Review of Lost in Translation (2003) by Mo-Jai M — 01 Feb 2015

Lost In Translation is such a tenderly crafted piece of cinema that can do nothing but provoke sheer admiration. Anchored by two effortlessly warm and human performances from both Murray and Johansson, this is beautifully restrained and melancholic creation that simply allows its two richly drawn and incredibly human characters to discover their surroundings and discover themselves for the runtime.

Coppola directs elegantly throughout, allowing silences to populate whole minutes whilst subtleties in body language, facial expressions and gestures are nudged to the forefront. Perhaps similar to Her in both tone and in that he presents itself as such an unassuming masterpiece (as well as sharing Johansson), this is a truly special movie in that it gracefully shuns the regular tropes that infect movies of this genre, instead presenting some superlatively restrained acting in a wholeheartedly plausible story and pairing it with some stunning cinematography and direction to craft a movie with pathos and humanity that has inspired love and left me yearning for more.