Lost in Translation, directed by Sofia Coppola in 2003, is about two very different people who visit Tokyo. they find an odd solace and pensive freedom to be real in each other’s company, away from their lives in America.
Many people think that this is a romantic movie, yet I do not think it it is at all. I believe that this is about platonic love. In reality, the two characters don’t ever have feelings for each other, they just found comfort in one another. They both had a certain attraction, yet it was never physical.
They have a noticiable age gap, he is a married man with a family and an arguably established life. He has done a successful career, and found his “true calling” in life, as a famous actor. He gets praised and stopped in the streets, as he is recognized, but especially seen. Yet, with all this he feels alone, trapped, and lost.
On the other hand, Charlotte is quite young and newly married. She has just started this new chapter of her life, traveling to new places, meeting new people and having a free sense of adventure in her. Yet, she can’t help feeling completely lost and unsure of what will become of her. She says “I am not sure what I am supposed to be, you know? Tried being a writer but, I hate what I write. I tried taking pictures, but they are so mediocre.”
To this Bob responds with three simple words that change everything, “You’ll figure that out.” We can see the guidance and comfort that they found in each other. They’re loneliness and their feeling lost, is what brings them together. They found comfort and what they were looking for in life in each other. They represented things in their lives they wished they had. They learned and grew together. Hence, the impact that they left on each other being so monumentally important and probably life changing. As they go their separate ways, probably never seeing each other again, they go back to their past lives, yet they are not the same people anymore.
This all happens in a brief moment, showing that you can meet someone and spend two days with them, and that can be just as important as someone you’ve known for years. This film is about those moments in life that are fleeting, but the impression stays with you.