I've admired Sofia Ford Coppola's work since her last film of the psychedelic 1970s dramatisation of Jeffrey Eugenides book, The Virgin Suicides. Her sensitivity with the story of the teenage sisters left me in no doubt that her next film would be even greater.
She has surpassed herself with her second film LOST IN TRANSLATION, which she wrote as well as directed. The story concerns two Americans, one an established film actor who is in Japan to endorse a new whisky commercial. The other is the young wife of a photographer, who is too busy to notice that she is at a loose end and lonely. They are both staying in the same hotel and recognise that they are both drifting in Tokyo. They keep each other company for a week.
Bill Murray plays the actor, with a world weary look, who feels psychologically as well as physically at odds with the Japanese culture. He does not speak the language and although there are plenty of interpreters on hand to translate the demands of the director for the commercial he has to make, he still he is not getting the full picture. He feels like an idiot, but knows that that is the price he has paid for being paid a million dollars for making a Japanese ad, instead of acting in a play is the US. His deadpan look has been exploited for comic effect for years, with his face pulled into a variety of contortions, but Coppola has dispensed with all of that. The humour is gentle. The visual gags deal with physical difference. Bob stooping under a shower head built for those under 5 ft 10. Standing in a lift full of diminuitive Japanese.
Exercising on a treadmill walker, he finds he is going at too fast a speed and has no idea how to slow down the Japanese speaking instructions.
The young wife, Charlotte, played by Scarlett Johanssen, is adrift in Tokyo. Her intelligence drives her towards a philosophical quest, which began with her degree studies, but she realises that the search for it will be long. Her friendship towards Bob is never romantic, but it is frequently touching. They are allies in recognisably alien territory. They go to a party with her trendy English speaking Japanese friends, dance, drink and sing karaoke. Some of the tenderest moments between them are when they are physically close, as in after the party when Bob carries her in his arms, to her hotel room and lays her on the bed. On another evening, as they both find it hard to sleep, he asks her to join him in his room, to watch a late film. They are lying on the bed opposite each other, they continue to talk and they both drift off to sleep. He is holding her feet in his hand. He had told her earlier that he feels detached from his children and his wife, but he feels close to Charlotte.
This film has been accused of a kind of inverted racism, but I think it never mocks the Japanese. It takes the best and worst aspects of the city culture, its' technological advancement, the generous hospitality, the polite courtesy, crass television shows (one of which Bob appears on with a lurid pink suited, dyed blonde over zealous presenter). The city is offered to tourists like guests being asked to enter a home. Even sex is presented as just another thing to try. There is a hilarious scene which perfectly illustrates this notion, when a 'sexy businesswoman' offers herself to Bob as a company perk. He cannot quite work out what he is required to do.
She becomes impatient as she offers her leg for him to feel. 'Hey' she says..'lip my stocking!'
'What do you want me do?' he ask astounded, 'Lick them?'
LOST IN TRANSLATION is a tender film for lost souls, dealing with alternatives on how to communicate.
It has drawn possibly the most understated performance on film from Bill Murray, as the rather tired but hopeful actor. I'm pleased that he is the running for an Oscar this year. It is a tribute to the loneliness of a city, but also the hope you can find amongst friends.
A review by Chris Mark
Presented 01 March 2004
Sofia Coppola - Academy Award Winner Best original screenplay:
29 Feburay 2004
At the ceremony: "I can't believe I'm standing here. Thank you to my Dad for everything he taught me and the film makers whose movies inspired me when I was writing this script. Every writer needs a muse - mine was Bill Murray." Sofia Coppola
Backstage: "I never thought my dad would watch me get an Oscar. I was really nervous, my heart was pounding but I just jumped around and screamed and did my thing."
