"Lost" and Found

Rating: Null/10 (21 August 2004)

When something is "Lost in Translation," its meaning somehow vanishes going from one culture to another. Usually this is a reference to language, but the title of Sofia Coppola's remarkable film seems to refer to its lead characters--two people stuck between a world they don't understand and a world they find unfulfilling.
Bill Murray is Bob Harris, B-movie star of yesteryear. He's in Japan shooting a whiskey commercial, partially because the film roles have dried up and partially because he's simply burned out on acting--and, in a way, on life. Back home is a wife and children, both of which he loves but can't summon up the energy to say it. Scarlett Johannson is Charlotte, who's tagging along on her husband's business trip and is in that post-college phase sometimes referred to as "finding oneself." There is love between her and her photographer husband as well, but it all too often gets shuffled away beneath his assignments and schmoozing of Hollywood royalty. Before them both is the city of Tokyo--garish and beautiful, familiar and alien, all at once. The two meet by chance in a hotel bar, and make a connection--for here is something real that they can cling to, in the midst of their upended lives.
Coppola's story aims not for drama here, but realism. Like life, the movie flows along at a leisurely pace, instead of fitting into the rhythm we usually expect from a traditional story. This means that "Lost in Translation" requires a bit of patience, but the effort is well rewarded. Murray and Johannson create wonderful characters (the former gives what is certainly the best performance of his career) who forge a believable and honest relationship. En route, there are some amusing moments (such as when Bob receives a visit from an inappropriately enthusiastic call girl) but also deep elements of sadness, as Bob and Charlotte try to cope with being in limbo. These times are filled with long stretches of silence and ambient sound, which serve to underscore the characters' loneliness. When Bob and Charlotte do get together, we're treated with thoughtful and well-written dialogue, as Bob shares his experience with Charlotte while she reminds him of how it felt to be on the threshold of one's adult life.
Intelligent and moving, "Lost in Translation" is the very rare movie that contains no plot devices, no obligatory scenes, no cliches or standard sequences. It exists on its own terms, and that alone makes it worth seeing.