There is no denying that Sofia Coppola's Lost In Translation is more of a mood-piece than a conventional Hollywood story.
Bob Harris (Bill Murray) is an American movie star in his 50s who arrives in Tokyo to endorse a Japanese whiskey, and for which he would be paid a hefty sum of 2million bucks. Estranged from his family, he reflects upon the dimming relationship with his wife and the washed-out prospects of his career. Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson) is a philosophy graduate in her early twenties, married for only a couple of years, and who is constantly left behind in her swanky & posh hotel room while her photographer-husband goes to work. She manages to fill her days visiting tourist-attractions but her nights are unbearably lonely. Two individuals of different circumstances, on a quest to find meaning in their lives, lost in a city of strangers.
It seems almost inevitable that these two characters would meet by chance and fall in love with each other somewhere along the way but seriously, this film isnt a romantic comedy though comedic elements are aplenty and there are a number of gorgeously-shot, quiet and intimate scenes (though never in the romantic/sexual sense). Rather, Lost In Translation is almost subtly tragic; the characters never really found the fulfilment they sought by the film's end, as if there isnt a solution to their predicaments in the first place.
Bill Murray turns in a wonderfully nuanced performance as the aging actor; his funniest and most cryptic lines are always laced with a certain poignancy yet he never lets his character become pitiful. Similarly, Scarlett Johansson's Charlotte is matured and played with such admirable poise that you tend to forget she's only eighteen when she made this movie. The cinematography is execellent; director Sophia Coppola makes full use of Tokyo's perpetually busy pedestrian walkways and neon-lit skyscrapers to beautiful (and surreal) effect.
However, the pacing of the film is languid throughout, and detractors might find this intolerably boring by the second half of the show. Moreover, the momentum never seems to reach a crescendo at all and there isnt really much of a plot to speak of. Some critics have even accused the film of being overtly anti-Japanese. Nevertheless, in my humble opinion, Lost In Translation does not mean to disparage or emphasize cultural disparity, but it is an honest effort to draw up a map of the lonely, human soul. Bittersweet at best, dull at its worst, Sofia Coppola's masterpiece is still a worthwhile watch. Well, to me, at least... ;) my ratings: 4/5 stars!
