Lost in Translation (2003)

A faded movie star and a neglected young woman form an unlikely bond after crossing paths in Tokyo.

Director:

Sofia Coppola

Writer:

Sofia Coppola

Stars:

Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson, Giovanni Ribisi

Won 1 Oscar. Another 96 wins & 132 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Scarlett Johansson	...	Charlotte
Bill Murray	...	Bob Harris
Akiko Takeshita	...	Ms. Kawasaki
Kazuyoshi Minamimagoe	...	Press Agent
Kazuko Shibata	...	Press Agent
Take	...	Press Agent
Ryuichiro Baba	...	Concierge
Akira Yamaguchi	...	Bellboy
Catherine Lambert	...	Jazz Singer
François du Bois	...	Sausalito Piano (as Francois du Bois)
Tim Leffman	...	Sausalito Guitar
Gregory Pekar	...	American Businessman #1
Richard Allen	...	American Businessman #2
Giovanni Ribisi	...	John
Diamond Yukai	...	Commercial Director (as Yutaka Tadokoro)

Storyline

Middle-aged American movie star Bob Harris is in Tokyo to film a personal endorsement Suntory whiskey ad solely for the Japanese market. He is past his movie star prime, but his name and image still have enough cachet for him to have gotten this lucrative $2 million job. He has an unsatisfying home life where his wife Lydia follows him wherever he goes - in the form of messages and faxes - for him to deal with the minutiae of their everyday lives, while she stays at home to look after their kids. Staying at the same upscale hotel is fellow American, twenty-something recent Yale Philosophy graduate Charlotte, her husband John, an entertainment still photographer, who is on assignment in Japan. As such, she is largely left to her own devices in the city, especially when his job takes him out of Tokyo. Both Bob and Charlotte are feeling lost by their current situations, which are not helped by the cultural barriers they feel in Tokyo, those cultural barriers extending far beyond just not...

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Plot Keywords:

older man younger woman relationship | loneliness | unlikely friendship | american in tokyo | insomnia | 

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Taglines:

Everyone wants to be found.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some sexual content

Did You Know?

Trivia

The painting in Charlotte's hotel room in Tokyo was done by John Kacere called "Jutta" (1973). Kacere is a famous photorealist who specialized in photographing women in lingerie.

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Goofs

At around 26 minutes in when John and Charlotte are leaving the hotel they bump into Kelly. John introduces Charlotte to Kelly and they shake hands. When the handshake is finished their hands separate and Kelly turns to the side. However, on the next shot they are back facing each other and in the middle of shaking hands again.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Ms. Kawasaki: Welcome to Tokyo.
Bob: Thank you very much.
Ms. Kawasaki: My name is Kawasaki. Nice to meet you.
Bob: I've heard of you. Thank you.

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Crazy Credits

At the end of the closing credits, Hiromix (Hiromi Toshikawa), seen throughout most of the party sequence, waves to the camera.

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Connections

Referenced in Better Off Ted: Lust in Translation (2010)

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Soundtracks

Torn Into
Written by Mount Sims (as Matt Sims)
Performed by Mount Sims
Courtesy of Emperor Norton Records

User Reviews

Sometimes the simplest stories make the best films

I went through an array of emotions and expressions watching this film; most of them centred around how bizarre I thought it was, yet it was like a good book I simply couldn't put down even if the film itself lived up to its title at times.

This is by far the best work Bill Murray has done, and it will be a pleasant surprise for many to see him find a new (to me, anyway) side to his ability as an actor. He captures the role with such precision that you don't realise this is the same guy who, dare I even mention it in the same breath, provided the voice of Garfield last year. You see a few traces of his characteristic smugness every once in a while, but by and large the Bill Murray you see is a lot more serious... and seriously damned good.

It's such a simple story... unhappy married man meets unhappy married woman in a place neither of them are familiar with, and suddenly realise that they're all the other has got at least for the time being. In an age where Hollywood is trying (mostly unsuccessfully) to scare and shock us with something new at every turn, Sofia Coppola takes what should be the premise for a typical chick flick and turns it into something that anyone who has ever experienced an emotion of any description can watch and appreciate.

A brilliant film in any language.

Details

Official Sites:

Distributor's web site with synopsis and media

Country:

USA Japan

Language:

English Japanese German French

Release Date:

3 October 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Lost in Translation

Filming Locations:

Omote-Sando, Tokyo, Japan

Box Office

Budget:

$4,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$925,087, 14 September 2003

Gross USA:

$44,585,453

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$118,686,937

Company Credits

Production Co:

Focus Features, Tohokushinsha Film Corporation (TFC), American Zoetrope

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1