A Classic Flick - Lost in Translation

On the surface this movie is really thin. The overall plot is basically two strangers meet in a strange land. There is very little dialogue. The music is sparse and most of the time the two leads are just sitting around drinking and/or eating. And yet it is an amazing movie despite and because of all these facts. The beauty of this movie is all that is left unsaid, and the plot points that you have to discern from the images on the screen. Then there are the little happenings that are sprinkled throughout and how they are portrayed as having great weight just by how they are presented. Sofia Coppola, the writer and director, does an amazing job of making you feel the couples isolation and their desperation for each other’s company. She also makes you really feel how the strange and wonderful landscape of Japan welcomes them while at the same time it alienates them. This is not a film for everyone but it is a film to watch to at least find out if it works for you.