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LOST IN TRANSLATION Send This Review to a Friend
This new film written and directed by Sofia Coppola is not only one of the most accomplished of 2003 but has an award-caliber performance by Bill Murray, who endearingly plays an American movie star in Tokyo with both hilarious and romantically tender results. Coppola's film, steadily cool and convincing in the atmosphere that it builds, is about the clash of cultures, marital boredom, the lift that a new friendship can bring, the bridging of an age gap and the need to recognize what is possible and what is not. There is a bittersweet quality, with much that is delicately understated, and Coppola brings a knowing assurance to her story that one might think could only come from someone much older. In short, this is a beautiful, satisfying job of filmmaking.
Murray is particularly wonderful as Bob Harris, a famous but jaded actor who is making television commercials for a whiskey in Tokyo. He really doesn't understand what the Japanese shooting the commercial are saying, and they certainly don't understand his very funny quips. He goes through the motions required with expertise in scenes that humorously pinpoint a wide cultural gap. Bob is bored with his marriage and his wife back home gives him digs over the phone that reveal their growing apart. He is restless and finding it hard to sleep.
As life would have it, he meets a much younger soul mate. Scarlett Johansson, an actress I have come to admire greatly, plays Charlotte, who is staying at the same hotel with her photographer husband, portrayed by Giovanni Ribisi as an insensitive workaholic, who leaves her alone to go off on a shoot. Charlotte has trouble sleeping too, and when she and Bob meet, a subtle connection begins to grow. Neither is on the make, but we can feel the blossoming attraction. Murray and Johansson are fascinating to watch--and very likable.
Coppola captures the magic of two people who meet under fleeting circumstances and develop affection. The film is not about jumping into bed. It is deeper than that, and yet it is also wistful because both know that they are not about to toss away their marriages with ease. The fact that Charlotte is only 25 and Bob is so much older hardly enters into it. They become kindred spirits who can laugh at the same things and share a shorthand understanding of how they see the world around them. This is the sort of film in which you wish they would say the hell with everything and take off together.
"Lost in Translation" is a movie that sneaks up on you and gets under your skin. Everything about it is classy, and it is a big leap forward for Coppola as a director who doesn't need to be identified as Francis Ford Coppola's daughter. A Focus Features release.
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