No Translation Necessary{spoilers possible}

Rating: 9/10 (6 December 2006)

At least there was none needed for me,as I thought this film was a pleasant,thoughtful and intelligent study in characters.
Bob Harris(Bill Murray,reaching a new frontier in his long career:that of the quietly despairing middle-aged white male)is completely out of his element. He is alone,on a commercial shoot in Tokyo. He knows no one there,keeps to himself and drinks to fill the voids. He is an actor who(we are to deduce)at one time had a much more successful career,but he's making the best of things now. He is separated from his family and probably would feel a disconnect from them even if he weren't separated by an ocean and hemisphere.
Charlotte(Scarlett Johanssen,matching the character descript almost to a T)is married to a photographer(Giovanni Ribisi,not really in much of the picture)and her reason for being in the Land of the Rising Sun is fairly simple:her husband is doing a long and extensive photo shoot there and he wants her along. Of course,he doesn't bring her along for his work,and it gives her plenty of time to stay in her hotel room and get bored. She's married young,and(we are also led to believe)she feels like maybe she's done the wrong thing,as much as she loves her husband. Also lonely,unable to speak a word of Japanese and restless,she roams the Hotel to break the monotony.
This is how our two main characters meet,and through their meeting,they develop a sort of bonding that's just short of sexual and a little past emotional. To call this an "Affair of the Heart" might be over-simplified,but it seems like it might be the closest thing to what is at play here. As the movie progresses,the two understand each other and become quietly pushed to make a decision about that.
Very solid acting performances,great imagery(I was in Tokyo once,over twenty-five years ago,and although it was for a very short time,one could get a sense that they were dwarfed in that city even for a short stay!)and a smart,seamless direction and script from capable director Sofia Coppola make this movie unique and valuable. This is strictly a talking,seeing and feeling movie,so people with no patience for pure character studies need not apply. This one's for those who like unconventional relationship stories and the very real people who are known to inhabit them.