Lost In Translation

Genre: comedy drama
Director: Sofia Coppola
Release: 2003
Studio: American Zoetrope, Elemental Films, Focus Features
Rating: R
MBiS score: 7.3/10


A Kiss is Just a Kiss (thank you, Louis Armstrong)


Bob Harris (Bill Murray), a washed up American actor who appears in TV ads to fend off irrelevance, finds himself in Tokyo one day to shoot a commercial for Suntory whisky. Jet-lagged, distracted and groggy, he is visibly bored despite the attention he receives as a celebrity guest. Things will change, however, when he unexpectedly meets Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson), a young compatriot with problems of her own. With Giovanni Ribisi (John), Anna Faris (Kelly) and Catherine Lambert (the jazz singer).

Some movies are more difficult to fathom than others and LOST IN TRANSLATION is one such film. Neither loud nor busy, it deals in emotions and lets them evolve at a natural pace, truly reflecting life as you and I live it. For this reason, don’t expect big laughs or gut-wrenching action from this film but subtle comedy, light drama and a pleasantly disorienting mood. In her screenplay, Sofia Coppola chose to practise empathy and I don’t see how else she could have depicted her two travellers stranded in a foreign land, struggling to understand their surroundings and what is happening to them. When you go abroad, especially in a country with a culture vastly different from yours, the need to confide in someone you trust is a strong and natural reaction that both Bob and Charlotte will act upon with complete candour.

Technically speaking, LOST IN TRANSLATION remains true to its purpose. It genuinely cares for its characters and shows them for what they are, without fanfare nor pretense. Bill Murray was given a role perfectly suited to him and Scarlett Johansson played hers with justifiable restraint as a young woman searching for the key to her future. The age difference between Bob and Charlotte may – or may not – matter in the story. By comparison, other characters are relegated to bit parts while the real support comes from Japan’s capital, fabulous and iridescent, awesome but never hostile, a city brimming with movement and friendly people; the camera clearly adores Tokyo’s vistas and captures them with elegance. As for Ms. Coppola’s direction, it carries the narrative smoothly and competently.

However, all this beauty and sympathy comes at a cost and LOST IN TRANSLATION suffers from a lack of content that may leave you unfulfilled. I cannot help comparing it with BROKEN FLOWERS, another vehicle for Bill Murray’s deadpan best, which wasn’t a powerhouse either but managed to get the viewer a little more involved than this one. As sensitive a movie as Ms. Coppola’s can be, it remains slight and feels at times like a travelogue. The film’s denouement, also, can hardly be called a climax.

I know that many in moviedom have expressed admiration for LOST IN TRANSLATION but, in life as in matters of motion picture entertainment, it never hurts to be choosy. You may watch this film if you want to – it’s agreeable all right – but I wouldn’t call it essential viewing. As George Borrow once said, ‘Translation is at best an echo.’ Sorry.


MBiS

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