson). She is married to John (Giovanni Ribisi), a successful photographer in Tokyo on an assignment, who pays her scant attention, leaving her to her own devices most of the time. Both bored and lonely, Bob and Charlotte become friends, and form a strong and meaningful bond as they explore Tokyo together. The two share a dissatisfaction with their lives: Charlotte is intelligent enough to understand that her marriage is going nowhere, and Bob's relationship with his wife has become more like a business partnership (his wife communicates with him by Fed-Exing upholstery samples for his new study to the hotel) than a marriage. As their friendship develops, the fun and warmth they are getting from it serves to highlight the lack of affection in their marriages, and they both start to gain an insight into what really matters in their lives.
Sofia Coppola's second feature-length film focuses on two guests at a Tokyo hotel. Bob (played by Bill Murray), a middle-aged actor in town to film whiskey commercials, and Charlotte (played by Scarlett Johansson), the young wife of a trendy photographer (played by Giovanni Ribisi) who is always out on a shoot.
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