once in a lifetime...

Rating: 10/10 (2 May 2011)

Sofia Coppola's "lost in translation" is a beautiful film. Everything about it is just so great. Its about an againg actor Bob Harris (Bill Murray), an actor out of his prime, not sure about life, about to shoot a commercial in Tokyo for whiskey. Bill Murray amazed me when I saw this film. I really didn't know that he could have this type of emotional range. Bob Harris is a character similar to Bill Murray, but Bill Murray makes his character so original, funny, and likable. Bob eventually meets a young woman named Charlotte (played by Scarlett Johanson). Like Bob, Charlotte is a person not sure of their life, and what they want to be. Charlotte tags along with her husband, who she jumped into a marriage with, while he shoots a music video in Tokyo. Scarlett Johanson really defined herself as an actress here. She got snubbed for Best Actress at the Oscars (she wasn't even nominated). She is a very curious woman stuck in a glass cage, wanting to discover life, then she eventually does when she meeets Bob.
The story is very simplistic, but the dialog is so masterful that its entertaining at all times. Sofia Coppola is a great artist. Her screenpplay earned her an Oscar, which was very much deserved. Its full of realistic and thought-provoking dialog, and funny written parts, and its just a great screenplay. Sofia Coppola is an equally great director as a writer. She is a much more art house, independent director. She has an always moving camera, steadily moving though, and uses beautiful placement in her scenes. I love the part where Charlotte is looking out the window. The camera starts on her, then moves to the window, looking out onto the massive metropolis of Tokyo, and you really feel what she is feeling. The part where Bob is in the hot tub talking to his wife on the phone is another part where it just ties you in so much. And I don't know, the whole film is a poetic and beautiful work of art. And lastly the ending. For sure one of the best endings ever. (SPOILER!) Bob goes to say goodbye to Charlotte while she is walking around, then Bob whispers something to her, and you can't exactly hear it. It was such an impressive technique there. It really made you see how close they were, and whatever they said, its between them. And then right after, the two hug and kiss, and you see tons of people walking around them, but you're focusing directly on Bob and Charlotte, because there, is where so much heart and emotion is. Either way, great film.