Movie joy! It’s been a long time since I have enjoyed, uninterrupted, such a charming film. Yes, it was hyped, and yes it received a less than gushing reaction from the critics on it’s release but there are so many elements right about this film and more importantly to me, nothing wrong. There is nothing more disappointing than being halfway through a movie, enjoying it, buying to the characters, the story, only to be shortchanged by a cheap plot twist or a sudden dose of schmaltz. Lost in translation manages tells a story about in-betweens, what happens when nothing much is happening. With is sparsity of dialogue and glossy images of Tokyo, it would have been easy for this film to become eye candy with nothing to engage the emotions. However the opposite is true, the unlikely friendship of burnt-out actor Bob (Bill Murray) and a young, newly married, cynical New Yorker Charlotte (Scarlet Johansen) crackles with things felt and unsaid. As the two struggle to find their way in and around the culture and landscape of Tokyo, they discover a companionship that at the same time both reassures and unsettles them. Johannsen struggling with her lack of direction, and often absent husband. Murray questioning his 25 year long marriage and withering career.
Branding Lost in Translation with the obligatory “romantic comedy” tag is doing the film a huge disservice, not in the least because the romance and the comedy are unrelated. Bill Murray excels at deadpanning his way through the ridiculous situations he finds himself in, and any romance is so delicately played, that it may just be carried in Scarlet Johansen’s half smile.
Alluring, stylish, witty, warm and at times, intense, Lost in translation spares us the clich�s and tells a story about very real characters experiencing the perplexity of life with depth, wonderment, and plenty of humour.