What happens when two of the most dimensionally opposite characters, who otherwise would surely not notice one another, gets united due to some foreign circumstances? The answer to this is beautifully essayed in this masterpiece by Sofia Cappola.At times this movie feels like a poetry in motion with the cold and alien Tokyo atmosphere as the canvas.
Bill Murray plays Bob Harris, a ageing actor whose glory days are far behind him. He comes to Tokyo to shoot an ad for whiskey. It is clear that Harris attempts to avoid new experiences as a matter of habit, and he is only in Japan to earn the much needed money. Given his sourattitude and age, the young and beautiful Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson) has no reason to notice him, but she does, if only because both of them are bored, killing time in a Tokyo hotel. The two develop a purely platonic relationship, bonding over their shared struggle with loneliness and an alien culture.
The friendship that transpires is initially uneventful. The most obvious result of throwing two bored tourists together – sex – does not seem to be an option. Their relationship is intense but ultimately platonic. In fact, introducing intimacy into the relationship would ruin it. So, Charlotte and Bob enjoy a brief period of talking, an even briefer period of laughing, but mostly, silence. Their experience of Tokyo has been marked by bored silence, and unsurprisingly, their relationship is built on sharing this silence. Their friendship grows from a basic need for companionship. Alone, the silence and boredom is unbearable, but as long as there is someone beside them, it becomes tolerable.
At its core, the film explores how two strangers in an unfamiliar environment can give each other hope. A recurring image throughout the film shows them window gazing. Charlotte seemingly spends all of her days sitting in the window, gazing out onto the city below.Bob similarly gazes in confused awe at the city through taxi windows, unnerved by seeing himself on billboards. This recurring image ultimately serves to convey Bob and Charlotte’s sense of separateness. They see the world around them through a screen, a world they aren’t part of. They don’t belong in Tokyo. They don’t fit in.
Lost in Translation is a lesson in loneliness.Coppola confronts the characters who are unhappy in their life, with a strange and unnerving city.Bob and Charlotte would normally never meet, but their presence in the madness that is Tokyo drives them to seek out a companion, someone to share in their shock of this new culture. They never truly learn anything of consequence about each other’s personalities and lives but give each other momentary comfort when they are lost.
ACHIEVEMENTS
Won Oscar for Best Writing, Original Screenplay (Sofia Coppola)
Nominated for Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role,Best Director and Best Picture
MY VERDICT
****
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