Lost in Translation describes a love story between two Americans stuck in Tokyo for separate reasons. Bob Harris, played by Bill Murray, is there on business shooting a commercial for whiskey while Charlotte, played by the ever beautiful Scarlett Johansson, is there because of her husband's job as a photographer. Their relationship develops slowly throughout the movie but is based on their feelings of displacement and alienation during their stay in Japan. Their story provides an exploration of human emotions which mostly include boredom and loneliness.
Charlotte is in her early twenties and Bob Harris is a middle-aged man, but both of them have their discrepancies about where their life is going or where it has gone already. Bob Harris is detached from his family and lives a life separate from what he wants, and Charlotte is stuck walking in her husband's shoes and she feels dissatisfaction in not finding her true calling.
Charlotte is bored yet restless, and finds herself roaming different areas of Tokyo examining their culture and how she relates to them. She even personalizes her hotel room by hanging origami in order to try and preserve a homey feel to her room even though she feels lost and not at home. Charlotte, throughout the movie, reflects on her marriage and whether it was a mistake or not because she can't find life direction. There are also a couple moments in the movie where Jon, her husband, is seen, and he's characterized as an artistic snob. He even pokes fun at Charlotte for having gone to Yale to study philosophy. Bob is satirical but tired and is over his career as a movie star. Throughout the movie Bob contemplates his faded career and stagnant life with his wife, who sends him faxes periodically throughout the movie. After awhile, it's really noticeable that Bob has a deep underlying dissatisfaction with his marriage.
After crossing paths all the time, Charlotte and Bob finally talk in the hotel bar one evening. They establish an emotional connection within the first seconds of them talking. Charlotte and Bob reinforce their need to forge a relationship with each other to communicate their problems, fears, and insecurities. By being in a foreign place, they find comfort in having a relationship because they can bond over their clash with the Japanese culture. The one moment that they recognize that they have a connection is when they do karaoke together and the songs that they choose describe the feelings that they have for each other. This is the time when they realize that they could live an uncomplicated future by being together, but their completely separate lives deny them the chance to actually let the relationship flourish. At the very end of the movie, though, Bob whispers something in Charlotte's ear and she smiles. Who knows what he said or what eventually happens…that's up to the viewer. Coppola's point of the movie is to capture the two leading characters in their exploration of Tokyo, and their undefined relationship that forms out of a mutual feeling of isolation and longing to connect with other people.
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