In Tokyo to shoot a drinks commercial, jaded movie star Bob Harris;- Bill Murray meets a neglected wife Charlotte in a hotel. Bored with their lives and bemused by the city, they gradually fall for each other.

Amidst the underwhelming blockbusters and formulaic chick-flicks, it’s easy to become disillusioned with the state of the movies. Thank wonderfulness, for Lost In Translation, which in 102 wondrous minutes will restore your faith in the power of the medium. well perhaps…..! This is a film exploring themes of fidelity, disillusionment and commercialism, but one in which you’re never far from a belly laugh or a delicate tug of the heartstrings. There is eloquent simplicity alongside deep emotional involvement.

Unlike many of her contemporaries Sofia Coppola writer and director appears focused upon making films that are honest, acutely observational and believable. It’s testimony to her apparent refusal to indulge viewers’ expectations or resort to Hollywood contrivances that is immeasurably more genuine and charming than the majority of thoughtless films that Hollywood churns out. It’s a film worth a thousand travel brochures, communicating mood, pacing and character development that could hold their own in the absence of a definitive plot.

Lost In Translation is a triumph : I hope you got to enjoy it last night on TV or prior?

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