A Positive Review.

Rating: 10/10 (14 January 2004)

In reading other comments for the film, it seems apparent to me that many people have missed the point. Why are there people complaining about the lack of a plot? Why are there people who think that Bob and Charlotte's relationship is based on un-requited love?
*Slight Spoilers
Firstly, this is a bold, under-dramatic film that dares to be real. It's character driven so the plot, as it were, is one that proceeds from moment to moment, a series of portraits that brilliantly shows how life can be. Personally, I appreciate a film that doesn't try to exist within the framework of what you would expect. I like it that it didn't feel the need to create tension or conflict, or whatever else a film is supposed to have to be interesting. Can't a film just be about how things sometimes are, in a witty and well-portrayed way?
As for the two main characters' relationship; it is not one of falling in love, as shown by the fact that there were no advances made by either of them (which some people seemed disappointed by.) Instead they had a mutual connection and a 'real' feeling of being comfortable with each other which can be hard to find. Essentially, the film is set at a time in both their lives when they needed a friend, and the beauty of this is brilliantly stated, and fluently, by Sofia Coppola, who has had the audacity to make a film that does not feel conventional, and because of that can have a greater emotional impact.
The film is a snapshot. Do photographs have a plot? I applaud Coppola for not feeling like she had to make Bob and Charlotte have a sexual relationship, with Charlotte's husband finding out, perhaps Bob's wife, creating all kinds of conflict-ridden scenes that have been done a hundred times in other films. My point is; this is not that type of relationship, or film. A viewer has to realise this. It's about how people, in a very ordinary sense, can subtly effect your life. Or not so subtly. Or maybe just a celebration of the possibility of human friendship and its lingering effects on others, since Bob and Charlotte will no doubt never forget each other.
As for the technical points of the film, there is no need to comment on them, since how brilliant the acting and direction is has been commented on many times, even by those who were disappointed by the story. (Someone mentioned something negative about the mundanity of the conversations. But extraordinary, non-real conversation would have seemed out-of-place here. And anyway, besides the introductions [which incidentally also introduced us to the characters in a way], I thought the dialogue was excellent and witty.) Other comments made have concerned the Japanese culture. It is certainly the cause of many a smile, and for this I wonder what the Japanese reaction is. My reaction was one that thought it wasn't overdone, although it could have been, and if you have any kind of common sense the viewer should be able to realise that this is in every way a caricature of Japan and its people. (Since when have films not been allowed to make light fun of certain cultures. It happens all the time.) And as for the many shots of the city itself, I thought, within their documentary-esque style, they were revealing and eye-opening. It's the city as it is, and some of the high shots were stunning. There's a quick glimpse of outside the city, but it is the city (which comes alive as another character), which is the important set-piece. Whereby I see how some of the areas portrayed about Japan, Tokyo and its people could be grating or offensive, it is important to realise that this is the view of the city and its people that Bob and Charlotte are subjected to. On Charlotte's one excursion out of the city, we are able to appreciate some of the finer aspects of the culture, though Coppolla couldn't indulge in this further because the character didn't. And the character didn't (as some commenters would have liked) because it wasn't in her character to do so. In a way, Charlotte was in emotional limbo, and instead of going out in search of the Japanese culture, she connected with someone who felt closer to home: American Bob. And likewise for Bob.

Anyway, I kinda lost my way after not discussing the technical prowess, so I'll keep it short and sweet now. Bill: excellent. Scarlett: excellent. Verdict; excellent, deep film. I just wanted another positive comment posted among the negatives.