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Lost in Translation

Plot

After making a striking directorial debut with her screen adaptation of The Virgin Suicides, Sofia Coppola offers a story of love and friendship blooming under unlikely circumstances in this comedy drama. Bob Harris (Bill Murray) is a well-known American actor whose career has gone into a tailspin; needing work, he takes a very large fee to appear in a commercial for Japanese whiskey to be shot in Tokyo. Feeling no small degree of culture shock in Japan, Bob spends most of his non-working hours at his hotel, where he meets Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson) at the bar. Twentysomething Charlotte is married to John (Giovanni Ribisi), a successful photographer who is in Tokyo on an assignment, leaving her to while away her time while he works. Beyond their shared bemusement and confusion with the sights and sounds of contemporary Tokyo, Bob and Charlotte share a similar dissatisfaction with their lives; the spark has gone out of Bob's marriage, and he's become disillusioned with his career. Meanwhile, Charlotte is puzzled with how much John has changed in their two years of marriage, while she's been unable to launch a creative career of her own. Bob and Charlotte become fast friends, and as they explore Tokyo, they begin to wonder if their sudden friendship might be growing into something more. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Review

Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation is a low-key but emotionally penetrating story that contains a multitude of feelings. Simultaneously delicate and assured, the film is about two people who find each other at the right time in their lives. Scarlett Johansson's confused and lonely Charlotte is smart enough to know that her marriage may be a mistake, but she is not emotionally equipped to know how to handle the problem. Her outstanding performance balances sadness, intelligence, vulnerability, and self-possession. Bill Murray gives the finest performance of his career as the actor who is, thanks to an emotionally stunted marriage and a sell-out career move, suffering from a mid-life crisis. Bob Harris could keep people at a distance with his comedic armor, much like Bill Murray, but he is at a phase in life where he is tired of acting that way. Murray delivers a disciplined, nuanced performance that deserves the highest forms of praise. Coppola herself shows that The Virgin Suicides was not beginner's luck. She frames Japan so that the audience feels how "foreign" it is for her two protagonists, while still showing great respect for the people and the culture even when her characters, in their more selfish moments, do not. With two films to her credit, Sofia Coppola has proven herself to be a master of tone and indirect characterization. The natures of the people in this film are revealed through behavior and through conversations that usually have very little to do with the plot. We get a glimpse of the depth of Charlotte's unhappiness in a phone call to a friend, and Bob's karaoke performance reveals his contained emotions for this young woman who has touched him in ways he believed were untouchable. Lost in Translation is a beautiful film. It is beautifully shot, but most importantly what passes between Bob and Charlotte is beautiful. Their time together will stay with each of them, and the viewer, for a very long time. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

Cast

Bill Murray - Bob Harris
Scarlett Johansson - Charlotte
Giovanni Ribisi - John
Anna Faris - Kelly

Fumihiro Hayashi - Charlie; Catherine Lambert - Jazz Singer

Credit

Mayumi Tomita - Art Director, Mitch Glazer - Associate Producer, Ryoichi Kondo - Casting, Stephen Schible - Co-producer, Nancy Steiner - Costume Designer, Takahide Kawakami - First Assistant Director, Sofia Coppola - Director, Sarah Flack - Editor, Francis Ford Coppola - Executive Producer, Fred Roos - Executive Producer, Callum Greene - Line Producer, Kiyoshi Inoue - Line Producer, Air - Composer (Music Score), Kevin Shields - Composer (Music Score), Brian Reitzell - Composer (Music Score), Roger Joseph Manning Jr. - Composer (Music Score), William Storkson - Composer (Music Score), Anne Ross - Production Designer, KK Barrett - Production Designer, Lance Acord - Cinematographer, Sofia Coppola - Producer, Ross Katz - Producer, Towako Kuwajima - Set Designer, Tomomi Nishio - Set Designer, Drew Kunin - Sound/Sound Designer, Richard Beggs - Sound/Sound Designer, Sofia Coppola - Screenwriter, Brian Reitzell - Music Producer

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