powerful "realism" in a surreal setting

Rating: Null/10 (6 October 2003)

Director Sofia Coppola comes of Virgin Suicides by giving us yet another unpredictable, meditative and thoughtful story of romance in an otherwise unromantic situation. Of course, this is not to say that "Lost in Translation" is the obvious Progeny of 'Suicides', quite the opposite.
The two main characters meet numerous times while staying in the same alienating Japanaese hotel. Murray plays Bob Harris, and aging Hollywood film star whose frustrating relationship with the public is exaggerated by the Tokyo setting. He inadvertantly develops a relationship with the neglected young wife of an American photographer, and the film spends most of footage on their understated meetings, and their time alone. The power of the film, though, is in what the characters don't do. To say that they donot have sex is not enough, but that in not doing so, they maintain an almost morbid sincerity about their feelings. The film is a fabulous demonstration of how important our simple and fleeting human connections can be, and does so without the pomp and grandeur of Hollywood, that Harris' occupation is so obviously meant to critique. In addition, the acting is fantastic, Murray is strong in an a role atypical of his personality, and the filming of downtown Tokyo by Coppola is breathtaking. See it as soon as you can.