Lost In Translation

Aging movie star Bob Harris (Bill Murray) has arrived in Tokyo to film a Suntory whisky advert (a reference to real-life Hollywood actors who do foreign celebrity advertising, including Sofia Coppola's father, Francis Ford Coppola, who did Suntory commercials with Akira Kurosawa during the filming of Kagemusha). Charlotte (played by Scarlett Johansson) is the young wife of a celebrity photographer on assignment in Tokyo. Left behind by her husband when he goes to his photo shoots, she is unsure of her present and her future and about the man she has married. Bob's relationship with his wife of 25 years is clearly tired and lacking in romance, as revealed in his telephone calls back to the US. Bob and Charlotte, both lonely and directionless, meet in the bar of the hotel where they are both staying and strike up a friendship. The two explore Tokyo together, experiencing the differences between Japanese and American culture. The two grow close through their adventures and the time they spend together when neither can sleep. On the penultimate night of his stay, Bob attracts the attention of the resident vocalist of the hotel bar. The next morning, Bob awakens to find this woman in his room and Charlotte waiting for him. The pair have a brief conflict when they later meet at a restaurant, seemingly over Bob's sleeping with this other woman. Later that night, during a fire alarm, they reconcile and express how they will miss each other. On the morning of his departure, as Bob is in his taxi to the airport, he sees Charlotte on a crowded street. He asks his driver to stop, gets out, and pursues Charlotte. When he reaches her, the two face each other for a long moment and then embrace. Bob whispers something in the tearful Charlotte's ear, kisses her, and then departs. The movie ends leaving a completely ambiguous answer to the question of whether their relationship will continue.

• Official Movie Web Site

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