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Lost in Translation (film)
Encyclopedia
Lost in Translation is a 2003 American film written and directed by Sofia Coppola
; her second feature film after The Virgin Suicides
(1999) and it stars Bill Murray
and Scarlett Johansson
. A drama
with elements of comedy
and romance
, the film revolves around an aging actor named Bob Harris (Bill Murray) and a recent college graduate named Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson), who develop a unique closeness after a chance meeting in a grand Tokyo
hotel. The movie explores themes of loneliness
, alienation
, insomnia
, existential
ennui, and culture shock
, against the backdrop of a modern Japanese cityscape.
Lost in Translation was a major critical success and went on to be nominated for four Academy Awards
, including: Best Picture
, Best Actor
for Bill Murray, and Best Director for Sofia Coppola; Coppola won for Best Original Screenplay. Scarlett Johansson won a BAFTA award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
. The film was also a commercial success relative to its production cost, grossing $120m from a budget of only $4m.
to film an advertisement for Suntory whisky
, for which he will receive $2 million. Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson), a young recent Yale
graduate, is left behind in her hotel room by her husband, John (Giovanni Ribisi
), a celebrity photographer on assignment in Tokyo. Charlotte is unsure of her present and her future and about the man she has married as she believes he takes more interest in his celebrity models, most notably a young and popular American actress named Kelly (Anna Faris
), than he does in her. At the same time, Bob's own 25-year marriage is tired and lacking in romance as he goes through a midlife crisis
.
One night, after a long photo shoot, Bob retreats to the hotel bar. Charlotte, sitting at a table with John and friends, notices Bob and has a waiter bring him a bowl of peanuts from her table. Later, Bob and Charlotte have brief encounters each night at the hotel bar, until Charlotte invites Bob to meet up with some local friends of hers. Bob accepts and arrives later at her hotel room dressed in an outfit for a young appeal style. Meanwhile, the two begin a friendship bond through their adventures in Tokyo together while experiencing the differences between Japanese and American culture, and between their own generations.
On the penultimate night of his stay, Bob attracts the attention of the resident vocalist. The next morning, Bob awakens to find this woman in his room, having apparently slept with her. Charlotte arrives at his room to go out for breakfast only to find the woman in his room, leading to conflict and tension over a subsequent lunch. Later that night, during a fire alarm at the hotel, Bob and Charlotte reconcile and express how they will miss each other as they make one more trip back to the hotel bar.
On the following morning, Bob is set for his departure back to the United States. He tells Charlotte goodbye at the hotel lobby shortly before checking out and sadly watches her retreat back to an elevator. While riding in a taxi to the airport, Bob sees Charlotte on a crowded street and he gets out and goes to her. Bob embraces Charlotte and whispers something (substantially inaudible to the audience) in the tearful Charlotte's ear. The two share a kiss, say goodbye and Bob departs.
), and an interpreter (Takeshita) are on a set, filming the Suntory
whisky commercial—specifically the Hibiki 17 Year whisky. In several exchanges, the director speaks several long sentences with passion, followed by a brief, inadequate translation from the interpreter.
The two central characters in the film—Bob and Charlotte, both Americans—find themselves 'lost' in a culture that is foreign to them, and their displaced location during their blossoming friendship enhances their connection with one another.
Various locations in Tokyo are showcased throughout the film; in particular, the bar featured prominently in the film is the New York Bar, situated on the 52nd floor of the Shinjuku Park Tower
and part of the Park Hyatt Tokyo
hotel in Shinjuku, Tokyo
. Other locations include the Heian Jingu
shrine in Kyoto
and the steps of the giant San-mon gate at Nanzen-ji
, as well as the fashionable club Air in the Daikanyama
district of Tokyo. All locations mentioned in the film are the names of actual places, bars, or businesses that existed in Tokyo at the time of filming. A map of Tokyo with the locations used in Lost In Translation highlighted is available in the Japanese DVD
edition of the film.
. It was given a limited release on September 12, 2003 in 23 theaters where it grossed $925,087 on its opening weekend. It was given a wider release on October 3, 2003 in 864 theaters where it grossed $4.1 million on its opening weekend. The film went on to make $44.5 million in North America
and $75.1 million in the rest of the world for a worldwide total of $119.7 million.
. It was praised not only for Sofia Coppola's script and distinctive directing, but also for the work of Bill Murray. Film critic Roger Ebert
gave the film four out of four stars and rated it the second best film of the year, describing it as "sweet and sad at the same time as it is sardonic and funny", while also praising Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson. In his review for The New York Times
, Elvis Mitchell
wrote, "At 18, the actress gets away with playing a 25-year-old woman by using her husky voice to test the level of acidity in the air ... Ms. Johansson is not nearly as accomplished a performer as Mr. Murray, but Ms. Coppola gets around this by using Charlotte's simplicity and curiosity as keys to her character". Entertainment Weekly
gave the film an "A" rating and Lisa Schwarzbaum wrote, "working opposite the embracing, restful serenity of Johansson, Murray reveals something more commanding in his repose than we have ever seen before. Trimmed to a newly muscular, rangy handsomeness and in complete rapport with his character's hard-earned acceptance of life's limitations, Murray turns in a great performance". In his review for The New York Observer, Andrew Sarris
wrote, "The result is that rarity of rarities, a grown-up romance based on the deliberate repression of sexual gratification ... It's worth noting that at a time when independent films are exploding with erotic images edging ever closer to outright pornography, Ms. Coppola and her colleagues have replaced sexual facility with emotional longing, without being too coy or self-congratulatory in the process". USA Today
gave the film three-and-a-half out of four stars and wrote, "Coppola's second feature offers quiet humor in lieu of the bludgeoning direct assaults most comedies these days inflict". Time
magazine's Richard Corliss praised Murray's performance: "You won't find a subtler, funnier or more poignant performance this year than this quietly astonishing turn."
In his review for The Observer
, Philip French
wrote, "But while Lost in Translation is deeply sad and has a strongly Antonioniesque
flavour, it's also a wispy romantic comedy with little plot and some well-observed comic moments". In his review for The Guardian
, Joe Queenan
praised Coppola's film for being "one of the few Hollywood films I have seen this year that has a brain; but more than that, it has a soul." In a separate Guardian article about the film, Kiku Day, a musician specializing in the shakuhachi
, questioned the praise the film was receiving, saying she "couldn't help wondering not only whether I had watched a different movie, but whether the plaudits had come from a parallel universe of values"; according to Day, "[t]here is no scene where the Japanese are afforded a shred of dignity. The viewer is sledgehammered into laughing at these small, yellow people and their funny ways." Day also said "while shoe-horning every possible caricature of modern Japan into her movie, Coppola is respectful of ancient Japan. It is depicted approvingly, though ancient traditions have very little to do with the contemporary Japanese. The good Japan, according to this director, is Buddhist monks chanting, ancient temples, flower arrangement
; meanwhile she portrays the contemporary Japanese as ridiculous people who have lost contact with their own culture."
Rolling Stone
magazine's Peter Travers
gave the film four out of four stars and wrote, "Before saying goodbye, they whisper something to each other that the audience can't hear. Coppola keeps her film as hushed and intimate as that whisper. Lost in Translation is found gold. Funny how a wisp of a movie from a wisp of a girl can wipe you out." J. Hoberman
, in his review for the Village Voice, wrote, "Lost in Translation is as bittersweet a brief encounter as any in American movies since Richard Linklater
's equally romantic Before Sunrise
. But Lost in Translation is the more poignant reverie. Coppola evokes the emotional intensity of a one-night stand far from home—but what she really gets is the magic of movies". Entertainment Weekly
put it on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list, saying, "Six years later, we still have no clue what Bill Murray whispered into Scarlett Johansson's ear. And we don't want to. Why spoil a perfect film?"
The Los Angeles Film Critics Association
and National Society of Film Critics
voted Bill Murray best actor of the year. The New York Film Critics Circle also voted Murray best actor and Sofia Coppola best director. In addition, Coppola received an award for special filmmaking achievement from the National Board of Review. Lost in Translation also appeared on several critics' top ten lists for 2003.
Roger Ebert
added it to his "great movies" list on his website.
for Best Original Screenplay in 2003. It was also nominated for Best Director
and Best Picture
, but lost both to The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
. Bill Murray was also nominated for Best Actor
, but lost to Sean Penn
for Mystic River
.
The film won Golden Globes for Best Musical or Comedy Motion Picture, Best Screenplay
, and Best Musical or Comedy Actor. It was also nominated for Best Director
, and Best Musical or Comedy Actress
.
At the BAFTA
film awards, Lost in Translation won the Best Editing, Best Actor
and Best Actress awards. It was also nominated for best film, director, original screenplay, music and cinematography. It won four IFP Independent Spirit Awards, for Best Feature, Director, Male Lead, and Screenplay. The film was honored with the original screenplay award from the Writers Guild of America
.
, was released by Emperor Norton Records
on September 9, 2003. It includes five songs by Kevin Shields
, including one from his group My Bloody Valentine. Allmusic gave the soundtrack (four out of five stars), saying "Coppola's impressionistic romance Lost in Translation features an equally impressionistic and romantic soundtrack that plays almost as big a role in the film as Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson do."
gave it an "A" rating and criticized "the disc's slim bonus features", but praised the film for standing "on its own as a valentine to the mysteries of attraction".
Lost in Translation was also released in high definition on the now defunct HD DVD
format. A Blu-ray edition was released on January 4, 2011.
Sofia Coppola
Sofia Carmina Coppola is an American screenwriter, film director, actress, and producer.In 2003 she received the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Lost in Translation, and became the third woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for Directing...
; her second feature film after The Virgin Suicides
The Virgin Suicides (film)
The Virgin Suicides is a 1999 American drama film written and directed by Sofia Coppola, produced by her father Francis Ford Coppola, starring James Woods, Kathleen Turner, Kirsten Dunst, Josh Hartnett, and A.J...
(1999) and it stars Bill Murray
Bill Murray
William James "Bill" Murray is an American actor and comedian. He first gained national exposure on Saturday Night Live in which he earned an Emmy Award and later went on to star in a number of critically and commercially successful comedic films, including Caddyshack , Ghostbusters , and...
and Scarlett Johansson
Scarlett Johansson
Scarlett Johansson is an American actress, model and singer.Johansson made her film debut in North and was later nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead for her performance in Manny & Lo . She rose to further prominence with her roles in The Horse Whisperer and Ghost World...
. A drama
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
with elements of comedy
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
and romance
Romance film
Romance films are love stories that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate involvement of the main characters and the journey that their love takes through courtship or marriage. Romance films make the love story or the search for love the main plot focus...
, the film revolves around an aging actor named Bob Harris (Bill Murray) and a recent college graduate named Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson), who develop a unique closeness after a chance meeting in a grand Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
hotel. The movie explores themes of loneliness
Loneliness
Loneliness is an unpleasant feeling in which a person feels a strong sense of emptiness and solitude resulting from inadequate levels of social relationships. However, it is a subjective experience...
, alienation
Social alienation
The term social alienation has many discipline-specific uses; Roberts notes how even within the social sciences, it “is used to refer both to a personal psychological state and to a type of social relationship”...
, insomnia
Insomnia
Insomnia is most often defined by an individual's report of sleeping difficulties. While the term is sometimes used in sleep literature to describe a disorder demonstrated by polysomnographic evidence of disturbed sleep, insomnia is often defined as a positive response to either of two questions:...
, existential
Existentialism
Existentialism is a term applied to a school of 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences, shared the belief that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject—not merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling, living human individual...
ennui, and culture shock
Culture shock
Culture shock is the anxiety, feelings of frustration, alienation and anger that may occur when a person is emplaced in a new culture.One of the most common causes of culture shock involves individuals in a foreign country. Culture shock can be described as consisting of one or more distinct phases...
, against the backdrop of a modern Japanese cityscape.
Lost in Translation was a major critical success and went on to be nominated for four Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
, including: Best Picture
Academy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
, Best Actor
Academy Award for Best Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
for Bill Murray, and Best Director for Sofia Coppola; Coppola won for Best Original Screenplay. Scarlett Johansson won a BAFTA award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
Best Actress in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognise an actress who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film.- Winners and nominees :...
. The film was also a commercial success relative to its production cost, grossing $120m from a budget of only $4m.
Plot
Bob Harris (Bill Murray), an aging American movie star, arrives in TokyoTokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
to film an advertisement for Suntory whisky
Suntory
is a Japanese brewing and distilling company group. Established in 1899, it is one of the oldest companies in the distribution of alcoholic beverages in Japan. Its business has expanded to other fields, and the company now offers everything from soft drinks to sandwich chains...
, for which he will receive $2 million. Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson), a young recent Yale
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
graduate, is left behind in her hotel room by her husband, John (Giovanni Ribisi
Giovanni Ribisi
Giovanni Ribisi is an American actor. His film credits include Gone in 60 Seconds, Boiler Room, Saving Private Ryan, The Mod Squad, The Gift, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Lost in Translation and more recently, Public Enemies and Avatar...
), a celebrity photographer on assignment in Tokyo. Charlotte is unsure of her present and her future and about the man she has married as she believes he takes more interest in his celebrity models, most notably a young and popular American actress named Kelly (Anna Faris
Anna Faris
Anna Kay Faris is an American actress, singer and comedienne. She is known for her starring role in the Scary Movie film series, as well as roles in The Hot Chick , Lost in Translation , Just Friends , My Super Ex-Girlfriend , Smiley Face , and The House Bunny...
), than he does in her. At the same time, Bob's own 25-year marriage is tired and lacking in romance as he goes through a midlife crisis
Midlife Crisis
"Midlife Crisis" is a song by the American rock band Faith No More. It was released on May 26, 1992 as the first single from their fourth album, Angel Dust...
.
One night, after a long photo shoot, Bob retreats to the hotel bar. Charlotte, sitting at a table with John and friends, notices Bob and has a waiter bring him a bowl of peanuts from her table. Later, Bob and Charlotte have brief encounters each night at the hotel bar, until Charlotte invites Bob to meet up with some local friends of hers. Bob accepts and arrives later at her hotel room dressed in an outfit for a young appeal style. Meanwhile, the two begin a friendship bond through their adventures in Tokyo together while experiencing the differences between Japanese and American culture, and between their own generations.
On the penultimate night of his stay, Bob attracts the attention of the resident vocalist. The next morning, Bob awakens to find this woman in his room, having apparently slept with her. Charlotte arrives at his room to go out for breakfast only to find the woman in his room, leading to conflict and tension over a subsequent lunch. Later that night, during a fire alarm at the hotel, Bob and Charlotte reconcile and express how they will miss each other as they make one more trip back to the hotel bar.
On the following morning, Bob is set for his departure back to the United States. He tells Charlotte goodbye at the hotel lobby shortly before checking out and sadly watches her retreat back to an elevator. While riding in a taxi to the airport, Bob sees Charlotte on a crowded street and he gets out and goes to her. Bob embraces Charlotte and whispers something (substantially inaudible to the audience) in the tearful Charlotte's ear. The two share a kiss, say goodbye and Bob departs.
Cast
- Bill MurrayBill MurrayWilliam James "Bill" Murray is an American actor and comedian. He first gained national exposure on Saturday Night Live in which he earned an Emmy Award and later went on to star in a number of critically and commercially successful comedic films, including Caddyshack , Ghostbusters , and...
as Bob Harris - Scarlett JohanssonScarlett JohanssonScarlett Johansson is an American actress, model and singer.Johansson made her film debut in North and was later nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead for her performance in Manny & Lo . She rose to further prominence with her roles in The Horse Whisperer and Ghost World...
as Charlotte - Giovanni RibisiGiovanni RibisiGiovanni Ribisi is an American actor. His film credits include Gone in 60 Seconds, Boiler Room, Saving Private Ryan, The Mod Squad, The Gift, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Lost in Translation and more recently, Public Enemies and Avatar...
as John - Anna FarisAnna FarisAnna Kay Faris is an American actress, singer and comedienne. She is known for her starring role in the Scary Movie film series, as well as roles in The Hot Chick , Lost in Translation , Just Friends , My Super Ex-Girlfriend , Smiley Face , and The House Bunny...
as Kelly - Fumihiro Hayashi as Charlie Brown
- Akiko Takeshita as Ms. Kawasaki
- François Du BoisFrançois Du BoisFrançois Du Bois is a composer, marimba virtuoso, as well as professor, writer and author.-Musical debut:...
as the Pianist - Takashi FujiiTakashi Fujii, born March 10, 1972 in Toyonaka, Osaka, Japan) is a Japanese comedian and singer who belongs to the Japanese entertainment conglomerate Yoshimoto Kogyo and is the popular host of Matthew's Best Hit TV , born March 10, 1972 in Toyonaka, Osaka, Japan) is a Japanese comedian and singer who belongs...
as TV host (as Matthew Minami) - HiromixHiromix, better known as Hiromix , is a Japanese photographer and artist.-Biography:Born in 1976, Hiromix rose to fame in Japan after winning the 11th New Cosmos of Photography award, hosted by the photographic manufacturer Canon, in March 1995. Hiromix was nominated by Nobuyoshi Araki, one of Japan's...
as herself
Title concept
The concept of "lost in translation" occurs throughout the film with a number of meanings. Bob, a Japanese director (Yutaka TadokoroDiamond Yukai
is a rock singer and actor. He was born Yutaka Tadokoro in Tanashi, Tokyo, Japan. He is the vocalist for the long term existing Japanese rock band Red Warriors.-Movies:He appeared in the following movies:...
), and an interpreter (Takeshita) are on a set, filming the Suntory
Suntory
is a Japanese brewing and distilling company group. Established in 1899, it is one of the oldest companies in the distribution of alcoholic beverages in Japan. Its business has expanded to other fields, and the company now offers everything from soft drinks to sandwich chains...
whisky commercial—specifically the Hibiki 17 Year whisky. In several exchanges, the director speaks several long sentences with passion, followed by a brief, inadequate translation from the interpreter.
- Director [in Japanese, to the interpreter]: The translation is very important, O.K.? The translation.
- Interpreter [in Japanese, to the director]: Yes, of course. I understand.
- Director [in Japanese, to Bob]: Mr. Bob. You are sitting quietly in your study. And then there is a bottle of Suntory whisky on top of the table. You understand, right? With wholehearted feeling, slowly, look at the camera, tenderly, and as if you are meeting old friends, say the words. As if you are BogieHumphrey BogartHumphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....
in CasablancaCasablanca (film)Casablanca is a 1942 American romantic drama film directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid, and featuring Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre and Dooley Wilson. Set during World War II, it focuses on a man torn between, in...
, saying, "Here's looking at you, kid,"—Suntory time! - Interpreter [In English, to Bob]: He wants you to turn, look in camera. O.K.?
- Bob: ...Is that all he said?
The two central characters in the film—Bob and Charlotte, both Americans—find themselves 'lost' in a culture that is foreign to them, and their displaced location during their blossoming friendship enhances their connection with one another.
Production
According to Coppola she "wrote the movie with Bill Murray in mind" and pursued him relentlessly: "I got his voicemail number and I called him every day, and he called me back once like a month later but then my phone didn't work....I was supposed to meet him and then he had to cancel it. One of the low, low points was [...] I called Al Pacino 'cause I heard he lived in the same town as Bill Murray lived in." Murray never signed a contract, though he sounded interested, so Coppola "went to Japan and started filming. It was a huge relief when he showed up." The movie was filmed in 27 days in October 2002.Various locations in Tokyo are showcased throughout the film; in particular, the bar featured prominently in the film is the New York Bar, situated on the 52nd floor of the Shinjuku Park Tower
Shinjuku Park Tower
The is the second-tallest building in Shinjuku, Tokyo. It was designed by Kenzo Tange and completed in 1994. Shinjuku Park Tower has 3 elements; S tower, which is 235 m tall with 52 storeys, C tower which is 209 m tall with 47 storeys and N tower which is 182 m tall with 41 storeys...
and part of the Park Hyatt Tokyo
Hyatt
Hyatt Hotels Corporation , is an international operator of hotels.Hyatt Center is the headquarters for Hyatt corporation...
hotel in Shinjuku, Tokyo
Shinjuku, Tokyo
is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative center, housing the busiest train station in the world and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration center for the government of Tokyo.As of 2008, the ward has an estimated population...
. Other locations include the Heian Jingu
Heian Jingu
The is a Shinto shrine located in Kyoto, Japan. The torii before the main gate is one of the largest in Japan. The architecture of the mirrors the stylge and features of the Kyoto Imperial Palace.-History:thumb|right|220px|Lake at Heian Shrine...
shrine in Kyoto
Kyoto
is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...
and the steps of the giant San-mon gate at Nanzen-ji
Nanzen-ji
, or Zuiryusan Nanzen-ji, formerly , is a Zen Buddhist temple in Kyoto, Japan. Emperor Kameyama established it in 1291 on the site of his previous detached palace. It is also the headquarters of the Nanzen-ji branch of Rinzai Zen...
, as well as the fashionable club Air in the Daikanyama
Daikanyama
, or simply , is a place in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan.The Japanese Postal Code of Daikanyama is 150-0034.-Geography:Daikanyama contains luxury boutiques and upscale pastry shops. In many respects, Aoyama, Omotesando, and Daikanyama all share things in common—they are in central Tokyo and have small...
district of Tokyo. All locations mentioned in the film are the names of actual places, bars, or businesses that existed in Tokyo at the time of filming. A map of Tokyo with the locations used in Lost In Translation highlighted is available in the Japanese DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
edition of the film.
Box office
Lost in Translation was screened at the 2003 Telluride Film FestivalTelluride Film Festival
The Telluride Film Festival was started in 1974 by Bill and Stella Pence, Tom Luddy and Jim Card in the town of Telluride, Colorado, United States. It is operated by the National Film Preserve....
. It was given a limited release on September 12, 2003 in 23 theaters where it grossed $925,087 on its opening weekend. It was given a wider release on October 3, 2003 in 864 theaters where it grossed $4.1 million on its opening weekend. The film went on to make $44.5 million in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
and $75.1 million in the rest of the world for a worldwide total of $119.7 million.
Critical response
Lost in Translation was boosted by critical acclaim and audience word-of-mouth. It has a rating of 94% on Rotten Tomatoes and a rating score of 89% based on 44 reviews on MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
. It was praised not only for Sofia Coppola's script and distinctive directing, but also for the work of Bill Murray. Film critic Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
gave the film four out of four stars and rated it the second best film of the year, describing it as "sweet and sad at the same time as it is sardonic and funny", while also praising Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson. In his review for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, Elvis Mitchell
Elvis Mitchell
Elvis Mitchell is an American film critic, host of the public radio show The Treatment, and visiting lecturer at Harvard University. He has served as a film critic for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the LA Weekly, The Detroit Free Press, and The New York Times...
wrote, "At 18, the actress gets away with playing a 25-year-old woman by using her husky voice to test the level of acidity in the air ... Ms. Johansson is not nearly as accomplished a performer as Mr. Murray, but Ms. Coppola gets around this by using Charlotte's simplicity and curiosity as keys to her character". Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
gave the film an "A" rating and Lisa Schwarzbaum wrote, "working opposite the embracing, restful serenity of Johansson, Murray reveals something more commanding in his repose than we have ever seen before. Trimmed to a newly muscular, rangy handsomeness and in complete rapport with his character's hard-earned acceptance of life's limitations, Murray turns in a great performance". In his review for The New York Observer, Andrew Sarris
Andrew Sarris
Andrew Sarris is an American film critic and a leading proponent of the auteur theory of criticism.-Career:Sarris is generally credited with popularizing the auteur theory in the U.S...
wrote, "The result is that rarity of rarities, a grown-up romance based on the deliberate repression of sexual gratification ... It's worth noting that at a time when independent films are exploding with erotic images edging ever closer to outright pornography, Ms. Coppola and her colleagues have replaced sexual facility with emotional longing, without being too coy or self-congratulatory in the process". USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
gave the film three-and-a-half out of four stars and wrote, "Coppola's second feature offers quiet humor in lieu of the bludgeoning direct assaults most comedies these days inflict". Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine's Richard Corliss praised Murray's performance: "You won't find a subtler, funnier or more poignant performance this year than this quietly astonishing turn."
In his review for The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
, Philip French
Philip French
Philip French is a British film critic and former radio producer.French, the son of an insurance salesman, was educated at the direct grant Bristol Grammar School, read Law at Oxford University. and post graduate study in Journalism at Indiana University, Bloomington on a scholarship.He has been...
wrote, "But while Lost in Translation is deeply sad and has a strongly Antonioniesque
Michelangelo Antonioni
Michelangelo Antonioni, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI was an Italian modernist film director, screenwriter, editor and short story writer.- Personal life :...
flavour, it's also a wispy romantic comedy with little plot and some well-observed comic moments". In his review for The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, Joe Queenan
Joe Queenan
Joe Queenan is a humorist, critic and author from Philadelphia who graduated from Saint Joseph's University. He has written for numerous publications, such as Spy Magazine, TV Guide, Movieline, The Guardian and the New York Times Book Review...
praised Coppola's film for being "one of the few Hollywood films I have seen this year that has a brain; but more than that, it has a soul." In a separate Guardian article about the film, Kiku Day, a musician specializing in the shakuhachi
Shakuhachi
The is a Japanese end-blown flute. It is traditionally made of bamboo, but versions now exist in ABS and hardwoods. It was used by the monks of the Fuke school of Zen Buddhism in the practice of...
, questioned the praise the film was receiving, saying she "couldn't help wondering not only whether I had watched a different movie, but whether the plaudits had come from a parallel universe of values"; according to Day, "[t]here is no scene where the Japanese are afforded a shred of dignity. The viewer is sledgehammered into laughing at these small, yellow people and their funny ways." Day also said "while shoe-horning every possible caricature of modern Japan into her movie, Coppola is respectful of ancient Japan. It is depicted approvingly, though ancient traditions have very little to do with the contemporary Japanese. The good Japan, according to this director, is Buddhist monks chanting, ancient temples, flower arrangement
Ikebana
is the Japanese art of flower arrangement, also known as .-Etymology:"Ikebana" is from the Japanese and . Possible translations include "giving life to flowers" and "arranging flowers".- Approach :...
; meanwhile she portrays the contemporary Japanese as ridiculous people who have lost contact with their own culture."
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine's Peter Travers
Peter Travers
Peter Travers is an American film critic, who has written for, in turn, People and Rolling Stone. Travers also hosts a celebrity interview show called Popcorn on ABC News Now and ABCNews.com.-Career:...
gave the film four out of four stars and wrote, "Before saying goodbye, they whisper something to each other that the audience can't hear. Coppola keeps her film as hushed and intimate as that whisper. Lost in Translation is found gold. Funny how a wisp of a movie from a wisp of a girl can wipe you out." J. Hoberman
J. Hoberman
James Lewis Hoberman , also known as J. Hoberman, is an American film critic. He is currently the senior film critic for The Village Voice, a post he has held since 1988.-Education:...
, in his review for the Village Voice, wrote, "Lost in Translation is as bittersweet a brief encounter as any in American movies since Richard Linklater
Richard Linklater
-Early life:Linklater was born in Houston, Texas. He studied at Sam Houston State University and left midway through his stint in college to work on an off-shore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. While working on the rig he read a lot of literature, but on land he developed a love of film through...
's equally romantic Before Sunrise
Before Sunrise
Before Sunrise is a 1995 romantic drama film directed by Richard Linklater and written by Linklater and Kim Krizan. The film follows Jesse , a young American, and Céline , a young French woman, who meet on a train and disembark in Vienna, where they spend the night walking around the city and...
. But Lost in Translation is the more poignant reverie. Coppola evokes the emotional intensity of a one-night stand far from home—but what she really gets is the magic of movies". Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
put it on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list, saying, "Six years later, we still have no clue what Bill Murray whispered into Scarlett Johansson's ear. And we don't want to. Why spoil a perfect film?"
The Los Angeles Film Critics Association
Los Angeles Film Critics Association
The Los Angeles Film Critics Association was founded in 1975. Its main purpose is to present yearly awards to members of the film industry who have excelled in their fields. These awards are presented each January...
and National Society of Film Critics
National Society of Film Critics
The National Society of Film Critics is an American film critic organization. As of December 2007 the NSFC had approximately 60 members who wrote for a variety of weekly and daily newspapers.-History:...
voted Bill Murray best actor of the year. The New York Film Critics Circle also voted Murray best actor and Sofia Coppola best director. In addition, Coppola received an award for special filmmaking achievement from the National Board of Review. Lost in Translation also appeared on several critics' top ten lists for 2003.
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
added it to his "great movies" list on his website.
Awards and nominations
Lost in Translation won an OscarAcademy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
for Best Original Screenplay in 2003. It was also nominated for Best Director
Academy Award for Directing
The Academy Award for Achievement in Directing , usually known as the Best Director Oscar, is one of the Awards of Merit presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to directors working in the motion picture industry...
and Best Picture
Academy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
, but lost both to The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a 2003 epic fantasy-drama film directed by Peter Jackson that is based on the second and third volumes of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings...
. Bill Murray was also nominated for Best Actor
Academy Award for Best Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
, but lost to Sean Penn
Sean Penn
Sean Justin Penn is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism...
for Mystic River
Mystic River (film)
Mystic River is a 2003 American drama film directed, co-produced and scored by Clint Eastwood, starring Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, Marcia Gay Harden, Laura Linney and Emmy Rossum. The film was written by Brian Helgeland, based on Dennis Lehane's novel of the same...
.
The film won Golden Globes for Best Musical or Comedy Motion Picture, Best Screenplay
Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay
The Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay - Motion Picture is one of the annual awards given by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association."†" indicates the winner of the Academy Award for Best Writing "‡" indicates the winner of the Academy Award for Best Writing "§" indicates a Golden Globe Award...
, and Best Musical or Comedy Actor. It was also nominated for Best Director
Golden Globe Award for Best Director - Motion Picture
This page lists the winners of and nominees for the Golden Globe Award for Best Director. Since its inception in 1943, it has been presented annually by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, an organization composed of journalists who cover the United States film industry for publications based...
, and Best Musical or Comedy Actress
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
The Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as a separate category in 1950...
.
At the BAFTA
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...
film awards, Lost in Translation won the Best Editing, Best Actor
BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
Best Actor in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film.-Superlatives:...
and Best Actress awards. It was also nominated for best film, director, original screenplay, music and cinematography. It won four IFP Independent Spirit Awards, for Best Feature, Director, Male Lead, and Screenplay. The film was honored with the original screenplay award from the Writers Guild of America
Writers Guild of America
The Writers Guild of America is a generic term referring to the joint efforts of two different US labor unions:* The Writers Guild of America, East , representing TV and film writers East of the Mississippi....
.
Soundtrack
The film's soundtrack, supervised by Brian ReitzellBrian Reitzell
Brian Reitzell is a musician, composer, producer and music supervisor best known for his contributions to several film soundtracks. He was formerly the drummer for the punk band Redd Kross. He has also collaborated with the French electronica duo Air, having performed drums on their 2001 album 10...
, was released by Emperor Norton Records
Emperor Norton Records
Emperor Norton Records, was a Los Angeles-based electronica, hip-hop, and dance-music record label. Among the artists featured on the label were Ladytron, Arling & Cameron, Money Mark, Ugly Duckling, and Fantastic Plastic Machine...
on September 9, 2003. It includes five songs by Kevin Shields
Kevin Shields
Kevin Patrick Shields is an American-born, Irish vocalist, guitarist, and producer of alternative rock band My Bloody Valentine....
, including one from his group My Bloody Valentine. Allmusic gave the soundtrack (four out of five stars), saying "Coppola's impressionistic romance Lost in Translation features an equally impressionistic and romantic soundtrack that plays almost as big a role in the film as Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson do."
Home media
Lost in Translation was released on DVD on February 3, 2004. Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
gave it an "A" rating and criticized "the disc's slim bonus features", but praised the film for standing "on its own as a valentine to the mysteries of attraction".
Lost in Translation was also released in high definition on the now defunct HD DVD
HD DVD
HD DVD is a discontinued high-density optical disc format for storing data and high-definition video.Supported principally by Toshiba, HD DVD was envisioned to be the successor to the standard DVD format...
format. A Blu-ray edition was released on January 4, 2011.