Fantastic, I loved it to pieces!

Rating: 10/10 (19 February 2004)

A wonderful film from beginning to end, this is one of the finest I have seen this year so far. Bill Murray has always been one of my favorite actors and I have been waiting anxiously to see him do a truly great 'serious' role that is worthy of his talents and this is it. The character of Bob Harris is his signature role as a talented performer and as a result becomes simultaneously his best performance and film since the equally wonderful Groundhog Day in 1993. The jet-lag, isolation and loneliness of Harris is brought wonderfully to life and sees Murray wonderfully convey the poignancy and humor of his character. While there are serious moments to his performance, he still brings that wonderful wry comedic style he is so great at. Just take a look at his encounter with a prostitute ("lip my stocking") or his bewilderment at how long a translation is to something that he said that was very short.
At the heart of Lost in Translation is a love story and Murray would be nothing without a great female actress to play against and we have one here in the shape of the lovely Scarlett Johanssen. As Charlotte she is the female equivalent to Bob. An apparently loveless marriage, although one with enough care to last, and alienated in the culture of Japan, the way she plays of Murray as these two lonely souls find comfort in one another's company is nothing short of superb. She truly deserved that BAFTA and she deserves to win the Oscar too.
Writer/director Sofia Coppola masterfully tells her story and avoids sentiment and over reaching emotion instead relying on heartfelt intensity to demonstrate the relationship between these two characters. Her screenplay is one hundred per cent perfect. Her dialog wonderfully sharp and her treatment of the romance at the core of the film touching without the obvious touches. Her direction is also flawless. Her wonderful way of presenting images, such as the sun splitting through the leaves on a tree, or the skyline of Tokyo are joys to behold and shows the world that she is truly her father's daughter. While there has been some finger pointing that she has only gotten where she has today due to her father, with a film like this I would say she deserves her status and a film like this marks her out as one of the finest young directors working today. Just take a look at how she avoids sex throughout the whole movie. Sure there's a trip to a strip club, but Bob and Charlotte never have sex. The closest we get to it is when the two share a bed together, but only to fall asleep for the first time since they arrived. The only moment were sex is presented symbolic is when after a night of karaoke singing, where the two gaze at each other romantically, they meet up, alone to have a cigarette. This is simply wonderful cinema.
I understand that there are many out there that did not like this film, and there are reasons for that. The film is more slower paced that you would expect and the film is more underplayed than overplayed, but if you can get past this, you will experience a quite simply life affirming film that I believe is masterpiece.
I loved it to pieces.