Beauty And Simplicity

When it comes to watching a good film, one of the better qualities that a good film has on offer is it’s lasting effect after the viewing and make you think long and hard about the ending and the entirety of the film. One of the better examples of this would of course be Christopher Nolan and his films such as The Prestige and Inception which make you question the outcome of the story. While Sofia Coppola’s film of Lost in Translation slightly differs from what I’ve just mentioned in terms of Nolan’s film endings, it’s still a film that outright leaves an impression to the viewer with not only it’s themes that lay bare on the intricacies of love life and loneliness, but also it’s delicate and smooth camera work that beautifully shows off Tokyo in an artistic manner. More importantly however, the occupancy of having this perfect chemistry between Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson within the film allows Lost in Translation’s narrative to blossom and open up these ideas about the characters and what individually they want from the lives that they live.

Lost in Translation tells the story of Bob Harris (Bill Murray), an ageing American film star who arrives in Tokyo to film an advertisement for Suntory Whisky. After hilarity and confusion follows suit with Bob’s handling in being in Tokyo filming this commercial, along his way he meets up with Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson), a young recently married college graduate who is left in her hotel room for the majority of the time since her husband John (Giovanni Ribisi), a celebrity photographer is on an assignment in Tokyo. Both bored and weary, Bob and Charlotte decide to be travelling companions as they venture into the urban Utopian construct of Tokyo which is full of partying, karaoke  and bonding. Charlotte is looking for ‘her place in life’ and Bob is tolerating a mediocre marriage. Through the various endeavours in Tokyo, both separately and together, the tired duo bond through their adventures in Tokyo; experiencing the differences between Japanese and American culture and their own generations. As the relationship between Bob and Charlotte deepens, they most come to the realisation that their ‘friendship’ must come to an end, or must it?… 

Now when it comes to the criticism of Lost in Translation, more often than not, the most common point that goes against this film is how it ‘cheaply’ falls into your typical romantic flick with the suggested love spark between the characters of Bob and Charlotte who you could also argue that they are nothing but spoiled, bored, rich and utterly unsympathetic Americans. While it’s certainly understandable that you can view this film and it’s characters as a subtle comment to how visitors and foreign workers often view Japan, you can’t really deny that there is much more to Coppola’s film than it simply being a romanticised way of looking at Japan and it’s culture. Sure, the performances of Murray and Johansson most definitely contribute to the romantic aspect of the narrative which I’ll delve into a little bit later. However in actual fact, it does have it’s fair share of comedic moments especially near towards the start of the film which I think helps structure and set-up the films outline and story. For a considerable amount, comedy mostly comes in the form of Bob interacting with the culture of Japan whether he’s shooting his advert for the whisky he’s promoting or whenever he receives fax’s from his wife about bookshelves and carpet samples which begrudges him to feel lonely and not care anymore. While I could mention more of the funny moments that go on throughout the film which mostly involve the character of Bob, it has to be said that the comedy can be a hit or miss. My first viewing of the film I have to say didn’t entirely make me laugh outright with the gags, but with the other viewings, I did chuckle a bit more but that in itself is a problem. Having said that, it just goes to show how the comedy is both hit or miss and forced upon to the viewer. In trying to make any scenario or moment funny, firstly I think it has to appeal to a wide range of people and I don’t think the humour in Lost In Translation does this. Don’t get me wrong, the comedy aspect isn’t the biggest thing to take away from this film and really it’s gags are more aimed towards the much older audience. It might have been better if there were more comedy moments with Charlotte as that would have created this wide range of humour that all audiences can connect with.

Despite this mixed view of the comedy in the film, one of Lost in Translation’s main cinematic aesthetic’s of structure and pacing really is a stand out thing to look out for. For the first third of the film, Coppola displays her type of film-making by keeping both the characters of Bob and Charlotte separate from each other which is a good thing. By Coppola doing this, it allows the film to introduce and blossom Japanese culture in a visual manner with it’s artistic camera movements. Not only does this introduction of the two main characters not seeing each elaborate on the cultural side of things, it also slowly builds up the characters in who they are and what they’re doing. While arguably the first 30 minutes of the film heavily focuses on the character of Bob which insinuates to us that he’s the central figure we’re going to watch throughout, I do like the character of Charlotte interweaving herself within the film which creates this feeling of whether we’ll get the chance to ‘meet’ this person. One good example of which this happens and plays onto the themes of the film of finding yourself, loneliness and chances, is the little sequence in which we see both Bob and Charlotte both in a crowded elevator glancing at each other without actually talking to each other. The first section of the film doesn’t just serve to show it’s characters completely apart, it makes you think as an audience member, of how many life-changing connections you could have made in the past by just being passive and solitary. 

With Coppola opting to not let the two similar characters meet, that decision certainly pays off as when the the individuals of Bob and Charlotte first meet each other, that’s when you start to see a mixture of the romantic element that I hinted at earlier and the themes of this film; themes which entail about life experience and chance. Rather than the film being very subdued and reserved like the start, the film definitely switches to a higher gear when Bob and Charlotte start interacting with each other for instance when they decide to go Japanese club and go to a karaoke party-event-thing. The film takes a while to truly glean out the deep-seated motivations of both it’s characters, but they become fully realised in one of the key scenes of the film where Bob and Charlotte lay fully-clothed in bed together. Here, they handle the ‘big’ questions in life, and not ‘where did you go to college?’ or ‘what did you want to be when you were little?’ but rather ‘what is my purpose?’ and ‘does marriage get easier?’ What is easy to understand just simply from this film is how much a like these two people are despite their age difference. They are mopers who want change for the better in their lives rather than continuously feel as though they are lonely and have nothing significant to do. Coppola’s screenplay takes two separate beings, far apart in age and experience, and makes a profound statement; both are in the same exact emotional limbo. Charlotte is confused and unsure whereas Bob is regretful and tired. Another simple idea you could take away from this segment is this suggested ‘love’ that Bob and Charlotte have between them which in way fluctuates through their own endeavours and emotionally ends with the popular ending sequence which I won’t tease to you guys about.

What helps this ‘relationship’ between Bob and Charlotte blossom throughout the film are the performances that Bill Murray and Scarlett Johnasson undertake. What it great to talk about the acting is how not only does this duo of Murray and Johansson dramatically work and have great chemistry between themselves in exploring Coppola’s narrative ideas, but individually, they as well set their characters up rather well. With his experience, Murray delves into his character of Bob Harris rather well considering that he’s an individual that is complicated since he finds himself in funny situations in Japan yet is deprived by his own living standards. While Murray is good to watch, I would say that the performance of this productions has to go to Johansson as she too plays someone that is complex yet hasn’t got that experience of doing a film like this. It’s no wonder how Johansson at age 19 got her Golden Globe nomination for Lost in Translation since she’s not only beautiful, but is a starlet that in this film, plays Charlotte with the right amount of emotion which doesn’t go overboard and preachy. I think that is done to the script-writing done by Coppola as well. But apart of it has to go down to Johansson as she metaphorically represents the younger portion of the audience.

While Lost in Translation didn’t particularly hook me with it’s hit or miss comedic moments, there were elements that I did particularly enjoyed which in turn made me watch this film over and over again and made me think about it more often than I should have. Yes, if you went into depth on this film, objectively you can find loop holes within this romanticised story. However, what is evident and what I’m sure you’ll take in to account if you have watched this film, is the chemistry that Murray and Johansson have. Even though upfront these are two completely different actors in terms of age and experience, they really do make an effort in divulging themselves into complex characters that are individually looking for a purpose. What massively helps this ‘relationship’ and stands to serve as one of the better qualities of this film, is it’s time management and structure and how Coppola opts to go with a languid opening which introduces the setting and the characters nicely. In an age where Superhero films take the spotlight, Lost in Translation is an independent film that is beautifully shot, simple in it’s storytelling, and refreshing to watch.

And on that note it’s time for me to end this review. As always everyone, thank you for reading and enjoying my latest review. If you liked what you have read about the review or have an opinion on the film, then by all means, feel free to drop a comment down below. Just a quick reminder, this will be the last review I Post on Monday’s as I will from next be at Uni. So starting from next week until maybe next year, I will be posting hopefully every Friday with a film review. Anyhow, thank you once again for reading my latest post. I’ll be back next week with another film review. Take Care!!

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ – Alex Rabbitte