LOST IN TRANSLATION

With Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson, Anna Faris, Giovanni Ribisi
Written & Directed by Sofia Coppola

Lost In Translation is an absolutely amazing little film by the daughter of Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola. Sofia's not too impressive acting turn in the third of her dad's mafia series was less than admirable. With this, her second film as director (and writer), she proves to have found her calling. In a vibrant crowded Tokyo, the story gets focused on two intersecting lives in a hotel. The one is a middle-aged actor shooting a whiskey commercial and the other the young wife a hip young photographer. Both are American and feel drowned within the cultural divide while embracing it at the same time. It's the internal sense of boredom and loneliness that draws them to one another. Old enough to be her father, the tension of sexual possibility is superbly subdued. Hanging around to appear on a talk show (hilarious when it happens), he finds the companionship of the girl invigorating. Mentally older than her husband (always away on shoots), she finds this new friend a breath of fresh air with his great sense of humour. When they go out into the neon night their little universe expands briefly with the sights and smells of Tokyo while not diverting from their connection. If this has to be classified as a romantic comedy, it certainly surpasses any others made this year. A well-deserved Golden Globe win for Bill Murray while Johansson's quiet performance is of equal merit. The sentimentality does not leave that artificial sweetener aftertaste as so many films do. On seeing this film you may run the risk of wanting to visit this very interesting city.
Sofia may not have lost the 2004 Best Director Oscar® to Peter Jackson (Lord Of The Rings), but did walk off with the Best Writer statuette.

5 / B
- PB

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