Lost In Translation DVD > Reviews > Worth getting up early for...

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Satisfactory
Characters / Performances	Outstanding
Special Effects	Standard
How does it compare to similar films?	Outstanding

Advantages:	Beautifully shot, great acting
Disadvantages:	the comedy  - drama balance doesn't work for me

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Courtesy of the good old Times, it was off to the flicks first thing on Sunday morning (at an ungodly hour!) to see "Lost in Translation" - the film they're all talking about across the pond.

I had not read any reviews; I had only seen a couple of lines some months back saying it was in production and then nothing until I got the chance of some preview tickets. I happened to catch Film 2004 just before I went and loads of Hollywood celebs were tipping it as the film to do well in the awards and at the box office.

The day before we were due to go, I saw the first TV ad for the movieand my first instinct was to wonder if I really wanted to get up early on a Sunday morning to watch this film, even if it was for nothing!

The trailer was portraying the film as some kind of madcap affair - the way, for example, Jim Carrey movies are often marketed. Not what I would have expected given that it is directed by Sofia Coppola - this had made me expect an altogether more arty and sensitive kind of film.

Nevertheless, Sunday morning saw me rudely awakened by the alarm and off to the cinema.

The film stars Bill Murray (Groundhog Day, Ghostbusters) as Bob, a jaded Hollywood actor who has gone to Tokyo to shoot a TV commercial advertising a brand of Japanese whisky.

There he meets Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson), a young philosophy graduate who has accompanied her photographer husband to Japan, while he does some work with an up and coming rock band.

Charlotte's husband, becoming increasingly obsessed with his own career, starts to neglect her and she is left to her own devices to occupy her days in a strange city.

Travelling alone, Bob has nothing to do in the eveings except prop up the hotel bar and this is where the two eventually meet. When Charlotte's husband has to go out of the city for a couple of days on location, Bob and Charlotte spend moe and more time together.

The two become close, not through a physical attraction, although it is clear that Bob finds Charlotte attractive, but rather as a result of the effect Tokyo has on them. Surrounded by a culture which is alien to both of them, they find support and comfort in each other. Charlotte clearly admires Bob for his experience and aks him if married life will always be so hard and when she will know what she will do with her life.

Bob and Charlotte enjoy wild nights discovering Japanese culture from the point of view of Tokyo's trendy young people, followed by long, intimate conversations in the early hours. They soon realise that they cannot be apart but know that it will have to end.

The film title "Lost in Translation" didn't seem quite right to me. There are some comedy scenes where language features with comical results, but there are no episodes in the film as you might expect where, for example, a misunderstanding occurs because of language or customs.

I felt that the high comedy scenes, such as when Bob appears reluctantly as a guest on a chat show hosted by the Japanese equivalent of Graham Norton, sat uncomfortably alongside the beautiful relationship that is unfolding between Bob and Charlotte.

The best thing about this film, apart from some superb acting from Murray and Johansson, was the cinematography. Sofia Coppola had been becoming a regular visitor to Japan and had earmarked aspects of the culture and places which appealed to her aesthetically which she was determined to feature in this movie. Visually, this is pleasing to the eye and I especially loved the juxtapositioning of the busy Tokyo streets with serene temples and gardens.

If I had to name a film this movie reminds me of I would suggest "Before Sunrise" (Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy) where the two main characters meet on a train in Europe and have only twenty-four hours to spend together in a strange city.

I was never really a fan of Bill Murray and found him too over the top in comedy roles but here he is subtle and relaxed. Johansson is a fairly new name but in the next few months you will know who she is. She is due to star in the acclaimed "Girl with a Pearl Earring" to be released later this year. Johansson puts in a fine performance in what is not really much of a role.

Giovanni Ribisi stands out in the role of John, Charlotte's husband, despite it being only a small part - he verges on the Woody Allen with his self-obsession.

This is a fine film and one which I think will do well in the awards but I am not sure that it will set the box office on fire in the UK - it is distinctly "art-house" rather than blockbuster. It stands out for it's good acting and beautiful scenes.