I know I’ve bombarded you with more of my film watching experiences than usual this week but I had to post one more.
Last night after conversations with a lot of you in the comments of my Old (2021) post, I’d planned to watch M. Night Shyamalan’s Lady in the Water (2006). However, for some reason I decided at the last minute to watch a film that I’ve been curious about for a long time but until last night had never seen.
Lost in Translation (2003)
If you haven’t seen it, it was written and directed by Sofia Coppola (yes, Mary Corleone from The Godfather: Part III and daughter of the trilogy’s director, Frances Ford Coppola).
It stars Bill Murray (Groundhog Day), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), Giavanni Ribisi (Avatar) and Anna Faris (Scary Movie) among others.
This is what it’s about according to IMDb:
A faded movie star and a neglected young woman form an unlikely bond after crossing paths in Tokyo.
I remember when this film came out and shortly after, reading (or hearing) something about Bill Murray being so upset that he didn’t win the academy award for best actor that he walked out of the place refusing to talk to reporters.
As it happens, that year he lost out to Sean Penn who won the award for his performance in Mystic River (another film I’ve never seen). 🤦🏻♂️
Ever since this, and because of the buzz that surrounded Lost in Translation I’ve been interested to see what all the fuss was about. The problem though was that the movie just didn’t really appeal…
To be quite honest this is the reason I haven’t seen a lot of films that any self-respecting movie buff would’ve seen.
It’s taken a while but I’m slowly starting to realise that I don’t always know what’s good for me, therefore I’ve decided I should just watch everything. 🤷♂️
I can’t tell you how much I loved this movie!!
It’s very rare that a film grabs me right from the opening credits but this one did and I enjoyed every single second of it!
I loved the story and how the film perfectly gets across the feelings of loneliness, awkwardness and the sense of isolation felt living in a foreign city where English isn’t the number one spoken language.
I also loved how it takes its time to properly introduce the two main characters, and teases what’s to come long before it finally allows them to meet for the first time.
Scarlett Johansson is adorable in this movie and the chemistry between her and Bill Murray is not only 100% believable, but 100% electric!
I know what you’re thinking, “Bill Murray is old enough to be her dad, if not her grandad” and believe me I thought the same going in. However, the film is so well written and acted that you just find yourself buying into the whole thing and you end up not caring about the age difference, let alone the fact that both of the characters are married.
I honestly didn’t want it to end.
It’s very rare that a film like this lives up to the hype and expectation for me, but on this occasion it more than did. I literally found myself smiling most of the way through it.
It has so much charm and is so relatable that you can’t help but fall in love with both characters and route for their relationship, whatever form that eventually takes.
This is the best and most lovably satisfying film I’ve seen for a while and I highly recommend it, especially if you’re a hopeless romantic like me. 😍
Seen it? Let me know what you think. 👇