When it comes to my Friday reviews I usually try and watch a film I have a never seen before, but sometimes I just like to say, "Fuck it, let’s watch a film I already know I love". This way of thinking led to me watch "Lost in Translation" (2003) for this week’s review, a film I loved the first time I saw but I hadn't seen for a few years. And I’ll just get it out of the way now, my opinion has not changed at all. I still adore this film, and in fact my love of it may have actually grown stronger on second viewing. The film follows the story of two lonely and confused people in Tokyo who make an unlikely connection. The first of these people is Bob Harris, played by Bill Murray. He is an actor who has seen his stock dwindle in recent years but is still enough of a star in Japan that he is being paid $2 million dollars to be the face of a marketing campaign for whiskey. The other character we follow is Charlotte, played by Scarlett Johansson. She is a young University graduate who has been married for two years and has come to Tokyo with her husband while he works. Bob is going through a midlife crisis, whilst Charlotte is starting to question her marriage and where she wants to take her life. They meet in the bar of the hotel they are staying in, and soon develop a deep and meaningful connection, which is what we see develop throughout the film’s narrative.
The narrative of this film is really, really simple and the direction and cinematography fit in with the simplicity of this narrative. This is to not say that the films simplicity is at all a hindrance to it. On the contrary, the simplicity of it is what makes this film so beautiful to me. It isn't a film about huge action set pieces or elaborately designed set pieces. It is a film about the relationship between two people and so simplicity is the best policy in a film like this. This is also not to say that the film doesn't look great because of course it does. I have for a few years been truly fascinated by Japan. Its culture, style and whole aesthetic really appeals to me and so I was always going to be partial for the look of a film set completely in Tokyo, and the film doesn't disappoint. It quite often takes time out to give the audience a tour around Japan, using the character of Charlotte as our guide. The most visual pleasing moment of the film comes when Bob and Charlotte go out with some of Charlotte's Japanese friends to a club, and then back to one of the friend's apartments. This sequence is full of cool looking neon lighting which gives a completely different visual feel and look to the film then what has been given beforehand. It is a beautiful sequence within a film that is beautiful throughout.
A film like “Lost in Translation" which is about the relationship between two people relies so heavily on the performances of its lead performers, and Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson do not let the film down. Murray is able to portray a man who is so clearly in a career rut, as well as a life rut with such ability whilst never going to far down a rabbit hole where the character becomes hard to watch. The charm remains in his performance and he is also extremely witty and very funny. I had forgotten how funny this film is, but Murray's performance, unsurprisingly, got several heart chuckles out of me. It is a brilliant performance, and is a performance matched by Johansson who I feel is doing the best work of her career in this film. She plays a vulnerable, smart and adventurous person brilliantly, whilst also getting across the confusion and worry for the future that the character is struggling with. What raises these performances even more is the chemistry that both actors share with each other. Every moment they share, every conversation they have, every adventure they go on feels authentic, feels real. You want to see these two characters be with each other and make each other happy and that is down to the two fantastic performances that Murray and Johansson provide, and also makes the ending of the film all that more heart-breaking. I also want to give a quick shout out to Anna Faris who plays Kelly, an action star who is in Japan on a promotional tour, and Diamond Yukai who plays the director of the commercial Bob is starring in. Both of these characters are very small bit parts in the film, but they are both very funny characters and I would be remiss to leave this review without giving them a mention. As I said, a film with this kind of narrative is built on its performances, and the performances in this film are bloody fantastic.
"Lost in Translation" is a film that is quite rightly praised, even going so far as to be placed at number 22 on the BBC's greatest films of the 21st century list. It is a film that has already quite rightly gone down as a classic, and I think it shall remain within the public consciousness for a long time. It is a beautiful film, not only visually but also through its narrative and performances. It is a film that leaves you with a smile on your face despite the rather heart-breaking ending. It is a film that I whole heartedly recommend, and I implore you to give it a watch if you have not already seen it. As for myself I will not be waiting as long to see this film again as I did first time around and I feel like when I do go back to it, I will find myself falling even further in love with it. I will now end this review with the same question that everyone asks after seeing this film, what the hell did Bill Murray say to Scarlett Johansson at the end?!