Lost in Translation

Bill Murray is an American movie star who is past his prime in this film from Sophia Coppola. (Yes, the one who ruined The Godfather Part 3.) Murray is in Tokyo to push a brand of Japanese whisky, and while he's there he starts a strange friendship and budding romance with a much younger American woman (Scarlett Johansson).

The film's dominant feature is the sense of alienation that Murray's character finds himself in. He's out of place wherever he goes. He's always the tallest person in any scene, and he doesn't speak the language. It's this sense of estranged captivity that brings Murray into a relationship with Johansson's character. They are both estranged (though not openly) from their spouses, and both are unsure of their role in life itself. It's not a physical attraction, or even romantic, at first.

It is against the backdrop of high-tech, video-game-obsessed, uniquely absurd Tokyo that they both start to see each other as potential lovers. This film portrays love as a conspiracy against the absurdity of reality. Murray is hysterical as he listens to a Japanese director ask him to pose with a glass of whisky. The glass itself is filled with iced tea. The director asks him to "give him James Bond". Murray asks, "Oh, Sean Connery?" and delivers some Connery. The director asks for Roger Moore instead.

Another director doesn't speak English, but speaks to Murray in Japanese, and a woman translates for Murray. The director speaks in Japanese for about 1 minute, and the translator says, "He said: Hold the glass and smile." Murray does a double-take and says, "In all that?! It seems like he said a lot more!"

Modern day Japan in and of itself is a delight to experience. The culture is at once completely alien and yet also very Westernized. The Japanese are weird and charming and always very, very polite. Murray is a delight and displays the depth of his acting skills, his gift for understatement.

I recommend this film.