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February 02, 2004
Lost in Translation
Having just seen Lost in Translation, I think we can safely say that Sofia Coppola has more than worked off the bad karma she earned by starring in The Godfather Part III.
First and foremost, her film benefits from memorable performances from her two leads. Scarlett Johansson's Charlotte could so easily have been an irritating snob, looking down on her intellectual inferiors and whining about her husband being off at work every day, but Johansson makes her a warm, sympathetic figure. As for Bill Murray, the praise he's been receiving from virtually all quarters for his portrayal of washed-up former action movie star Bob Harris is entirely deserved: although I think his performance in Groundhog Day just shades this one, the chemistry between Murray and Johansson is delightful and makes the film.
For all that, Coppola's film is much more than the sum of a couple of stellar performances. She communicates the slightly dazed, jetlagged feeling of visiting such a foreign culture very effectively, creating a distinctly off-kilter nocturnal environment for her characters to wander through. Whilst the script does appear to be in danger early on of relying on over-the-top comical misunderstandings between East and West (most notably the "rip my tights" scene which shows up in the TV ads and the what-does-the-director-really-want scenario when Bob shoots his whiskey ad), as soon as Bob and Charlotte meet properly the film takes wing.
Their chaste romance is one of the most touching double acts I've seen in years; you leave the film in no doubt that these two people desperately needed to encounter one another, but somehow it's clear that neither's spouse - Charlotte's photographer husband (in Japan with her but always dashing off to work), and Bob's wife (back in LA looking after the kids) - deserves to be betrayed by their spouses. Perhaps the two relationships will be strengthened by Charlotte and Bob's brief encounter, and perhaps they'll be torn apart because the two main characters have realised how dissatisfied they are with their respective lots. That question is left to be resolved off-screen after the film ends, which is how it should be.
The bottom line: if Sofia Coppola keeps making films this good we might have to start referring to Francis Ford Coppola as "Sofia's dad."
Posted by John at February 2, 2004 12:19 AM
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Comments
Thanks for the article. I've just seen the movie and I think it's really good. I do hope that Sofia will keep making films :))
Posted by: Annie at October 16, 2004 01:17 PM
Since I wrote that post she's announced her next project, an adaptation of Antonia Fraser's biography of Marie-Antoinette which will reunite her with The Virgin Suicides star Kirsten Dunst.
Posted by: John at October 16, 2004 02:39 PM