I finally went to see Lost in Translation today, and really enjoyed it. It’s a measured, subtle study for relationships abroad, insommina and alienation. Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson offer splendid, detailed performances and have remarkable chemistry. This is Murray at his most reigned-in–he’s world-weary and a bit depressed. The writing is clever without being showy, and the film’s structure is very organic–scenes seem to instinctively occur. To put it another way, you can’t seem the movie’s seams.
The relationship that builds between the two lead characters, isolated in a posh Tokyo hotel, is complex and meaningful. It reminds us of those quick, deep bonds forged between strangers on vacation or at camp. Both characters are looking for something in themselves and in each other, and we’re not really sure if they find it or not.
Lost in Translation does trade a little too much on its setting in wacky, futuristic Japan, but its a forgivable flaw. The cinematography was at its best either in the hotel or out in the country–it was these contrasts that kept an otherwise pretty slow movie very watchable.
I have a new-found respect for Sofia Coppola. I thought The Virgin Suicides was pretty awful, but this film shows real growth. The domesticities which were so dull in The Virgin Suicides are so fresh and compelling in this film. I’ve often wondered what a feminine style of filmmaking is, and I think this movie is one of the best examples I’ve seen.
On a vaguely-related side note, I appreciated that, in this age of skeletal ingenues, Scarlett Johansson had a relatively normal body shape.
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i thought the virgin suicides was INCREDIBLY awful.. which was part of the reason i was avoiding lost in translation. and yes, ms. johansson does have a lovely frame. 🙂
I liked the Virgin Suicides. It had a claustrophobic feel to it that fit the subject really well. There was only one way for the story to end, you didn’t have to be told, you could feel it.
I liked The Virgin Suicides as well, and HATED Lost in Translation. However, everyone I seem to talk to raves about this movie. My friend and I both walked out on it, we were both in such pain sitting there in the theatre. Perhaps it’s because neither of us are Bill Murray fans. Perhaps we were just mind-splittingly bored.