“I just don’t know what I’m supposed to be.”
Lost in Translation, Sofia Coppola’s second feature film, explores the inner turmoil of two Americans in Japan, Bob Harris (Bill Murray) and Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson). Bob is a movie star whose popularity has declined, so he’s in Tokyo to star in whiskey advertisements. Charlotte, who is staying in the same hotel as Bob, is a recent college graduate accompanying her celebrity photographer husband on a work trip. These protagonists are in wildly different age brackets, but are united by a powerful, largely unspoken malaise. Lost in Translation, too, is quietly powerful, as much a tribute to the endurance of the human spirit as it is a mournful ode to feeling lost in the world around us.
History
After being universally despised for her performance in her father’s (Francis Ford Coppola) third Godfather film, Sofia Coppola’s career in acting was short-lived. Less than a decade later, she helmed her feature directorial debut, The Virgin Suicides, a haunting, ethereal adaptation of Jeffrey Eugenides’ novel of the same name. Few filmmakers could have captured the Greek chorus style of narration that the novel embodied, or the ways in which a ghostly presence has infiltrated an otherwise pedestrian American suburb. The film immediately marked her as a precise artist with something important to say, especially in the realm of alienation and loneliness. These themes appear to be the fertile ground on which Lost in Translation was conceived, starring two Americans in Japan who form a bond by chance, which can neither be rationalised nor rejected.
Importance
While looking up information about the production and impact of this film, I was most struck by the frequent descriptions of Lost in Translation as being romantic. Though romance is an understandable lens through which one can view Bob and Charlotte’s connection, what makes this film so moving is that it never seeks to define their feelings in strict, literal terms. It takes its time exploring how lost each of them feels, not just in this big, foreign city, but within themselves. Even when they do meet by chance and strike up a friendship, we aren’t given clear insights into what expectations they make of this bond.
That lack of definitiveness is essential to the film, since these characters hardly know themselves, let alone the intricacies of a new bond with another human being. Watching the pair slowly re-immerse themselves in that unspoken gel of human connection that connects us all is surprisingly moving, especially when Lost in Translation’s humour is depicted in a detached, sardonic way. There’s an incredible synergy between comedy and drama here, with both tones emphasising how lost its protagonists feel.
Legacy
Lost in Translation catapulted Johansson to mainstream success, aiding her transition from teen actress to A-list movie star. The film also demonstrated a more sensitive side to Murray’s acting, showing that he had far more range than many of his previous comedies would have one believe. One of his catchphrases from the film’s metafictional whiskey commercials became widely quoted after its release. Just as Alexander Payne’s Sideways linked Merlot with negative connotations for the American public, Lost in Translation was a boon for the perception of Japanese whiskey’s value.
The only downside to this film’s cultural legacy is the continued accusations of orientalism, in which the Japanese characters and the various misunderstandings shared between them and the American protagonists frequently make them the butt of the joke. That hasn’t stopped Lost in Translation’s depiction of Japan from providing a boost in tourism for the country, with the film’s main location of Shinjuku Park Tower influencing many of its ardent fans to stay there.
Lost in Translation features such a memorable late-stage interaction between Bob and Charlotte that in many ways it has defined the film’s existence. As Bob leans in close, he utters words that can’t be heard, another way in which the film refuses to be pinned down or compromise its vision of alienation and connection. Of course, this will prove frustrating for some viewers, but it taps into this film’s finest qualities, trusting that its emphasis on tone and atmosphere will submerge viewers in the malaise its protagonists are wading through.
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