I remember reading someone who suggested Lost in Translation actually had the markings of a short film. I agree completely. This is a short film stretched out into a full length one. The result is a film that’s frequently slow, heavily mood setting and generally just strange. But I like it. I honestly do.

Though you have to sit patiently through the understatement to really see it, Lost in Translation is one of the few films that is genuinely funny while ultimately sad and manages to be just as positive as it is depressing. This is real life like I’ve never seen captured on film before.

The characters are just as real. Bob Harris (Bill Murray) is a middle-aged movie star who’s doing commercials in Japan because his movie jobs have been running thin. Bob is married with children but is somewhat emotionally detached from his family and thus his loneliness becomes twofold as he sits alone in a foreign hotel bar.

Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson) is in Japan with her husband, a photographer, who leaves to work in another part of Japan for a few days while she stays in Tokyo. The marriage doesn’t appear to be in its best condition and Charlotte is especially lonely and lost in the world.

Charlotte and Bob slowly meet and develop a strange, but sweet, relationship over a couple of days. They get along well together, enjoy each other, understand each other, and suspend the depths of loneliness each other experiences.

Alas, it cannot be. But it’s a fleeting glimpse of what could be – of what should be. I think my very favorite part of the story, though, is that it’s not wholly tragic. At Bob and Charlotte’s final parting, Bob smiles. A genuine smile. He’s not ungrateful that the rest of his life will continue without her but grateful for having had the last few days.

Lost in Translation succeeds in drawing up those kinds of emotions that cannot be described in words but expressed only in narrative situations. In this sense, Lost in Translation is one of the most mature scripts I’ve seen in some time. The tragic complexity of Bob and Charlotte’s relationship blows Casablanca out of the water.

I appreciate the degree to which Lost in Translation achieves its depth of emotion by slowing the film’s pacing and outright stopping at points. The atmospheric aspects beautifully compliment the narrative and evoke emotions that allow us to further relate to Bob and Charlotte.

On the other hand, it’s a bit too atmospheric for me at times. Though succeeding in its intent, the slowly moving story sometimes verges on losing our interest. I suppose the primary problem is, it’s really too real. Then again, that’s what I like most about it.

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