Lost in Translation

Papa Coppola must be very proud. His daughter is all grown up and making movies that are as superb as his, albeit in a very different genre. Plot first: Bill Murray stars as a star in Tokyo doing a liquor commercial who meets a young, bored woman whose husband is there on business, played by Scarlett Johansson. It's definitely a vehicle for Murray, who does his comic schtick throughout the film, but it's much more than that. Every frame of the movie is about the title. Americans stranded in Tokyo, not understanding the language. A man mis-communicating with his wife. A woman mis-communicating with her husband. Jet lag. Pachinko parlors. Steroid-enhanced TV shows. And, ultimately, what the two characters feel for each other but don't know how to express. And yet layered on top of that is the sense of connection we get when we meet a kindred spirit. And how incredibly beautiful Tokyo is while still being completely alien. And the joie de vivre evident at a loud party, whether it's in Japan, America or the West Indies. I don't know if I got the full effect of the film, because at least in the beginning I was laughing so hard that I probably missed a lot of Coppola's subtlety. This one is definitely a keeper, one that needs to be watched again.

year: 2003
length: 105 min.
rating: 4.0
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0335266/combined