COMPOSITION #1: LOST IN TRANSLATION.

Coppola, Sofia. Lost in translation. 2003. Tokyo: Focus Features.

Tokyo. Two strangers. The man is called Bob Harris (Bill Murray) and he is a film actor far past his prime who appears in a Japanese whisky commercial. The woman is called Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson) and she is a young college graduate in philosophy. Bob is tolerating a mediocre marriage and Charlotte is married with a busy celebrity photographer. He is in mid-life crisis and she doesn’t know what to do with her life. They feel alone and confused in a foreign country until they meet in the hotel bar and she invites him to go out with some Japanese friends. Then, a real friendship begins but, is it just a friendship?

This is the plot of a film that does not seem to be a film. Actually, it seems to be a documentary about Japanese culture and cultural shock; an album of Japanese cosmopolitan landscapes or even a mute film. It is unlike any other film I have ever seen: it is a comedy that makes you laugh but it speaks about melancholy or loneliness and makes you think too. For instance, you may burst out laughing because Bob does not know how to use a sports machine and suddenly you may cry with Charlotte's sadness. These 102 minutes of bitter-sweet flavour may be the reason why this film earned an Oscar, three Gold Globes and three BAFTA in year 2003.

The Coppola’s dreamy film focuses on two main topics. In the first place, it talks about the (apparently) biggest problem of the two main characters: language misunderstandings and cultural shock. In fact, the difference between English and Japanese languages is showed to us in a very funny way. For example, a lot of words in Japanese only mean a couple of words in English and they say “l” instead of “r” when they speak an occidental language. There are a lot of cultural differences too, as the world-known raw food or the Japanese crazy TV shows.
However this film goes further away and tells us how two completely unknown people can feel so close to each other speaking the same language in a country that it doesn’t. They are like students in a language exchange who tend to mix with people from their same country.

Secondly, the other main topic is love: a subtle love not materialised. Both main characters are trapped in marriages without love: Charlotte feels that her husband only cares about silly models and Bob only talks with his wife about stupid things like carpets. At first, they feel like accomplices in an unknown culture, then they become friends and finally, do they fall in love? In my opinion, the relationship between the two main characters is only friendship and admiration. Charlotte finds Bob a mature man with life experience who makes her laugh and Bob rejuvenates with Charlotte's company. I cannot imagine Charlotte and Bob leaving their respective couples and having a relationship in the United States. That love could take place only in Japan where things are easier.

Finally, I would like to focus on three moments that are the keys for this, love story? First, when they chat in bed about the experience of having children and Bob caress Charlotte’s foot; the second when he puts her in bed after the crazy party and the third their goodbye when, do they kiss? Well you will have to watch the film to discover that!