Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation is not one of those movies that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Without much dialogue, the film did not win me over in the same way that, say, Raging Bull did. Because of all the gaps in conversation between characters, the cinematographers of Lost in Translation had to progress the film in other ways. The cinematographers did this brilliantly as they used settings to speak for the characters. For example, towards the beginning of the film, Bob is shown towering above a group of Asians inside an elevator. This image depicted Bob as the lonely man he was and it did so without any dialogue. I understood that Charlotte was somewhat of a loner from one of the opening scenes when she simply gazed out over her hotel window’s view of Japan.
What I liked most about this film was the way the cinematographers made both of the main characters lonely, sure, but more importantly, so likeable. Even though both had their problems, both were people that any viewer would want to be friends with. They won me over with their senses of humor, never obnoxious and flamboyant, but dry and innocent. Although both were married to other people, I was pulling for them to leave behind their lonely lives in order to be together. This brings me to another point. What did Bob whisper to Charlotte at the end? I loved how the director left me hanging. Maybe they did end up together? We can never know for sure.
