Ok, I admit it. I hate Sofia Coppola. All of her movies are crap. EXCEPT Lost in Translation. My friend and I talked about this the other night, and I finally realized why I had such a damn soft spot for this movie. First off, you have to understand that everything Sofia touches she turns into this dreamy, slow, and somewhat fanciful creation with characters who feel alienated. Point in fact, Marie Antoinette, which needed to be a strong, historical movie, became a boring slide show of pretty pictures set to jarringly modern music with a few bland lines thrown in for flavor, and left the audience feeling alienated. But Lost in Translation NEEDS to be dreamy, slow and fanciful. It is a simple movie about two people who are lost and feel quite alone in this foreign place. Because the two characters are alienated from the world around them, they perceive it in a dreamy sort of way. The story is a very small slice of their lives, cut out and displayed to us in all its fanciful glory. If you actually experienced the same thing these two characters are going through, it wouldn't even be a story to tell your friends, because it is such a "two ships, crossing in the dark" kind of film. But it works. It makes you think. You leave the theatre feeling hopeful about life, touched by everything going on around you, and remembering the smallest things, like the person you smiled at yesterday at the supermarket. Who knows what type of effect you had on that person's life? Sofia Coppola is a one-note filmmaker, and this was the one note that she actually hit right. And trust me, when she hits it, she really HITS IT.Read full review
This film is a good vehicle for Bill Murray. The story behind his involvement in the film made it all the more compelling. Sophia Coppola created the project with him in mind, set the whole thing up trusting he would show up, but not knowing for sure he would until the very last minute! He agreed to do the film, and she had no more communication with him until he turned up on the set (in Japan) the day before the shooting began! It is a good concept, aptly portrayed by the leads, of being totally out of their element, separated from their real lives back home & isolated by the very different culture & language they find themselves confronted with. They find some consolation in the commiseration of a fellow traveler staying at the same hotel -- each other. The big city lights & posh hotel adds to the sense of isolation, in that it is all so familiar -- it could be New York or Chicago -- yet everything is SO different. I enjoyed the movie. It wasn't earth shaking, but was amusing & kind of romantic. Bill Murray is always a safe bet for entertainment. I enjoyed the out-takes especially. As said, the premise is good. If you watch Japanese commercials, English language teaching (in combination with exercise) videos, game shows, or other Japanese programs depicting what they consider to be funny, it is very apparent that, as our good friend (& web guru), Isaac Johns, once commented, "They are just DIFFERENT over there!"Read full review
Features Actors:Bill Murray, Scarlett Johanson & Giovanni Ribisi Running tme: 102 min. Rating: R Lost in Translation is a tale of two people adrift in their own lives whose paths cross as they sit in Tokyo, trying to figure out where their lives are going. Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson) married a photographer, and while his career carries them all around the world as he snaps celebrities there is no glamour in this life for Charlotte. He seems oblivious to the fact that his obsession with his own life is making the woman he loves miserable, and she’s beginning to wonder what it was that made the man she married the man she loved, and whether those things still exist. Bob (Bill Murray) is famous, or he was once. The blockbuster movies have become a thing of the past, but he’s still enough of a face to warrant a Japanese whisky company flying him out to spearhead their advertising campaign. Bob has two kids and a wife, or more accurately, Bob has two kids and a marriage, his love for them being the only thing stopping him from walking away from her. Neither of them have anything to fill their days with in Japan, Charlotte fills the time between brief encounter with her husband by seeing the sights, or simply staring out the window. Bob fills the time between his promotional obligations by propping up the hotel bar - neither managing to distract themselves from their troubles, with each experience leaving them sinking further into their solitary depression. Some people find it easy to be alone in a room full of people, it can be hard not to be when nobody in the room speaks your language. And when even your spouse feels like they’re speaking in a foreign tongue, the isolation can be overwhelming, and communication is not a overwhelming success in either of their marriages. Charlotte and Bob’s first meeting is, suitably, facilitated by boredom. Bob has nothing to do but sit by the bar, Charlotte is desperate to escape the mindless whittering of her husband’s celebrity friends, the two of them sit talking, the rest of the world oblivious to them. It doesn’t take long for them to stop being alone, together, and start being together, alone, and this odd couple that should never have met start to enjoy Tokyo for the first time. Hope this helps you decide.Thanks for taking the time to read this. Please click YES at the bottom. :)Read full review
This is an unusual movie about strangers who share an experience, sort of a non-sexual affair of the heart and mind. Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson meet in a Tokyo Hotel lounge. He is there, an aging American movie star, to shoot a whiskey commercial for a Japanese company. Charlotte (Scarlett) is the young wife of a trendy photographer (Giovanni Ribisi) who is always out on a shoot, leaving her in the hotel. Murray and Charlotte share a common language and boredom. They become friends, and sex never becomes an issue. Together they have a tender affair of exploration of the Tokyo scene. As the days go by, they become fast friends despite their age difference, both talking about their spouses, and everyday lives, whethering loneliness in a tender relationship. Any more, could have been dangerous for both, for in the end, they were both right on the verge of falling in love.Read full review
Bill Murray rocks as this man trying to function in a foreign land/culture, while promoting himself by starring in commercials. The entwining of the lives of strangers in a culture and place foreign to them both is entertaining and believable. Bill Murray really delivers in the serious role of the frustrated movie star and in the manner he so aptly delivers some great humor. This is not a wild ride nor a goofy movie - Might be considered a 'chick flic' by some, but the writing is super, acting terrific and if you love Bill Murray, you'll love this movie. There is also the very talented and very beautiful Scarlett Johansson for those who just want their eye candy.
Verified purchase: No
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