The Flipcritic

Starting an affair is never an easy decision, especially between those already married. Yet in the movies, it usually appears as a reasonable option to take, as if non-spousal sex were a panacea for everything wrong with one’s marriage. LOST IN TRANSLATION knows this, and so do its two central characters. They will date, drink, laugh, and fall effortlessly into each other’s company. But they will do so with intimacy that never requires touch, with grace that is seldom sentimental, and with sweet thoughtfulness that is refreshingly mature. Rarely has a tryst between two people seemed so stealthily romantic and acutely perceptive of its circumstances as this has.

The two souls that wander into each other’s midst are Bob Harris (Bill Murray) and Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson). Bob is an aging movie star who has come to Japan to film Whiskey commercials for money, and hates himself for it (Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger have done this for Japan, while we get the second rate action stars such as Steven Seagal and Jean Claude Van Damme). While Charlotte is a young woman accompanying her husband (a photographer) on assignment.

Both of their marriages have drifted into a state of limbo. Bob’s conversations with his wife often feel detached and burdened, owing more to routine than concern. At one point when he calls to check on her just for the heck of it, their talk ends turns awkward, even slightly spiteful, with Bob commenting, “That was a bad idea.”

Charlotte’s anxiety over her marriage may not even be based on real problems at all. She feels out of place in the company of her husband’s (Giovanni Ribisi) associates. She feels a tinge of jealousy when he is recognized by a Hollywood teen actress (Anna Faris), and especially so when she is introduced late into their conversation. Though her husband really does seem to love her, Charlotte’s disquiet is all the more enhanced by his time away at work, her lack of purpose in life, and her cultural displacement.

It is this displacement that accentuates Bob and Charlotte’s loneliness, allowing their disconnection from the immaterial. Japan, as their setting, comes across as a facility of enlightenment, not of the spiritual Zen Buddhist kind, but the kind that sobers them to face the meaning of their lives, their accomplishments. Bob always seems to have an aura of self-doubt, subtly ruing his choice to profit from his image, in a land that could care less about his talent. And Charlotte is starting to doubt not only the essence of her marriage, but also her self-worth. She barely has anything to fall back on, no career, no children, and no allies. When she calls home to lament her emptiness, her so-called friend replies, “Could you hold on for a sec?”

And then by chance they meet… and meet again… and meet again. To Bob, she seems so genuine, fresh, and unaffected. To Charlotte, he seems so much more interesting than all the shallow characters that abound in her husband’s line of work (and a hell of a lot funnier). Their conversations about their marriages flow back and forth amongst themselves like a slow and comforting pendulum, with Bob injecting a whiff of cutting but warm humor every so often.

Their rendezvous’ stretch to a karaoke bar, a strip club, house parties, restaurants, spas, hotel rooms, and bars. But despite all the places they frequent, we never seem to notice how much time passes by during their moments together. Maybe it’s because we wait in anticipation for both of them to consummate their relationship in a familiar romantic gesture. Or maybe it’s because the film’s cinematography (Lance Acord – ADAPTATION) and art direction (Mayumi Tomita) reflects how strangely alien and exotic Japan can appear to be. It is a vast metropolis of around 20 million people, but it has an unnerving sense of order, of appearance, of spirituality, and of overbearing vastness. There are shots here of organized chaos (in the city streets), of polite traffic (cars refusing to honk at passers-by), of kinky sensuality (Bob’s hotel escort), and of dreamy tranquility (a Buddhist temple).

Since this foreign land enhances Bob and Charlotte’s isolation, it empowers their connection, evoking a kind of need they might have never found necessary before meeting. Would these two people have connected in such a deep manner if they had met in their homeland? Without mush or superficiality, director Sophia Coppola deftly handles how they come to cherish one another, without ever letting their emotions overflow. There is a kindness, a sweetness here that is masked but strangely evident.

There is a key moment where they are in a position to make love, but both of them are smart enough to know that sex is an unnecessary step. It is companionship which they both seek, not that of friends, but of lifelong partners. They chat about their marriages, and when Charlotte asks Bob what it is like further down the road, he doesn’t insult her intelligence by telling her it will be a bed of roses. But he doesn’t scare her either. He gives it to her straight, using some of the most thoughtful and sweetest words I’ve ever heard in describing married life and children.

Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray have given two of the most memorable performances of the 2003. Ms. Johansson is quickly becoming the best actress of her generation, being able to evoke impassive warmth whenever onscreen. She radiates depth like the calm waters of a mountain lake, and glows with tenderness that makes you want to hold and protect her. Mr. Murray, though known as a funnyman, has always been a great actor (see THE RAZOR’S EDGE, RUSHMORE, and THE ROYAL TENNENBAUMS). And as Bob Harris, he has never been better. He plays an actor who basically plays his real life persona, but seems to be weary of being so funny. He shows uncanny restraint and sincerity that we rarely experience from his usual work. We feel he does care not only for Charlotte, but for his family, and his craft (why else would he care to invite Charlotte to just watch LA DOLCE VITA early in the morning?).

If I have made the movie sound like a boring drama, it is far from that. Aside from being a smart look into the human condition, LOST IN TRANSLATION is often very funny, having the ability to make you break out in affectionate laughter (such as when Bob tries to communicate with an elderly patient at a hospital). Its “fish out of water” take is quite effective in making us realize how alone these two people are. But it also makes us care for its characters better than any other film in the past year. Just the very idea that they were able to meet under such unlikely circumstances, makes this film kind of life-affirming. In the end, I loved them dearly, and shed tears as their whispers disappeared into the mysteries of the heart. This is one of the best films of 2003.

Posted by FLIPCRITIC at February 23, 2004 08:42 PM