Lost in Translation

Sofia Coppola, USA/Japan, 2003, 102 minutes

Murray plays Bob Harris, a middle aged actor past his prime who has flown to Japan to make a whisky commercial. Suffering from jetlag and finding the culture alien and the language barrier almost impassable, he meets a kindred spirit in the form of Charlotte (Johansson), a young wife in Tokyo with her mostly absent photographer husband. The two become unlikely travel companions, spending free time together over a few days in a city where they don’t belong.

The title of the movie not only refers to the linguistic and cultural barrier between the East and West, but also alludes to the fact that the main characters are both lost souls: Bob is jaded and world-weary, in a mediocre marriage and on the verge of a midlife crisis, while Charlotte is looking for "her place in life", recently graduated from university and going through a "quarter life crisis" (which we all have to look forward to in the dark days to come). Through each other they come to a better understanding of themselves.

This is the second movie from Sofia Coppola and with this and the success of her first movie The Virgin Suicides, she has been able to step out from under her father’s shadow and has shown that she is a very talented writer and director. Lost in Translation was nominated for 4 Academy Awards and Sophia won best Original screenplay (aka "We’re giving everything to Return of the King, any other year and you could have gotten the rest"). And in my not so humble opinion, Sir Bill Murray was robbed of the Best Actor Oscar. If you haven’t already, go and see this heart warming, funny and touching movie. Go and see it again if you already have. Like a fine wine this grows with repeat viewing. OK, so you don’t view wines, you drink them, but apart from that the analogy was working. Hell, just get a whisky, sit back and enjoy yourself. You deserve it.

Review by Karl "Carlito Baby" Byrne
Written for EUFS Programme Autumn 2004