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Lost In Translation
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Soulful, funny, heartfelt, but above all magical, are just a few words to describe the sublime second feature from writer/director Sofia Coppola (Virgin Suicides). Not only does Murray give the performance of his career, but Johansson is at her most charismatic in a film that will leave you lost for words.
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Bob and Charlotte are two Americans in Tokyo - Bob, a movie star, is there to shoot a whisky commercial while Charlotte is tagging along with her workaholic photographer husband. Unable to sleep, Bob and Charlotte cross paths one night in the hotel bar and their chance meeting develops into a surprising friendship.
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As they venture through life together, sharing hilarious encounters with the local people, they discover a new belief in life's possibilities.
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Partly written for Murray's "sensitive side" and partly written from Coppola's experience of staying in Japan in her mid 20s, this is one film you can't afford to miss.
When asked why she made the movie, Coppola said: "It's about moments in life that are great but don't last... but you always have the memory and they have an effect on you".
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Comic genius Bill Murray puts in the performance of
his career in Sofia Coppola's Oscar winning picture, Lost In Translation. We
caught up with the BAFTA winning actor to find out more...
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Blockbuster: Had you been to Japan before you made Lost In
Translation?
Bill Murray: I'd been to the South of Japan for a week once.
I enjoyed it very much, but it's very different down there. It's much more
relaxed and they speak about Tokyo the way Southern Americans speak about New
York. They say "They all work too hard; they're all crazy and uptight. They
should relax!" But Tokyo was a real eye-opener. It's a big, big place. It's got
an enormous amount of energy, and it's much more creative than I thought it was
going to be. It's sort of presented to us as bad western culture - but it's
not. They're way ahead, in so many areas. It's going to be a shock when they
find out. They're really up to some stuff over there.
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BB: Were you concerned about mocking the Japanese?
BM: 'Mock' is a strong word. I think they mocked Jesus! We see funny things about it. The Japanese people are laughing more at the American stuff, the poor Americans, than being offended. It seems that people feel we're making fun of, or mocking, the Japanese. I would like to know what aspect where you think we were mocking? People say "What about that absurd TV host?" [in the film]. He's real. He has a show. He has his own show! These people are all real. That is their culture. We didn't make these people up. They're real.
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BB: There's a great contrast in the film between old and new Japan...
BM: That's part of what is Japan - there's this very formal world, these Shinto temples, next to this screaming skyscraper. And there are men and women dressed in very formal clothes, next to people with seven-coloured hair and cowboy boots and zippers all of their body - and they're very comfortable with each other. Even though they look so different, they're very polite. They don't mess with each other.
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BB: What were your experiences of the language?
BM: It's very foreign - you can't understand them! They're speaking a completely different language. It's not like you're in Europe, where Latin or Greek is the base, and we can sort of understand what's going on. In Japan, you have no idea what they are saying, and they can't help you either. Nothing makes any sense. They're very polite, but you feel like a joke is being played on you the entire time you are there. You just have to have faith that they're not going to take you out and tar and feather you! No street has a name, either!
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BB: What sort of differences in humour have you seen across continents?
BM: I think there are little differences. I think there's different humour in England than there is in America, even though they speak the same language. I think Monty Python is different to Saturday Night Live, but it's funny, it's definitely funny. It's just different. There's a drier bone there, and they have a sillier bone too in the UK. They're much sillier. People in Japan are great laughers. They love to laugh. You think they're real serious but there's this tiny bit of armour they have, and if you just refuse to acknowledge that it's there, and just poke them in the belly three times, it's gone. Then they just fall apart, and then they literally start falling down laughing, and lose physical control. They're great laughers. So I had a great time over there. I had this goofy book, called How To Make Out In Japanese. It was written for college students cruising Japan. It said things like "If you have a curfew, can we get in the back seat together?" Really absurd stuff. And I would say this so Sushi chefs and waiters, and people would die laughing. So they know what's funny. They have a great sense of humour.
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BB: What sort of research did you do?
BM: I read the script but I don't generally over-prepare. But because the script was so spare, and because there was so little dialogue, that I had to really be emotionally available for everything that happened. So I really tried to get myself out of the way and just be available for the tone that the boss sat in every scene. In a way, I had to accept everything she gave me as a person and an actor. It works the same way it works in the story. I responded naturally, because I wasn't cluttered.
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BB: Does Lost In Translation fit with your comic sensibilities?
BM: It did fit my comic sensibilities. There was nothing...every line in this film I truly believed. There was nothing that made my squirm. There was nothing that made me uncomfortable.
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BB: Have you ever directed yourself?
BM: Yeah, I directed a film a few years ago, and I intend to direct another movie. This has inspired me to direct again, especially now as I can see how to avoid all that studio stuff. They're borrowing the money anyway, so what do you need them for? You can borrow the money from a society of dentists. You don't need them.
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Bill Murray Filmography
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At just 19 years old American actress Scarlett Johansson seems to have the cinema world at her feet We caught up with Ms.
Johansson to find out more...
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Blockbuster: How did you get the part of Charlotte?
Scarlett Johansson: When I heard that Sofia had a hankering for a meeting I couldn't say no. So we met in a restaurant in New York and she basically explained to me that she had this idea that was shaping up into some script and that it was definitely with Bill Murray but if Bill couldn't do it then she wouldn't either.
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BB: Did you find the language barrier intimidating at all?
SJ: For whatever reason nobody really spoke English very well in the hotel. There was a Swedish hotel manager, he spoke English but nobody else did. There was a lot of sign language. Oh and there were a couple of people in the hotel that knew how to say "no!". We had chaperones.
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BB: The karaoke scene is pretty funny, just how spontaneous was it?
SJ: Sofia wanted the particular songs that Bill and I sing. I had to learn all the words of Brass In Pocket two days before we shot that scene. And the translation on the karaoke screen is really bizarre, it's not at all like the real words, it's in this funny, broken English. But other than those the songs it was pretty much improvised.
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BB: Do you ever cut loose and get on the karaoke in real life?
SJ: I do a really good Cher impression, especially Do You Believe.
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BB: Do you have a favourite scene in the film?
SJ: I like the whole sequence with Bill and I in his bedroom. It starts off with us watching La Dolce Vita and then the camera pans over to the window and ends up with us lying on the bed and falling asleep. It's so telling, it was really the one time when our characters are really full on. Not joking, like when she asks about his mid-life crisis: "have you bought your Porsche yet?". This is the one moment where we're trying to figure out exactly what it's missing. Bill's character is so evasive with my character for a lot of the film. I'll say things like "I really like you", and "I'll miss you", and he's just like "okay". And this is the one moment where he really makes an effort to connect and I think it's really touching.
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BB: Have you - like Bill's character - ever ventured into the world of commercials?
SJ: No, I'm terrible at selling things. I have a really eerily unnatural delivery where it sounds forced or completely fake. So no. I used to audition for them when I was younger, I'd go on so called cattle calls, where they didn't know if they wanted me or some young Chinese boy. That was very overwhelming. And I used to be very frustrated because they would always ask if I had a sore throat, it was awful. My Mom said we wouldn't go out on these commercials because I didn't like them, so I stopped.
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Scarlett Johansson Filmography
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You may enjoy other movies starring Bill Murray...
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