I really, really like slice-of-life type movies. Most of them center around fairly mundane things but as a viewer I can really become invested in seeing an old man go to work or a recent college graduate try to find herself. With that in mind, I really enjoyed Lost In Translation.
Lost In Translation follows the story of tall white man Bob (Bill Murray) and depressed white lady Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson) as their paths cross in Tokyo. They become friends and explore the city. They also pretty much hate their lives and see no real way of improving their situation.
Sunday, Monday, Happy Days!
It's a love story. Kind of. But it's really not a love story. It's a story about finding happiness in sadness. But at the same time it's a story about how fleeting happiness can be. It's a story about the flow time and how we as individuals have no choice but to move with it. It's a story about finding inner peace.
The entire film takes place over about a week. In that time I argue that there is no real character development and the characters' trajectories stay the same as if they had never met (granted they have the potential to improve themselves). I will discuss this further in due time.
Score/Soundtrack:
Lost in Translation doesn't rely on music to progress the story forward. That said, I do believe that the music for this film was chosen wisely though because it matches the film's attitude quite well. Tokyo is shown to be an overcast city and Lost In Translation's soundtrack was overcast. It was apathetic; it was numb. It just fit. We also got to see Bill Murray get drunk and sing karaoke, which I imagine is a weekly occurrence in the Murray household.
Grandpa please get off the kitchen counter.
Again, the soundtrack didn't really catch my attention but I think that's just fine. If the music was too distracting it would have taken away from the story so I'm glad that it was subdued to an extent.
Writing/Script:
The story of Lost In Translation is fairly simple in my opinion. A good kind of simple, though.
I'd like to go back to what I said earlier about the characters not really growing at all throughout the film. In the beginning of Lost In Translation, Bob and Charlotte are both lonely and unfulfilled. In the middle, they are still lonely and unfulfilled, but they are lonely and unfulfilled together. And in the end? Well Bob has a family to go back to and Charlotte has a husband. So they end up just as lonely and unfulfilled as they were in the beginning.
That is a very simplified description of the story and does not give insight to what was being portrayed to the viewers. And I understand that. But I think it is important to note that while Bob and Charlotte may have learned how to have fun again, that they may have realized that they can take stock in themselves at any age, and they may have had some insights to their own "meaning of life"; neither Bob nor Charlotte took direct action to improve their situation. Bob is still flying home to what seems like a dying marriage and Charlotte is still hitched to the freak who tried to steal Mark Wahlberg's teddy bear.
The hips that won ScarJo's heart.
However, I think that simple fact right there shows the true story that is trying to be told here. Two people who are living kind of shitty lives have a temporary escape from reality in a foreign world. They try to take what they can from their time together and want to apply it to themselves, but that's simply not shown.
The ending is somewhat vague. Bob runs to Charlotte at the last moment, they share one last embrace, Bob says something to Charlotte that is inaudible to the viewers and then that's it. The chances of Bob and Charlotte meeting again are slim to none. We don't know if Charlotte works with her husband to fix a marriage that is very obviously not meeting her needs. We don't know if Bob starts to value his own happiness over money. But I think that element in itself, the fact that we as viewers can only imagine what comes next, is why this movie is so great.
Lost In Translation doesn't force a message down your throat. We don't see love triumph over all. Bob isn't going back home to make more movies. Charlotte probably won't ever be satisfied with her marriage. But that's okay because that's life. What we're seeing is life on the screen. Very few films do this well and even fewer do it as well as Lost In Translation.
How Well It Holds Up:
This was a rather low budget film ($4 million) with no crazy special effects. This is another movie that will hold up really well in years to come because of its simplicity and its sincerity.
I would like to talk about director Sofia Coppola's decision to use film rather than high definition video. It wouldn't have made a huge difference to me if Lost In Translation was filmed in high definition video but in a film about all the little details in the day, I think it really adds to the viewing experience. Sofia Coppola reportedly favored film as it was more romantic and I'm inclined to agree with her.
No funny comment, I just really love the cinematography in this movie.
Acting:
I'm a big fan of Bill Murray. Apparently the role was written specifically for Bill Murray and if he declined the offer, Sofia Coppola would have scrapped the whole project. That really shows in the film because this could just be a documentary about Bill Murray taking a trip to Japan. He plays Bob so naturally that I really couldn't imagine anyone else on the screen. Scarlett Johannson doesn't wear pants in half her scenes which is pretty great too.
I tend to have all my quarter-life crises pantsless as well.
Murray and Johansson balance each other out well. Bob as the more experienced, yet just as lost and Charlotte as the hopeful one that still has a lingering fear of dissatisfaction. It's a great pairing.
What Issues It Tackles:
The crushing loneliness that reaches us all. Tokyo is the perfect setting for this movie because of how it depicts internal loneliness. Bob and Charlotte still feel isolated in a city home to 12 million people. Now again the film doesn't show anyone sustain happiness, but I think another big message of Lost In Translation is being okay with not being happy. Being comfortable by yourself.
Or I could just be missing the point entirely.
In the end, this is an outstanding film. This was the first film directed by Sofia Coppola that I've watched and I enjoyed it very much. Beautiful cinematography, a simple yet profound story, and two great actors. Not a whole lot more I can ask for.
All things considered, this is a very difficult rating to place. I went back and forth for a good 30 minutes and I still might change it later.
My rating: A solid 8. I don't like going outside of even numbers and .5's, but if I did this movie would be an 8.4.
--Mat
(Thanks so much to Minh for the request.)
Many thanks for reading and blessings to you and your kin! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ ✧ﾟ･: *ヽ(◕ヮ◕ヽ)
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