"Lost in Translation" is one marvelous film about two people, one older man and one younger woman, who are desperately seeking personal intimacy, friendship, and real love.  Sofia Coppola has proven with this film that she is a major talent with writing  and directing emotional and effecting movies.  While I appreciated her first film, The Virgin Suicides, it did not effect me in the way that I would rate it that great.  However, I found Lost in Translation to be both an inspiring and a masterful piece of film-making.

      The plot of this film will not take long to summarize.  Bill Murray plays Bob Harris who is a well-known American actor who is in Tokyo to make a Japanese commercial.  Staying at the same hotel is Charlotte who is accompanying her photographer husband who is working on a photo assignment.  Charlotte and her husband have been married only a few years but it is evident that she is not getting the attention and intimacy from him that she needs.  At the same time, Bob is also married with kids but we see just from the look on his face that there is something missing in his life.  At the hotel bar, Bob and Charlotte happen to meet and slowly they find that talking to each other gives them the real friendship that they both seem to crave for.  There appears to be an underlying sexual excitement in their growing relationship but it is the real intimacy that they give each other that bonds these two people together.

      Since this film is basically a story about two people, how effective it is depends totally on the actors playing these characters.  I don't know how else to say it other than both Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson are simply marvelous and perfect in the roles of Bob and Charlotte.  The facial expressions and body language that Murray gives off shows us an older man who is very unhappy with his life and is craving for some emotional connection.  Johansson perfectly plays that young wife who appears to have gotten married too young and who has no purpose in life other than to follow her husband around from one photo set to another.  I would love to see both actors get Academy Award nominations for this film.  Yes, both acting performances are that strong.  Murray especially shows just how effective he can be in a dramatic role as we are so used to him cracking us up with his comedy.

      I really liked this film and it is easily one of my favorite films of the year.  Aside from the great acting, the dreamy atmospheric feeling that the movie projects adds so much to the intimacy of the film.  It almost seems that I was right there in the hotel bar with Bob and Charlotte.  And while the subject matter may seem to be depressing, the way that these two people connect and find some happiness in this short week of knowing each other is very uplifting.  I just can't give enough kudos to Coppola, Murray, and Johansson for creating this masterful film

      I've said this too many times but in this era of so many Hollywood films with so little character development, story and emotion, it is so refreshing to see a film that is so rich in all three.  Go to the theatre and get "lost" for two hours watching this most effective film.