DVD Review - Lost In Translation dir. Sofia Coppolla

There are no explosions in this film. There is no sex, there is no drama, there are no extremes of emotion. If this is what you think a movie should be, you're in the wrong line, go and see something with Julia Roberts in it.

Now that those awful people are gone, you and me can sit down and talk of the quiet genius of Sofia Coppolla. Her debut feature 'The Virgin Suicides' was a gentle nostalgic trip to a time and place in America which no longer exists, and a testimony to why that is the case. 'Lost In Translation' is an account of a relationship which never should have happened, and so didn't.

Scarlett Johannson plays Charlotte, the young wife of a photographer on a job in Tokyo. She tags along and soon finds that his job claims him for 90% of the trip. With no-one to talk to, she spends her days alone, taking day trips and staring from her hotel window. Bob Harris (Bill Murray) is an actor capitalising on his waning popularity by filming a series of whisky ads and appearing on Japanese talk shows. The pair meet at the hotel, and embark on a tentative friendship which includes karaoke, strip clubs and an injured toe. Thrown together through a feeling of loneliness in one of the most densely populated cities in the world, a relationship which is simultaneously uneasy and relaxed begins to form.

This story is partly influenced by the director's own experience of being the 'girlfriend' left alone in a strange country by her more successful boyfriend (Spike Jonze). The film is beautifully paced, never hurried and smoothly played out against a backdrop of neon, noise and urgency in central Tokyo. The plot tempers the furious pace of the city by frequently removing the characters to a different setting; a temple, a quiet sushi bar, a hospital waiting room.

The acting is superb, Bill Murray has never been better, and Scarlett Johansson excels herself in a deep and confident performance. Giovanni Ribisi as Charlotte's photographer boyfriend, and Anna Faris as the bubble headed American actress in town to plug her movie provide a strong dramatic and comedic support. This film will have you in tears of laughter, in quiet awe of the beauty of the photography and feeling warm and fuzzy, usually at the same time. The DVD includes some great deleted scenes, notably a silent ballet between Charlotte and two robots.