A Dazzling Wisp Of A Film

Rating: 8/10 (29 September 2003)

David Lean's unforgettable 1946 film "Brief Encounter" set the standard for cinematic love stories concerning characters who meet by chance in way stations, be it the dingy train depot in "Encounter" or the austere luxuriousness of Tokyo's Hyatt Hotel in Sofia Coppola's new movie, "Lost in Translation". Nearly 60 years separate the two films and yet they share a kinship that makes both films unique. Unconsummated love is not a popular subject among today's screenwriters and even a classic on the order of "Brief Encounter" was met with some derision by critics and audiences alike. Seen in 2003, "Brief Encounter " still has the power to grip audiences with its tale of an unhappy suburban wife and mother who fatefully meets a London physician while waiting to take an afternoon train home and starts a timid affair with the man, himself married. Furtive meetings ensue until the woman , racked by guilt and self doubt, ends the relationship. In 90 minutes of sublime film-making, master director Lean transported his World War 2 audience into a world of newfound love, simultaneously exciting and dangerous and finally heartbreaking in its finality. A deceptively ordinary story of two "ordinary' people was made riveting through brilliant directing , acting, editing, scoring and sound.
Sofia Coppola's "Lost in Translation" does not reach the artistic level of David Lean's masterwork but it is a very good movie. From its ravishing opening shots of nighttime downtown Tokyo as observed by Bill Murray in a cab to the closing shot of another cab speeding away from the city leading Murray to the airport and home, this new film consistently engages the audience's attention, even when the screenplay seems almost non-existent. An American movie star in Japan to film a whiskey commercial, Bob Harris (Murray) arrives in a jet lag stupor from which he never seems to fully recover. Ensconced in Tokyo's spacious but sterile Hyatt Hotel, Harris gets only a fitful night's sleep, then arrives at the studio the next morning to film his whiskey commercial. This sequence, one of several, showcases Murray in spectacular fashion. An increasingly frustrated Japanese director and a genial translator try to convey to the American actor what they want in the scene. Murray's reactions are priceless. His performance in the entire film is a marvel and the best acting he has ever done.
Complimenting Murray beautifully is Scarlett Johannson as Charlotte, the young American wife of a roving photographer of a rock band. The couple is also staying at the hotel, with husband John often away on assignment. Lonely Charlotte, feeling neglected by John, meets Harris one night in the hotel bar, and an innocent friendship results. Harris is nearly 30 years older than Charlotte but their May -December romance is wistful and consists mostly of late night talks, spur of the moment adventures in the big city and sharing a bed fully clothed back at The Hyatt. Through all this director Coppola casts an observant but unobtrusive eye on the proceedings. The movie is very strong in capturing the cultural differences between American and Japanese sensibilities, often to hilarious affect. In fact Coppola's penchant for concise observation goes a long way in covering for the unsubstantial screenplay, some of it obviously improvised. However, the acting by the principals is so strong, and Ms. Coppola's direction so self assured that the story effortlessly glides along, despite a few detours along the way that threaten to stop the film in its tracks.
The crux of the story centers on the Murray/Johannson romance, and it is truly sweet. When Murray converses on his cell phone to his wife in The States, we are privy to enough information to know that the marriage has soured. Charlotte spends a lot of time at the beginning of the film sitting on her hotel window sill, looking down on the vast Tokyo cityscape, her eyes brimming with tears. This is a movie about two lonely souls looking for fulfillment. Technically superb, with dazzling color cinematography, gorgeously ambient sound and an eclectic music score, this loosely structured film ends on a fairly pedestrian note, but even so it is deeply moving.
Bill Murray's great performance has a lot to do with that, and he is ably abetted by the lovely Scarlett Johannson. When these two look in each other's eye's, it is the most sensuous sight imaginable.