Lost in Translation [WS]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

After making a striking directorial debut with her screen adaptation of The Virgin Suicides, Sofia Coppola offers a story of love and friendship blooming under unlikely circumstances in this comedy drama. Bob Harris (Bill Murray) is a well-known American actor whose career has gone into a tailspin; needing work, he takes a very large fee to appear in a commercial for Japanese whiskey to be shot in Tokyo. Feeling no small degree of culture shock in Japan, Bob spends most of his non-working hours at his hotel, where he meets Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson) at the bar. Twentysomething Charlotte is married to John (Giovanni Ribisi), a successful photographer who is in Tokyo on an assignment, leaving her to while away her time while he works. Beyond their shared bemusement and confusion with the sights and sounds of contemporary Tokyo, Bob and Charlotte share a similar dissatisfaction with their lives; the spark has gone out of Bob's marriage, and he's become disillusioned with his career. Meanwhile, Charlotte is puzzled with how much John has changed in their two years of marriage, while she's been unable to launch a creative career of her own. Bob and Charlotte become fast friends, and as they explore Tokyo, they begin to wonder if their sudden friendship might be growing into something more. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 1
• Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 (Theatre Wide Screen)
• Features:
  • A conversation with Bill Murray and Sofia Coppola
  • "'Lost' on Location" behind-the-scenes documentary
  • "City Girl" music video by Kevin Shields
  • Extended and deleted scenes

AWARDS

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

•     Won Best Original Screenplay - 2003 (Sofia Coppola)
•     Nominated Best Actor - 2003 (Bill Murray)
•     Nominated Best Director - 2003 (Sofia Coppola)
•     Nominated Best Picture - 2003 (Sofia Coppola, Ross Katz)

• American Film Institute

•     Won Best Picture - 2003

• Boston Society of Film Critics

•     Won Best Actor - 2003 (Bill Murray)
•     Won Best Actress - 2003 (Scarlett Johansson)
•     Won Best Director - 2003 (Sofia Coppola)

• Chicago Film Critics Association

•     Won Best Actor - 2003 (Bill Murray)
•     Won Best Cinematography - 2003 (Lance Acord)
•     Won Best Screenplay - 2003 (Sofia Coppola)
•     Nominated Best Actress - 2003 (Scarlett Johansson)
•     Nominated Best Director - 2003 (Sofia Coppola)
•     Nominated Best Picture - 2003

• Directors Guild of America

•     Nominated Best Director - 2003 (Sofia Coppola)

• Hollywood Foreign Press Association

•     Won Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comed - 2003 (Bill Murray)
•     Won Best Picture - Musical or Comedy - 2003
•     Won Best Screenplay - 2003 (Sofia Coppola)
•     Nominated Best Director - 2003 (Sofia Coppola)
•     Nominated Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Com - 2003 (Scarlett Johansson)

• Independent Spirit Awards

•     Won Best Actor - 2003 (Bill Murray)
•     Won Best Director - 2003 (Sofia Coppola)
•     Won Best Picture - 2003
•     Won Best Screenplay - 2003 (Sofia Coppola)

• Los Angeles Film Critics Association

•     Won Best Actor - 2003 (Bill Murray)
•     Won Best Picture (Runner-up) - 2003

• National Board of Review

•     Won Speical Filmmaking Achievement - 2003 (Sofia Coppola)
•     Nominated Best Picture - 2003

• National Society of Film Critics

•     Won Best Actor - 2003 (Bill Murray)
•     Won Best Director (Runner-up) - 2003 (Sofia Coppola)
•     Won Best Picture (Runner-up) - 2003

• New York Film Critics Circle

•     Won Best Actor - 2003 (Bill Murray)
•     Won Best Director - 2003 (Sofia Coppola)

• San Francisco Film Critics Circle

•     Won Best Actor - 2003 (Bill Murray)
•     Won Best Picture - 2003

• Screen Actors Guild

•     Nominated Best Actor - 2003 (Bill Murray)

• Telluride Film Festival

•     Film Presented - 2003

• Toronto Film Critics Association

•     Won Best Actor - 2003 (Bill Murray)
•     Won Best Picture - 2003
•     Won Best Screenplay - 2003 (Sofia Coppola)

• Venice International Film Festival

•     Won Countercurrent Prize for Best Actress - 2003 (Scarlett Johansson)

• Writers Guild of America

•     Won Best Original Screenplay - 2003 (Sofia Coppola)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Bill Murray - Bob Harris
       Scarlett Johansson - Charlotte
       Giovanni Ribisi - John
       Anna Faris - Kelly
       Fumihiro Hayashi - Charlie
       Catherine Lambert - Jazz Singer

• Director:

  Sofia Coppola

• Producer:

  Sofia Coppola, Ross Katz

• Screenwriter:

  Sofia Coppola

• Cinematographer:

  Lance Acord

• Composer (Music Score):

  Air, Kevin Shields, Brian Reitzell, Roger Joseph Manning Jr., William Storkson

• Editor:

  Sarah Flack

• Production Designer:

  Anne Ross, KK Barrett

• Art Director:

  Mayumi Tomita

• Co-producer:

  Stephen Schible

• Associate Producer:

  Mitch Glazer

• Executive Producer:

  Francis Ford Coppola, Fred Roos

• Set Designer:

  Towako Kuwajima, Tomomi Nishio

• Costume Designer:

  Nancy Steiner

• Sound/Sound Designer:

  Drew Kunin, Richard Beggs

• First Assistant Director:

  Takahide Kawakami

• Casting:

  Ryoichi Kondo

• Line Producer:

  Callum Greene

• Music Producer:

  Brian Reitzell

• Line Producer:

  Kiyoshi Inoue

REVIEW:

• Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation is a low-key but emotionally penetrating story that contains a multitude of feelings. Simultaneously delicate and assured, the film is about two people who find each other at the right time in their lives. Scarlett Johansson's confused and lonely Charlotte is smart enough to know that her marriage may be a mistake, but she is not emotionally equipped to know how to handle the problem. Her outstanding performance balances sadness, intelligence, vulnerability, and self-possession. Bill Murray gives the finest performance of his career as the actor who is, thanks to an emotionally stunted marriage and a sell-out career move, suffering from a mid-life crisis. Bob Harris could keep people at a distance with his comedic armor, much like Bill Murray, but he is at a phase in life where he is tired of acting that way. Murray delivers a disciplined, nuanced performance that deserves the highest forms of praise. Coppola herself shows that The Virgin Suicides was not beginner's luck. She frames Japan so that the audience feels how "foreign" it is for her two protagonists, while still showing great respect for the people and the culture even when her characters, in their more selfish moments, do not. With two films to her credit, Sofia Coppola has proven herself to be a master of tone and indirect characterization. The natures of the people in this film are revealed through behavior and through conversations that usually have very little to do with the plot. We get a glimpse of the depth of Charlotte's unhappiness in a phone call to a friend, and Bob's karaoke performance reveals his contained emotions for this young woman who has touched him in ways he believed were untouchable. Lost in Translation is a beautiful film. It is beautifully shot, but most importantly what passes between Bob and Charlotte is beautiful. Their time together will stay with each of them, and the viewer, for a very long time. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi