Cinema Revisited: Lost in Translation (2003)
Directed by Sofia Coppola. Starring Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson, Giovanni Ribisi, Anna Farris. Released September 12, 2003. Running time: 101 minutes
In the opening scenes of "Lost in Translation," Sofia Coppola shows the bright, colorful Japanese business area at night, and cross-cuts it with Bill Murray riding in a taxi, bathed in darkness and looking dull and gray through a window. The remainder of the film continues to be visually arresting as Coppola sets up her shots to give her characters' backstory. Murray sits in his hotel room alone, at the center of the frame, looking forlorn on his bed. His sleep is interrupted by innocuous faxes from home.
When the film first introduces the Scarlett Johansson character, she is sitting in her underwear at the window of her hotel, also bathed in darkness, while her husband (Giovani Ribisi) sleeps peacefully nearby. He is a photographer who is too busy to give her much attention. She weeps of loneliness.
Murray plays Bob Harris, a former movie action star who has aged into doing advertising spots for money, working in Japan where his older films continue to be popular. Johansson is Charlotte, who feels emotionally detached from her husband and intellectually detached from his clientele (Anna Farris plays a flighty actress who is booked at the same hotel under the pseudonym Evelyn Waugh -- Charlotte chuckles at the actress not realizing Waugh was a man. Her husband takes umbrage). The translation that is lost deals not only with language and culture, but also their more immediate surroundings.
The way Coppola features Bob and Charlotte's developing friendship is artful and intelligent. They both are insomniacs due to different levels of detachment, end up in the same hotel bar, and eventually bond due to their share feelings from different perspectives. Their friendship is awkward due to the age difference, especially as it develops beyond platonic parameters. When Bob sleeps with the age-appropriate lounge singer at the hotel, Charlotte catches him and reacts jealously. They both realize the many factors that would never allow their relationship to continue, but their bond remains strong until Bob finally has to return to the United States. We never know exactly what Bob whispers in her ear when they last see each other.
At the time he made this movie, Bill Murray was in the process of aging into his roles. He was too old to be believable as the cheeky, sarcastic presence that made films like "Meatballs" and "Stripes" popular comedies some 30 years earlier, and his character in "Caddyshack" was also of another time in his career. As he aged, Murray sought roles that allowed him to play a man in the neighborhood of 50, scoring best with Wes Anderson's "Rushmore" and "Royal Tenenbaums," both of which allowed him to tap into his innate comic sensibilities. "Lost in Translation" is an opportunity for him to explore serious drama and a more layered, complex character. Coppola stated that she wrote the character with him in mind, and would not have made the film if he turned the role down.
Scarlett Johansson has never seemed more beautiful or vulnerable, Coppola lighting her so that the softness of her skin becomes positively luminous. There are scenes where the camera lingers on her image at the window, the Japanese skyline crowding the background while she is close-up in the foreground. At the same time, Murray's rugged, tired appearance brightens and becomes more colorful and youthful as the film, and their friendship progresses. Johansson goes from weeping to giggling, expressing a merriment that had been absent.
"Lost in Translation" is not a lurid tale about a May-December romance. It is about an honest friendship between two people of different ages who see beauty, humor, intelligence, and security in each other, while being aware of the danger and the ethics. It's a lot to explore and unpack, and Sofia Coppola does it perfectly.
One of the best films of the 21st century.