Humorous Coppola !!

Rating: 7/10 (11 July 2005)

Lost in Translation (2003) is about Bob, an aging movie star, and Charlotte, the wife of a photographer, who both feel loneliness in the bewildering environment of Tokyo and who gradually come to understand each other and be good friends at last.
The film is obviously personal for writer and director Sofia Coppola, who spent time in Tokyo several years ago working in photography and fashion. Her other works are Lick the Star (1998) and The Virgin Suicides (1999).
Some reviewers have criticized this movie for making fun of the Japanese inability to pronounce English words correctly, often confusing R and L sounds. Probably some of these critics feel that they are being made fun of by Coppola, but the director used what is obviously true for humorous effect. While I feel that Coppola is not mocking the Japanese, it would have better if she had Bob and Charlotte trying to understand Japanese and speak a bit of Japanese while in Japan. Other critics say Coppola makes fun of the tiny Japanese with scenes of Bob towering over a crowd of Japanese in elevator and using a shower that is too low, but Coppola only represents reality directly and humorously.
Regarding Japanese culture, Charlotte confusion about Ikebana and shrines is an expression of what Coppola felt when she first came to Japan. It is hardly surprising that foreigners find Japanese culture eluding because even Japanese do not understand everything about our own culture.