00s Movie Review - Lost in Translation

Director: Sofia Coppola
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 101 minutes
Year: 2003
Starring: Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson, Giovanni Ribisi, Anna Faris

Description: A faded movie star (Bill Murray) and a neglected young woman (Scarlett Johansson) form an unlikely bond after crossing paths in Tokyo.

Review: Bob Harris and Charlotte are two Americans stranded in a luxurious hotel in Tokyo. Bob Harris is a faded movie star in his fifties, who came to Japan for a whiskey commercial and to take a break from his marriage. Charlotte is a recently graduated twenty something woman who followed her photographer husband. Both Bob and Charlotte can’t sleep and meet each other in the bar. What starts with an innocent smile grows out into an unlikely friendship between an older man and a young woman.
The story was written by Sofia Coppola and she also directed the film. Coppola has always been known as ‘the daughter of’ Francis Ford Coppola, director of “The Godfather” series and “Apocalypse Now”. Her earlier film “The Virgin Suicides” was already praised, but “Lost in Translation” was her big break as a director.
Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson are both fantastic in “Lost in Translation”. Especially Murray, with his subtleness in his body language and the melancholy his character has. And Johansson is great too as a young woman who doesn’t know what to do with her life yet. Together they form a very sympathetic duo. It’s such a breath of fresh air, to finally see a couple that doesn’t immediately go into romance mode or have sex. It’s a subtle relationship, connection, bond.
“Lost in Translation” has a lot of melancholy, but is never melodramatic. The movie has many funny moments as well, but again very subtle.
“Lost in Translation” is a movie that is beautiful because of its simplicity. A movie that’s in my top five of all-time favorite movies.

Rating: 5/ 5