Murray and Johansson are great at getting ‘Lost’
For all the sniping she endured for her acting in her father’s “The Godfather, Part III,” Sofia Coppola was vindicated later on his side of the camera.
Now a respected filmmaker in her own right, her “Lost in Translation” – currently streaming on IMDB.TV – arguably is her most popular feature to date. Made on location in Japan, the wonderfully subtle 2003 comedy has ample star power in its teaming of Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson as separately visiting Americans who connect while staying in the same hotel.
Writer-director Coppola surely knew who she was getting with Murray, Oscar-nominated as a character not far from himself: a popular actor with a skeptical and perpetually bemused view of himself and the world. That helps him get through moments when directions given to him truly are lost in translation, particularly while he’s making an overseas television ad in which huge emotional weight is invested in a short, seemingly simple sentence.
Also a help to him is the young, deeply soulful photographer’s wife played by Johansson. Wiser than her years, she establishes a near-immediate connection to him while her somewhat flighty husband (Giovanni Ribisi) is off fulfilling a professional assignment. The rapport that Johansson and Murray share can’t be stressed nor praised enough, since without that, you really don’t have a full movie in this case.
“Lost in Translation” plays out as a slice of life built from vignettes about either main character or both together, and cinematographer Lance Acord burnishes the picture with a truly hypnotic look that underscores the far-fromhome feel Coppola wants. Also helping to keep the story rooted to Earth is Anna Faris (“Mom”) as a hilariously self-involved actress who tortures a certain James Bond theme song – and anyone who has to listen to her sing it – during a karaoke session.
Rare is the performer who can be trusted to fill in gaps with a mere smirk or a raised eyebrow, and Murray surely is that type of talent, as his years on “Saturday Night Live” initially confirmed. Coppola obviously devised “Lost in Translation” with him in mind – something that’s been confirmed by accounts of the making of the film – so the bigger challenge for her was in finding someone who could hold her own opposite him in what’s almost a May-December romance. Thus, this also is an important credit on Johansson’s resume, facilitating her transition into more adult roles.
There’s no other movie quite like “Lost in Translation,” which perhaps is the ultimate compliment it can be paid. And almost 20 years later, it still deserves every kudo it has found.