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Review: Lost in Translation
On Saturday I made another pilgrimage to the University district of Seattle to go see another indy film that is was playing there. I can not count all the good non-mainstream films that grace the art film houses including some films that start out on the art house circuit and then bust out to mainstream movie land. Pulp Fiction and Blair Witch were like that. I seriously hope that Lost in Translation make the transition and gets distributed world wide.
Lost in Translation is a wonderfully scripted and executed movie that was funny and emotional. The theater laughed and while I was touched by the end I saw some elderly ladies crying into their tissues. This movie made me want to go back to Japan but reminded me of how it would be almost impossible for me to fit in there. Japan is not just a setting in this movie but it is also a character.
Lost in Translation was written and directed by Sofia Coppola the daughter of Francis Ford Coppola of the Godfather movies. She has crafted a wonderful movie that is her own. It is a very feminine creative voice and it was very refreshing.
The movie stars Bob Harris ( Bill Murray ) an aging middle age Hollywood star who has had the best years and the best career behind him. I hope that Mr. Murray did not take the roll personally and I hope he continues to make films until he is eighty. He is over in Japan shooting an ad campaign for Suntory whiskey. He is sort of in the middle of a mid-life crisis that is manifested by his materialistic wife and the fact that he rarely gets to see her and their children. He did a photo shoot for the ad campaign and he is scheduled to appear on a wacky Japanese talk show so he has the week in a huge luxury hotel in Tokyo. He does not fit in and he can't sleep. The alienation of being a foreigner and not speaking the language is a metaphor for his displacement with the world, his career and his relationship with his family.
The Japanese dialog spoken in the film is perfect Japanese and it is not subtitled or translated with the exception of Bob's occasional translator who is quite vague. The scene where the ad director shouted out passionate long directions to Bob in Japanese and the translator just told him "Turn to the camera with more passion."
Charlotte ( Scarlett Johansson ) is a young American woman who is recently out of college and recently wed to a young photographer to the stars. He is in Tokyo on a photo shoot and she came along for the ride but is left alone in the hotel to explore Tokyo on her own. She is having a 20-something "What the hell am I going to do with my life crisis of faith". I know those well.
The two pass each other and finally meet in the late night hotel bar and realize that they are both faces with similar situations of being out of place in Japan, their relationships and out of peace with the world. They explore Tokyo together and try to work through the emotional issues that they are faced with. They form an deep emotional connection but it does not get creepy or disturbing given the decades between them. It is also not a romance in the traditional sense of the word but more a bonding.
It is a very well done movie that is about finding your purpose and yourself in the world. It is not about a passionate romance or saving the world. Some critics have said that this movie is aimless but I see it more as an emotional journey than pointless. Westerners like myself who have been to Japan will especially enjoy this movie but I like it because it is a good movie not because it is about Japan. Jane wrote a good review of this movie.
You will laugh and you will cry. Not quite a romance and not quite a comedy. If you are fortunate to live in a place with a good indy movie theater you should check it out. I think we can expect great films from Ms Coppola.
Jake at October 6, 2003 
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Comments
For more from Sofia Coppola, check out The Virgin Suicides. Man, this movie was so stinking good. It's definitely getting a pretty wide release, as I was able to see it at the cineplex in Columbia, MO. Bill Murray was great.
Posted by: brendoman at October 6, 2003 2:09 AM
Yo this movie sucked just like Signs. Dude Bill Murray was not goofy and it was not even funny!! Every Bill Murray movie should be a comedy! Like Charlie's Angels now that was a better Bill Murray movie. Also it was not logical enough. If it was logical Bill Murray would have done that chick doggie style and married her at the end. And it needed more explosions and car chases. Therefore the movie sucked. I am SOO smart and anyone who liked this movie is a dumb ass!! You probably play Lamecube anyway. LOL Halo rulz ROFL!!!!
Posted by: Mr. Xbox at October 6, 2003 11:39 AM
You know there was this ditz blond action movie actress in the movie that is thinly based on Cameron Diaz
Posted by: Jake at October 6, 2003 11:43 AM
Bill Murray is doing the voice of Garfield in the upcoming movie adaption.
Posted by: Matt at October 6, 2003 11:47 AM
That's Anna Faris from Scary Movie 1 and 2. She almost always plays ditzy characters. However I think she rates very high on the strokability scale. By the way Lost in Translation got a limited release, just like Bubba Ho-tep. Although it is much easier to find a theater playing this one. I guess neither of these movies are quite up to the standards of the new Cuba Gooding Jr. movie.
Posted by: BBQ at October 6, 2003 11:11 PM
haven't seen this movie yet but just already read alot about it and saw the trailers. i think any westerner who has been to japan before can pretty much remember this strange but fascinating 'big-city-melancholy' which i guess this movie also spreads alot. i love it! it's like bladerunner ... well.... sorta!
i think i will give this one a go sooner or later!
Posted by: dr_colossus of dataleak at October 7, 2003 3:08 PM
I've read nothing but good things, including one reference in the LA Weekly calling it clearly influenced by Wong Kar-wai's Chunking Express.
I also agree Sofia Coppola's writing and directing were fantastic in the Virgin Suicides. Her acting work in Godfather III, less so.
Posted by: Trapp at October 10, 2003 6:47 AM
I jsut saw the movie last night, and at first, was not as impressed as I had hoped. However, the more I think about it, the more I like it, and I'm actually at the point where I'd like to see it again. I love the craziness that is potrayed in the scenes in the city (loved the arcades), as well as the more tranquil scenes in the temples and gardens. Kind of a weird contrast, but it worked.
Posted by: pellinore at October 10, 2003 1:46 PM
I have been to those very same temples in Kyoto. Yeah the arcades of Akihabara and Roppongi are insane.
Posted by: Jake at October 10, 2003 1:48 PM
Will definitely have to go and see this film soon.
Thanks for dropping by my blog.
Posted by: vanilla sky at January 30, 2004 12:48 PM
I'm trying to figure out which temple Charlotte visits when she goes to Kyoto. I have been to the "big three" (Kiyomizudera, Gin-Kakuji, Kin-Kakuji) and it isn't any of them. Could you email me the answer?
Cheers,
Patrick
Osaka
Posted by: Patrick Boyle at February 3, 2004 11:47 PM
I thought it was Kiyomizu but I could be wrong because I have not been there in ten years.
Posted by: Jake at February 4, 2004 9:10 AM
