Outstandingly unpretentious and honest film from Hollywood demonstrating convincingly what Copolla's daughter is capable of

Rating: Null/10 (12 February 2004)

Spoilers
Nothing HAPPENS in this film, by normal reckoning. Brisk sketches trace a chance encounter of two Americans sojourning in Tokyo: he (Bill Murray) an over-the-hill movie star shooting whiskey commercials and she (Scarlett Johansson) a recent Yale grad in philosophy accompanying her workaholic photographer husband on an assignment. The first half (purely arbitrary division) of the relatively short film (102 minutes) did not register much. It wasn't until getting well into the second half, when the characters start to feel like close acquaintances (between themselves as well as to the audience), that it became clear to me why this film won its most deserved Golden Globe awards.
His alienation and loneliness is depicts vividly through his daily activities, from hilarious scenes of communication breakdown when shooting the commercials to simples images of him playing golf by himself with Mount Fuji in the background. In her case there are quite a few scenes where we see her alone in the hotel room, where the camera brings out the marked contrast of the claustrophobia room and the intimidating vastness of the alienating city outside, both accentuating her loneliness. Long distance calls home is employed in both cases to drive the point further home (no pun intended). His wife sounds like she is on another planet while her description, in sobs, of the Meiji Shrine to people at the other end of the line seems to have fallen to deaf ears.
It's when the two finally connect that the film begins to excel. The starting common denominator of their relationship is neither can fall asleep. While this can simply be jet lag, the obvious message is alienation and loneliness. The `climax' of the relationship is therefore befittingly a scene of the two in bed. But wait. They are fully clothed, lying side by side, chatting in a dreamily relaxing manner. The conversation comes in scattered chunks, as both are rather tired and almost half asleep. As they ask about each other, and talk about themselves, the exchange is completely uncontaminated with pretentious philosophical dialogue to create an illusion of `depth' (which we find in abundance in Matrix Reloaded). The real depth is in the superbly timed pauses and silences (in some ways similar to Young Adam).
Through Sofia Coppola's excellent script and direction, development of the tender, intimate, yet innocent relationship between these two lost souls is completely believable. The ending is deeply touching. Maybe their paths will never cross again. The awkward parting in the hotel lobby when he momentarily breaks off from pestering fan (just one) and business associates leaves something hanging. Coming almost as a gift to the audience is one final scene, a chance encounter where they, in the middle of the entire world and yet alone by themselves, embraced, exchange a tender kiss, and bid each other a proper farewell. They may not see each other again for the rest of their lives but at this moment, their lives are complete and without regret insofar as their brief existence in a big city called Tokyo is concern.
It is somewhat ironic that the Golden Globe awards* won by this film are in the `comedy/musical' category. This is a sad film, not tear-jerking sadness (thank heavens) that fetch for some pictures somewhat undeserved acclaims. The sadness continuously filters through ever so gently, unnoticed while you are laughing or chuckling yourself through the gags (some cheap, some subtler). In the end, you are not devastatingly sad, but leave the cinema with a faint smile, resigning to the reality of the helplessness of mankind forever trapped in alienation and loneliness in all sort and shapes, clearly palpable as well as disguised.

* Lost in Translation won Best Picture and Best Actor (Murray) in the comedy/musical sub-category. Johansson got a well-deserved nomination for Best Actress but unfortunately lost to Diane Keaton in Something's Got to Give (which I haven't yet seen). (She also got nominated in the `drama' sub-category for Girl with a Pearl Earring, but again lost, this one to Charlize Theron in Monster).
Where there is no sub-category split, Coppola won for the screenplay which purportedly has been `inspired' by her own rocky marriage. She lost to Peter Jackson for Best Director (no complaint from me here, other than that maybe there should be sub-categories of `comedy/musical' and `drama' here too, which will then allow her to win).