Lost In Translation
Director: Sofia Coppola
Starring: Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson, Anna
Farris.
“Let’s
never come here again because it would never be as much fun”, as the
young Charlotte(Johansson) says these words to the old Bob Harris(Murray), the
watchers and the audience realize the hidden meaning
behind these sappy, sardonic, and bittersweet words.
Lost
in Translation, written and directed by Sofia Coppola features an extremely
young Scarlett Johansson as a recent college graduate named Charlotte and Bill
Murray as the veteran aging actor namely Bob Harris. They develop quite a
rapport after a chance encounter in a Tokyo Hotel. Later on, Bob and Charlotte
have brief encounters with each other in the Hotel Bar. Charlotte invites Bob
to meet with some local friends of hers. Over the course of their stay, their
friendship with each other deepens, as they frequent various places in Tokyo
together and bond through their adventures, while experiencing the various
differences between the American & Japanese Cultures. Charlotte’s feelings
of doubt and alienation regarding her marriage with her photographer husband
become apparent with her discussion with Bob as he feels the same towards his
career and his married life.
Sofia
Coppola’s artistic caricatures have created some mundane fleeting moments
throughout the film. She has successfully been able to show people who are
extremely bored out of their skulls and tired of their lives, though not for
once we ever feel bored watching them. According to the director’s words, while
depicting the themes of Loneliness in the characters, culture shock, and
alienation, she also tried to show that the central characters Bob and
Charlotte are not only lost in the alien Japanese Culture but also lost in
their own ways. They are lost in their lives and relationships that lead to a
blossoming friendship and beautiful moments of connection between the two,
which is further heightened given their displaced locations.
Lost in Translation is an artistic masterpiece by Sofia Coppola. It has received worldwide critical acclaim not for its brilliant performances by the two leading actors, especially by 18-year-old Johansson playing a 25-year-old woman with ease but also for its script that created beautiful, melancholic moments throughout the film. It has been nominated for four Academy Awards including Best Actor for Bill Murray, Best Director, Best Film and Best Original Screenplay. Movie buffs out there should definitely give this a watch for it is based on, how chance encounters between strangers on a foreign land can lead to instantaneous connection giving way to beautiful fleeting moments in our modern, mundane, and weary lives.
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