Perfect Translation

Meeting someone new is at once a remarkably ordinary and formidable experience. Everyone knows the chafe of loneliness; and while we're constantly surrounded by directionless individuals similarly lost, somehow it seems that no one ever really finds anyone. Those rare occasions when we actually do make contact and connect with another soul become the most dynamic and stimulating moments of our lives.

Sofia Coppola takes on one of these moments as the subject of her new film, Lost in Translation. Displaying the same finesse with which she unfurled The Virgin Suicides, Coppola weaves together the stories of two lives stranded and stagnant in the sprawl of Tokyo. Bill Murray is Bob Harris, a once-celebrated actor whose career has slumped, leaving him to endorse a Japanese whiskey for a few extra bucks.

Struggling in a desperate, difficult marriage, Bob seeks comfort and personal reflection in his travels but finds only the dizzying landscape of a city overrun by technology. Equally out of place is Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson), recent college grad and wife to a neurotic photographer, trying to discover what she wants from her life and marriage. Faltering at both, she only begins to find meaning when she encounters Bob.

Coppola maneuvers adroitly through the diverse landscapes of Japan, from video arcades alight with pulsing rhythms to the serenity of pristine wooded temples. Throughout all the changes of scenery, there remain only the two characters, adrift in confusion and indifference. From the straightforward interplay of these two characters, Coppola appeals to a universal array of emotions. Simple gestures and silly flirtations grow in significance, imbued with the desires of these two wayfarers. As Bob and Charlotte grasp for one another, Coppola's delicate hand leads us subtly through the narrative, never saying or showing more than is needed. In the potent final moments of the film, Coppola finally allows pure emotion to escape the restraints of her understated style. Lost in Translation stands as a reminder of what makes each of our lives worth living: other people.