Lo-fi weekend reads - the melancholic masterpiece 'Lost in Translation'

Long-ish form thoughts on Sofia Coppola's 2003 directorial triumph 'Lost in Translation.'

To me, Lost in Translation summarises the reality of human experience for so many of us and, for that reason, it’s probably my favourite film. Throughout my entire life I’ve been very drawn to escapism through art, whether that be pop music, film, television, books, in gaming or online. I think it stems from growing up in a small town, feeling different as a young gay guy and like I don’t fit into my surroundings, and looking for alternative “places” where I feel I better fit.

The main characters in Lost in Translation are similarly in their own form of displacement, both in their personal lives and in their physical location. The film stars Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson as, respectively, Bob and Charlotte. The unconnected two both happen to be staying at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Tokyo, Japan. Bob is a fading movie star in the midst of a mid-life crisis, in an unhappy marriage, in Tokyo by himself to shoot a whiskey commercial. Charlotte is a recent college graduate accompanying her photographer husband on his work trip, often leaving her alone while he works. The two meet by chance at the hotel bar and form an unlikely friendship spurred on largely by their individual loneliness and isolation in Japan.

The way in which Japan is depicted in the film is probably its only minor issue, there’s a lot of Orientalism at play and to exaggerate the characters sense of not belonging and alienation, the weird and wackier parts of Japanese culture are centered. I do think these instances are important though, they’re what dumbfound the characters and force the unlikely pair together. Bob’s hopeless translator causing confusion, Charlotte’s isolating trip to a shrine leaving her feeling disconnected; these moments could happen anywhere in one way or another, but in a foreign country, unable to speak the language, both in a place where they’d rather be elsewhere, both in the midst of personal crises, their issues seem compounded.