Movie Review: Lost in Translation

Before anything else, let me say it is an absolute crime to NOT hug Scarlett Johannson if she's in the same bed with you.
Very bad form. Anyway.

If you've ever had to leave someone in a foreign city you wish you didn't have to, then this is the film for you.
If you've ever spent sleepless nights, feeling lost and wondering where you've gone wrong, this is the film for you.
Even if you've never done either, Lost in Translation is worth a look.
Seriously.

I was hesitant at first to view this one, since Sofia Coppola has a penchant for deeply depressing storytelling. Very good reviews from all around the world (and the fact that it was shot in Japan) finally persuaded me to give this unassuming little film a viewing. And it was well worth it.

The story's simple enough. Bob Harris (Bill Murray) is a washed up (amazing how much this phrase pops up in reviews of this movie) actor who now makes his living endorsing a brand of whiskey in Japan. For the uninitiated, western actors/actresses/stars doing this is actually quite common. Even Beckham does it. Anyway, Bob is a typical middle aged man wrestling the usual demons: career, marriage and realising he doesn't know what he's doing. At the same time, Charlotte (Scarlett Johannson, yum) a young woman married to a photographer (rolls eyes, played by Giovanni Ribisi) is facing her own kind of depression: being left alone in a huge sprawling metropolis night after night. Inevitably, Bob and Charlotte meet. So you think, this is so formulaic. Sparks fly, they end up sleeping with each other and teary eyed heartbreak follows.

Actually, no.

What does happen is far simpler. Bob and Charlotte discover that by getting lost, it's sometimes easier to find yourself. Through a series of adventures (and some misadventures) the jadedness that pervaded them when they first arrive is replaced by that childish sense of adventure and perhaps more importantly, friendship. There are some who argue that the very notion of Charlotte falling for a man like Bob (which happens, alas) is sickening. But then again, the beauty of Lost in Translation is that it's never about sexual tension. These are just two individuals happy to have each others' company and their friendship.

Sofia Coppola chose to shoot everything on location, and the megalopolis is as much a star of the show as Bill and Scarlett are. The cinematography is nothing spectacular, but her lenses manage to capture the quirkiness and unpredictable nature of Japan in the short hour and a half that this film takes. There is a lot on offer here, from Bill's incessant channel surfing to the marvelously strange shopping district to the serene environ that are their temples. It's almost like a travelogue of sorts without stooping to typical Asian "put-downs". One notable scene is when Bob's employers send him a high class prostitute who insists he "lip" her stockings. That scene alone is worth the price of admission.

As usual, there are some weaknesses. SOME typical Asian stereotypes do show through, and Bob and Charlotte remain absolute gaijin to the end (although this is highly realistic, IMO). There is not too much in the way of dialogue but Coppola ensure that every silence is filled with something else: and expression, a gesture, a look.

I won't spoil the movie by giving anything away. Suffice to say that it ends on a sad if hopeful note. It may not have been the ending we would have wanted, but it would have been the right one. It's a movie dedicated to the connections we make in our lives, and to the fact that sometimes it takes a journey halfway around the world to make a full circle.

Go watch it.

The Ox gives Lost in Translation a 4 out of 5.