Lost in Translation (DVD, 2004, Widescreen)

Features Actors:Bill Murray, Scarlett Johanson & Giovanni Ribisi
Running tme: 102 min.
Rating: R

Lost in Translation is a tale of two people adrift in their own lives whose paths cross as they sit in Tokyo, trying to figure out where their lives are going. Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson) married a photographer, and while his career carries them all around the world as he snaps celebrities there is no glamour in this life for Charlotte. He seems oblivious to the fact that his obsession with his own life is making the woman he loves miserable, and she’s beginning to wonder what it was that made the man she married the man she loved, and whether those things still exist. Bob (Bill Murray) is famous, or he was once. The blockbuster movies have become a thing of the past, but he’s still enough of a face to warrant a Japanese whisky company flying him out to spearhead their advertising campaign. Bob has two kids and a wife, or more accurately, Bob has two kids and a marriage, his love for them being the only thing stopping him from walking away from her. Neither of them have anything to fill their days with in Japan, Charlotte fills the time between brief encounter with her husband by seeing the sights, or simply staring out the window. Bob fills the time between his promotional obligations by propping up the hotel bar - neither managing to distract themselves from their troubles, with each experience leaving them sinking further into their solitary depression. Some people find it easy to be alone in a room full of people, it can be hard not to be when nobody in the room speaks your language. And when even your spouse feels like they’re speaking in a foreign tongue, the isolation can be overwhelming, and communication is not a overwhelming success in either of their marriages. Charlotte and Bob’s first meeting is, suitably, facilitated by boredom. Bob has nothing to do but sit by the bar, Charlotte is desperate to escape the mindless whittering of her husband’s celebrity friends, the two of them sit talking, the rest of the world oblivious to them. It doesn’t take long for them to stop being alone, together, and start being together, alone, and this odd couple that should never have met start to enjoy Tokyo for the first time.

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This movie is a favorite of mine for may reasons.

1-The directing is nicely done. Shot entirely on location in Japan, Sofia Coppola does a great job of capturing the feel of Tokyo and it's culture, and also shoots the characters well. Nice cinematography.

2-The plot/story is very good. Coppola does a nice job of putting us at the scene, so we can relate to the characters frustrations, joys etc. and the events that happen to them, even though this is a foreign location. The charcater development is subtle and progressive and without giving too much away; the film keeps you guessing and then thinking it will be predictable, then keeps you hanging on again, and back and forth. This makes it hard for me to label it with the genres that it could be placed into by some.--It is differeent from any movie I have seen-In a Good way.

3-Great Acting! Bill Murray shines, as he usually does. Scarlet Johansson is also excellent and her and Murray's interaction makes for great, involving cinema. The supporting cast also does a great job of keeping the dialogue and the plot moving.

4-Great soundtrack. Nice ambient and electronic soundscapes to match the cinematic scenes of Japan and the quiet emotional parts of the film. this is mixed with some upbeat stuff you have probably never heard, in the faster scenes of the movie. It matches the visuals well, and adds to the overall feel of the film as a whole, as an experience.

This is definately the type of movie I would have gone out and rented or watched on my own. i probably had preconceptions of what it was--ie; a romantic comedy or a "chick flick" or some such. As I stated, it doesn't fit into any specific category in my eyes. I am glad an ex-girlfriend and I watched it though, because it instantly became one of my faves and I went out to buy it to own the following day.

This film is a good vehicle for Bill Murray. The story behind his involvement in the film made it all the more compelling. Sophia Coppola created the project with him in mind, set the whole thing up trusting he would show up, but not knowing for sure he would until the very last minute! He agreed to do the film, and she had no more communication with him until he turned up on the set (in Japan) the day before the shooting began! It is a good concept, aptly portrayed by the leads, of being totally out of their element, separated from their real lives back home & isolated by the very different culture & language they find themselves confronted with. They find some consolation in the commiseration of a fellow traveler staying at the same hotel -- each other. The big city lights & posh hotel adds to the sense of isolation, in that it is all so familiar -- it could be New York or Chicago -- yet everything is SO different.
I enjoyed the movie. It wasn't earth shaking, but was amusing & kind of romantic. Bill Murray is always a safe bet for entertainment. I enjoyed the out-takes especially. As said, the premise is good. If you watch Japanese commercials, English language teaching (in combination with exercise) videos, game shows, or other Japanese programs depicting what they consider to be funny, it is very apparent that, as our good friend (& web guru), Isaac Johns, once commented, "They are just DIFFERENT over there!"

Ok, I admit it. I hate Sofia Coppola. All of her movies are crap. EXCEPT Lost in Translation. My friend and I talked about this the other night, and I finally realized why I had such a damn soft spot for this movie.

First off, you have to understand that everything Sofia touches she turns into this dreamy, slow, and somewhat fanciful creation with characters who feel alienated. Point in fact, Marie Antoinette, which needed to be a strong, historical movie, became a boring slide show of pretty pictures set to jarringly modern music with a few bland lines thrown in for flavor, and left the audience feeling alienated.

But Lost in Translation NEEDS to be dreamy, slow and fanciful. It is a simple movie about two people who are lost and feel quite alone in this foreign place. Because the two characters are alienated from the world around them, they perceive it in a dreamy sort of way. The story is a very small slice of their lives, cut out and displayed to us in all its fanciful glory. If you actually experienced the same thing these two characters are going through, it wouldn't even be a story to tell your friends, because it is such a "two ships, crossing in the dark" kind of film.

But it works. It makes you think. You leave the theatre feeling hopeful about life, touched by everything going on around you, and remembering the smallest things, like the person you smiled at yesterday at the supermarket. Who knows what type of effect you had on that person's life?

Sofia Coppola is a one-note filmmaker, and this was the one note that she actually hit right. And trust me, when she hits it, she really HITS IT.

When the first 5 minute scene on the widescreen is of a girl's behind in scanty see through underpants lifting her hips sideways up and down,you know the only persons who would say thumbs up will be voyers.
Scarlet is related to the director. Is that not nepotism? Scarlet is no starlet yet.
Bill attempts to be funny in this movie. But his Sardonic comments and facial expressions are lost to the slow start. The movie never picks up and yes it makes a point that it is awful to be the only person not understanding what is going on around him in a new and different place, this message was totally unnecessary to convey in a feature film.
But how many millions of people suffer from Alzheimers and related Dementia and are truly lost in translation? Perhaps had this been a documentary to encourage people to Care for those who are truly lost and indeed truly in need of Compassion , Physical and Emotional Care this movie would have been worthwhile.
The person behind us in the theater fell asleep and some persons across from us walked out.
Boring wake me when it is over.This movie is a great sedative.