Lost in Translation

Front Row at the Movies by Shirrel Rhoades

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Monty Python once did a funny sketch that concluded, “Nothing happened.” At a casual viewing, audiences may come to the same conclusion about Sofia Coppola’s “Lost in Translation.”

Here, Bill Murray and Scarlet Johansson spend 1-hour 47-minutes in which absolutely nothing happens. Kinda.

The storyline (if we can call it that) has an aging movie star named Bob Harris (Murray) finding himself at loose ends while in Tokyo to film a product endorsement. He finds himself in the same hotel as twentysomething Charlotte (Johansson), a Yale philosophy grad whose husband (Giovanni Ribisi) has left her in the same hotel while he leaves town on a photo assignment.

Isolated by the unfamiliar culture and strange language, the two hang out together.

While the older man – younger woman theme may sound like Woody Allen territory, do not worry – absolutely nothing happens.

Mostly they talk. He has an unhappy home life. She feels unfulfilled. They stroll around Tokyo, but mostly they loiter in the fancy hotel.

Bob and Charlotte don’t speak to each other until 32 minutes into the film.

Yet, this is a talky film, like “Before Midnight” (2013) or “Night on Earth” (1991).

The talk is trivial. Or is it?

Charlotte: I just don’t know what I’m supposed to be.
Bob: You’ll figure that out. The more you know who you are, and what you want, the less you let things upset you.

Or:

Bob: I don’t want to leave.
Charlotte: So don’t. Stay here with me. We’ll start a jazz band.

The late film critic Roger Ebert added “Lost in Translation” to his Great Movies list. He wrote: “Bill Murray’s acting … is surely one of the most exquisitely controlled performances in recent movies. Without it, the film could be unwatchable. With it, I can’t take my eyes away. Not for a second, not for a frame.”

We can’t argue with that – even if “nothing happens.”

You will find “Lost in Translation” (2003) screening at Tropic Cinema as part of its Date Night series.

Director Sofia Coppola (daughter of film maestro Francis Ford Coppola) wrote the lead role specifically for Bill Murray. She has said that if Murray had turned it down, she wouldn’t have done the movie.

The unconventional script mostly described the scenes, allowing for input by the actors. Much of the dialogue was improvised, particularly Murray’s lines in the photo shoot and while describing his Shiatsu massage.

Sofia Coppola was the first woman ever to be nominated for writing, directing, and producing in the same year’s Academy Awards. She won for Best Original Screenplay.

Bill Murray considers this the favorite film he’s made.

What’s “Lost in Translation” really about? Two people sharing loneliness.

Email Shirrel: srhoades@aol.com