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Sofia Coppola creates a beautiful, gentle, and subtle story in Lost in Translation. I loved this film. It is rare to see a film that is built out of moments and that doesn’t move slavishly from plot point to plot point. The film drifts, not aimlessly, but in a direction that finds two strangers meeting in a Tokyo hotel. Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson are the strangers and they have a great on-screen chemistry. Both understate their roles and we watch as things unfold between them. Coppola has a great eye and with cinematographer Lance Accord they capture the right moments in a film that isn’t heavy on dialogue, but builds character on the screen within the frame. The film has a great pacing and was edited by Sarah Flack, who also cut The Limey, which also has a lyrical, thoughtful pace. Film is essentially voyeurism and we watch these characters, but don’t find out everything. We have to fill in the blanks and construct meaning out of the images and moments that are shared with us. Kind of how we deal with the world.
