Sweet, sad, gorgeous

Rating: 10/10 (24 August 2004)

In a word, stunning.
Bob and Charlotte are Americans in Tokyo. Much of the movie is atmospheric and devoted to giving the viewer the feeling of being lost and horribly out of place. Indeed, that's certainly the way Bob and Charlotte seem to feel. However, that out-of-place feeling runs much deeper for them than simply being strangers in a strange land, unable to communicate with virtually everyone around. The setting serves as both the wake-up call and the parallel to the deeper lost feeling which plagues them, that of being lost within their own lives. In a person's familiar homeland, it is so easy to draw superficial parallels between oneself and observed strangers, perhaps ignoring a glaring difference. However, in a strange land where the person is completely unfamiliar with the culture and the lifestyle, it is hard to attempt to make any connection whatsoever to people observed. Those people seem to be comfortable, if not happy. They're fairly content, situated in their lives. Some even seem to have a spiritual balance. Yet, both Bob and Charlotte don't feel they have any of this. They don't know what they want out of life, but they know they don't have it. Their lives are empty, and the drastic change in their surroundings makes them realize, probably for the first time, how terribly lonely it feels to live in a world where every other person seems to be able to make sense of life, while they can't.
As I said, many of the scenes in the film are simply atmospheric. Others serve to reveal great depths about the characters. Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson are stunning in such scenes. Without speaking, both manage to allow the audience a peak inside these characters by simply reacting to what they observe. The best example is when Charlotte watches a wedding from afar. Her gaze betrays so much her idealized perception of how beautiful marriage can be, but mostly her mournfulness that her own marriage is so distant from that.
Other short scenes are comedic. Sure, some of them don't really serve to move the story forward, but Ms. Coppola is smart enough to know that tender laughter goes down so smooth with such a large dose of melancholia. Murray provides most of the laughs here, particularly in the scenes where he shoots his whiskey ads. A night out on the town with resident friends of Charlotte also provides some lighter moments, including a toy-laser gun chase out of a club and down the streets. This takes us into a karaoke scene, in which countless things happen. The overall partying and drunken renditions of songs is fun and hilarious. However, it's also here that the bond between Bob and Charlotte really begins to grow. The musical selections also are interesting in terms of what's going on between the two characters. From an audience standpoint, the scene is particularly noteworthy for Johansson's rendition of the Pretender's classic 'Brass in Pocket'. She is a goddess and here she creates what may be the sexiest sixty seconds in film ever.
Speaking of music, it plays a crucial role in this movie. The song choices throughout, underscore both the melancholy and the ethereal elements of the film. The strongest selection, though, has to be MBV's 'Sometimes' which plays as the cab takes the very drunken Bob and Charlotte through the city and back to their hotel on their night out. The visuals of the bright city lights passing by through the car window are an amazing visual for the song, just as the song perfectly captures the feel of the entire film.
Of course, the relationship between Bob and Charlotte gradually grows, resulting in the film's very few multi-minute scenes. These scenes stand out boldly from the very short snippets that make up more than half the film, and for good reason. The night-out segment is lengthy, and very important. It builds the foundation for the couple's relationship. The centerpiece of the film, then, has to be the conversation the two have on Bob's bed late one night. Here the theme of loneliness and discontent is laid out plainly. 'Does it ever get any easier?' asks Charlotte, without assigning any specific subject to her 'it'. 'No. (pause) Yes,' replies Bob. Perfect.
Within several days these two make each other feel things they never knew they could feel and have things they never even knew they wanted. Certainly, both are unhappy with their marriages, yet one of the great accomplishments of the film is making the audience sympathetic to that unhappiness without condescending to either of the spouses.
Of course, such good things must end eventually. The goodbye is gut-wrenching. Never before has the closing of an elevator door wreaked such havoc on my psyche. Of course, that isn't the finale. Bob finds Charlotte again, but the way that scene is handled is just too perfect to spoil here. Suffice it to say it stays very true to the spirit of the film: sad, yet hopeful against all odds.
I love 'Lost in Translation'. However, I can't really recommend this movie to everyone. For those who need hugely dramatic moments in their movies and themes that are explicitly stated, this is the wrong choice. This film is for the open-minded, for those who appreciate subtlety, for those who obsess over how the small details in life affect everything. It isn't hard to admire the craft and beauty of this film and to be generally entertained by it. However, the emotions portrayed in it feel so personal that it's probably hard to LOVE this movie without really relating to it. Don't worry. NOT relating to it can't be a bad thing. It probably means you're well-adjusted, somewhat content, and at least have some clue what it is you want out of life. For the rest of us though, this film absolutely means everything. Score: 10/10