Come be alone with me

Rating: 10/10 (21 March 2014)

We see an old man, having seen everything of his world, becoming tired. We see a young woman, whose life has been on fast forward, her world still under construction. Somewhere, between rush and modernism, they've lost themselves. They meet in Tokyo, far from home, with nowhere to go and nothing to hold on.
At the beginning we can see what they only sense.
When Bob and Charlotte meet first, they don't fall in love. Bob looks at her in the elevator. Probably only because she's beautiful. Later on, they exchange glances of understanding. Charlotte is married to John, with whom she's lost connection since he pays more attention to his work than to her. She loves and trusts him and he does the same, but it's just not enough to spend an entire life together. Bob is married to his wife - whose name we don't even have to know - since before people started using home computers. He loves her and their children, but "it's hard".
One night, in a hotel bar, they share seats, then words, then drinks. Very slowly, they start to realize that they belong together. The cold and distant city becomes a colourful playground full of dancing people, weird names and culture while Bob and Charlotte get to know each other.
In a very beautiful karaoke-sequence, we see them singing, ultimately to each other. The vulnerability they share couldn't be more intimate. Confessing that "I'm stuck", and in response holding both feet with one hand while lying in bed and falling asleep together is truer and more close to love & affection than being naked.
Sofia Coppola treats the movie, the fragile connection between two lost souls, in a very caring manner. She knows that too much explanation will destroy the bubble. As a viewer, you have to explore each scene for yourself. Observe every little glimpse and gesture of the characters. It's everything there, waiting to be translated.
They way Bill Murray handles the art of not showing too much, but making sure that it's enough. How Scarlett Johansson studies strangers and cracks a little smile, as if she found out something only she knows. How they form a bond of profound understanding in isolation.
And how they created a world for them to be alone together. A world that shows a final culmination of emotions and words in their last encounter before moving to a place only Bob and Charlotte are allowed to visit.
At the end we can only sense what they see.