Feeling lost never felt so good, for a change.

Rating: Null/10 (7 March 2004)

I loved Lost in Translation, winner of this year's Academy Awards, for best original screenplay, written by Sophia Coppola. It is full of that longing and lost mood. It is a film based upon that feeling of wanting to cry, when life just doesn't seem right, and searching for a true reason, giving way to tears. It is the story of two strangers, in Tokyo, Japan, who form a friendship and eventually a crush for one another, within the limited amount of time they have to spend, before returning to their different lives, in the United States.
Bill Murray plays Bob Harris, a middle aged actor on hiatus, who accepts an offer to do a `Suntory' whisky commercial, in Tokyo, for two million dollars. Even though all of the Japanese greet him excitedly, he cannot see their reason for all of the fanfare. He is polite but never enthusiastic about the people, the work, or the money. It's just another paycheck for him to support his wife and children. It is evident that he is either suffering the short term blues or the longer term depression. His wife keeps in contact with him by phone and fax. The movie's other main character, Scarlett Johansson, plays Charlotte, a young woman of her twenties, struggling to find her own identity, in her second year of marriage to John (Giovanni Ribisi), an L.A. photographer, on assignment, in Tokyo.
One night Scarlett catches the eyes of Bob, who is drinking alone at the bar, while her tablemate is talking of her healthy eating habits, and her father's battle with anorexia, induced by forced starvation, during the Vietnam War. Although Bob and Charlotte are years apart, with very different lives, they still have something in common, the identity blues. Charlotte has no career or responsibility other than befriending her husband. John unfortunately never takes the time to identify with Charlotte and her crisis. As for Bob, he is just feeling lifeless and lackluster with himself, his job, and his marriage.
When the two meet, they are listening to one another's conversation, with a simple and shared realization, of the other's situation. Neither one has immediate answers for the other. They may still be lost with their problems, but at least they will be a little less lonely, in the interim.

The Tokyo hotel bedrooms are an influential visual mood. The beds are always dressed in stark with sheets, white down comforters, and white fluffy pillows. The tones amidst the room, at their most daring, are beige, dove grey, and the palest of blue. On the one hand, the rooms can be seen as modern, cool, crisp, quiet and uncluttered, enhancing one's sense of mental calm. Yet, on the other hand, one may see the faint tones and stream lined accents to the rooms, as lacking any emotion. Both of these bedroom views parallel Bob's and Charlotte's state of mind. Charlotte, partly out of boredom, decorates her bedroom lighting with Japanese flowers. Her clothes are strewn about the floor, for she might hope that if her husband does not notice her, maybe he will notice the mess. She transforms the orderly room, to one of confusion, representing a piece of her mind. On the other hand, Bob is usually enveloped in his cocoon like white comforter and fluffy pillows as a source of protection from having to feel his doldrums, upon twenty-five years of marriage. In contrast to their safe beds, they are constantly reminded of the big city that lies before them, through a wall of complete window, looking out upon the huge city of Tokyo. It never overwhelms them but rather envelopes them into some heavier state.
This film brings two different people together in an innocently flirtatious way. The movie is subtle, charming, warm, grey, and blue. Murray and Johansson bring out these wandering characters incredibly well. We experience everything through their lost minds, and find much of the surrounding words and actions, out of place and seeming insignificant, which is humorous, in its own way. The audience will feel the significance in these two people, as being lost never felt so good, for a change.