Review: Lost in Translation (*** 1/2)

LOST IN TRANSLATION
A film review by Steve Rhodes

Copyright 2003 Steve Rhodes

RATING (0 TO ****): *** 1/2


LOST IN TRANSLATION, brilliantly written and directed by Sofia Coppola (THE
VIRGIN SUICIDES), is a precious, bittersweet, comedic drama starring Bill
Murray, doing his best work in years. Giving an equally strong performance
is GHOST World's Scarlet Johansson. They play Bob and Charlotte, two lost
and lonely souls in a strange land. Striking up an acquaintance of
convenience, they bond strongly, if temporarily, and their relationship
stays platonic. A less gifted writer would probably have felt the need to
sex up the story. Instead, Coppola crafts a compelling tale, filled with
understated moments of insightfulness and humor. You'll think. You'll
laugh. You'll be marvelously entertained. And you'll be touched.



As the film opens, Bob Harris (Murray), a washed-up movie star from the 70s,
has just arrived in Japan to do a series of whiskey commercials. For a few
days of work, he'll earn two million dollars. Wiping his bleary eyes on the
way from the airport, he sees his own picture in an ad amongst the bright
neon glitter of central Tokyo at night.



It's in the small, quiet moments that the movie soars. Perfectly capturing
a traveler's inability to sleep, the movie has Bob tossing and turning in
his hotel bed. As he tries his best to shut out the world around him and
fall asleep, the fax in his room starts noisily banging out something for
him to review. It's a sketch of a bookshelf from his wife who wants his
thoughts on some trivial part of a remodeling project with which she is
keeping herself busy.



Although the Japanese are extremely friendly to him, the next day doesn't go
much better. The director of his commercial (played with gusto by Yutaka
Tadokoro) keeps shouting long instructions to him in Japanese, which the
smiling translator infuriatingly boils down to a few words of English.
Eschewing all use of subtitles, Coppola forces us to feel just as lost as
Bob. And even when the Japanese do speak to him in English ("Do you know
the Lat Pack?"), he is sometimes just as confused as when their words are
translated for him. An unappreciated and unordered prostitute wants him to
"lip" her nylons. What he wants is for her to get out of his room
immediately.



In a bar where Bob jokes that he's "organizing a prison break," he meets
Charlotte (Johansson). She's a bored wife, tagging along with her
photographer husband, played nicely in a cameo by Giovanni Ribose. With a
degree in philosophy from Yale, Charlotte has tried writing and photography
but hasn't yet found anything that she's good at. She has been married for
two years, and Bob for twenty-five, which he figures makes him a teenager
when it comes to marriage after he subtracts off eight years for the
one-third of the time that he has been asleep. After Charlotte's husband
leaves her at the hotel for several days while he's on assignment, Bob and
Charlotte start innocently hanging out together.



Throughout the picture, Coppola trusts the viewers' intelligence, assuming
that we don't need or want everything spelled out for us. When Charlotte
and Bob go clubbing with friends of hers, Charlotte suddenly ends up in a
pink wig. How she got it and why she wore it is never explained.
Similarly, a key exchange in the movie happens in a whisper that we're not
expected to hear so that we can add our own interpretations.



After appearing to have painted herself into something of a corner, Coppola
manages to find a near perfect ending, which rings completely true. The
movie remains faithful to its mission, being keenly observant and sticking
to its understated approach. It's a little gem.



LOST IN TRANSLATION runs 1:45. It is rated OR for "some sexual content" and
would be acceptable for teenagers.



The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, September 19,
2003. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the Camera Cinemas.



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