Well acted, personal film with a lot of heart

Rating: Null/10 (18 October 2003)

Very personal film with fine performances from the two leads. Bill Murray is perfectly sublte (more subdued than you're probably used to seeing him) and with just the right amount of classic Murray quips in all the right places. Ms.Johansson is the ultimate mature-past-her-years New Yorker chick, and it's her most appealing character to date. Direction by Mrs.Coppola is assured and extremely confident given that this is only her second feature (I've yet to see The Virgin Suicides, but have just reserved a copy after seeing this). Fine filmmaking must run in the family blood.
Didn't notice who the DP was but all the shots of Japan were beautiful. Even what might normally be seen as a drab, ordinary interiors such as a narrow hallway or a hotel room somehow seem more interesting, even pretty to look at here. Perhaps that's just the spell of Tokyo.
Ultimately Lost In Translation is a simple, bittersweet story of two strangers who meet briefly at pivotal points in their lives. Without hearing much about it beforehand, I was quickly able to get lost in the deliberate, measured pace of the film. One of the things I found so enjoyable was how Mrs. Coppola often let the language of film do the talking rather than the characters. There is more said here between these two in shared, knowing glances than in spoken word. So while I couldn't hear a word Murray was whispering to Johansson at the end of the film, not a word was "lost".