Lost in Translation

"Everyone wants to be found."

2003 1h 42m EN

👍

7.4

SOLID

🔥

95%

CERTIFIED FRESH

💯

METACRITIC

⭐

7.7

IMDB

★7.4TMDB · 8,349🍅95%Rotten Tomatoes●91Metacritic★7.7IMDB · 525,233

DramaComedyRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Two lost souls visiting Tokyo -- the young, neglected wife of a photographer and a washed-up movie star shooting a TV commercial -- find an odd solace and pensive freedom to be real in each other's company, away from their lives in America.

“Everyone wants to be found.”

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Cast

Bill Murray
Bob Harris
Scarlett Johansson
Charlotte
Giovanni Ribisi
John
Anna Faris
Kelly
Akiko Takeshita
Ms. Kawasaki
Kazuyoshi Minamimagoe
Press Agent
Kazuko Shibata
Press Agent
Take
Press Agent

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Sofia Coppola
Writers: Sofia Coppola
Languages: Japanese, English
Countries: United Kingdom, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $4.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $120M — a 29.9× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 23 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Japanese, English.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Sofia Coppola, shot by Lance Acord. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Kevin Shields. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Sarah Flack shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Sofia Coppola directs. Lance Acord behind the camera. Kevin Shields scores. Sarah Flack cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United Kingdom, United States of America. Dialogue in Japanese, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $4.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Grossed $120M — a 29.9× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
3Released 23 years ago.
4Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Japanese, English.
5International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, United States of America.
6Directed by Sofia Coppola, shot by Lance Acord. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Kevin Shields. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Sarah Flack shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson and Giovanni Ribisi carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "Everyone wants to be found.".
11IMDB entry: tt0335266 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12Classified under 23 themes, including "hotel room", "adultery", "japan", "unsociability".
13Released under 27 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Lance Acord
Original score: Kevin Shields
Editing: Sarah Flack
Production design: K.K. Barrett
Costume design: Nancy Steiner
Makeup / hair: Morag Ross
Sound: Kent Sparling
Runtime: 102 min · 1h 42m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $4,000,000
Box office: $119,723,856
Return: 2993% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Lost in Translation (2003)
Rotten Tomatoes: 95% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 91/100
IMDB rating: 7.7/10 · 525,233 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

Won 1 Oscar. 98 wins & 133 nominations total

Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Cinematography
Bodil Award for Best American Film
Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead
Independent Spirit Award for Best Director
International Cinephile Society Award for Best Actor
Satellite Award for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy
Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor
National Board of Review: Top Ten Films
New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Sofia Coppola

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

J4stringthang2014-02-06
Ok movie Lovers. If you didn't like The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, then don't even bother with Lost in Translation. The jokes are dry and the dialogue is weak. At least in Life Aquatic they wore funny outfits. Being a world traveler myself I could appreciate the jet lag and overall moping around thru out the whole film. You will definatly feel lost. Although I found myself laughing out loud a few times at Bill Murray and his quips, BY NO MEANS should the average movie fans think this is a comedy. It is an independent art film and should be treated as so.
Wuchak2018-03-28
★ 9/10
True love transcends sexual expression RELEASED IN 2003 and written & directed by Sofia Coppola, "Lost in Translation" was a big hit in 2003-2004. It's about an aging actor, Bob Harris (Bill Murray), who's in Tokyo doing commercials for a week. His home-life is mundane and he's experiencing a bit of the mid-life crisis. He runs into an attractive 20 year-old something woman, Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson), who's in Tokyo with her photog husband (), but he's gone most of the time and takes her for granted. This is a mature, semi-arty film and you have to be in the right mode/maturity level to appreciate it. I said "maturity level" and not "age" because some people are pretty mature at 16 while others are completely immature at 50. For me, the story, music and visuals pulled me into these characters’ temporary world for the 102-minute runtime. The film succeeds as an amusing social commentary and a deep love story, as well as a visual/musical delight. I'll only focus on the deep love element. It's been noted that the story originated from Sofia's experience with an aging actor when she was younger, possibly Harrison Ford. Sofia is obviously Charlotte, while Charlotte's husband is Sofia's ex and Anna Faris plays the role of the other woman, which would be Cameron Diaz in real life. So there's a lot of reality in the picture. But it's not just a cathartic piece. Sofia has some potent insights to offer on the nature of true romantic love. For one, love transcends age difference (Bob is about 35 years older than Charlotte). For another, it's possible to be married and experience romantic love for another. Not that this ever justifies adultery, it's just a fact. As the story progresses you'll see how comfortable Bob and Charlotte are with each other, how they look into each other's eyes, the windows of the soul, in a profoundly naked sense. This can happen in the flash of a moment where the two people just KNOW, or it can take place over a period of time, as is the case with Bob and Charlotte (which is a handful of days). They see the same things and speak the same language, and I don't mean English. But this presents a conundrum for Bob. Bob COULD take advantage of Charlotte because she's so lonely in a sea of people, which is one of the movie's themes; she's also inexperienced and vulnerable. Will he or won't he take advantage? SPOILER ALERT Don't read further if you haven't seen the film. If Bob loves Charlotte so much, not to mention his wife & kids, why does he have a one-night stand with the lounge singer (Catherine Lambert)? Bob slept with her to release sexual tension that had been building up between him and Charlotte. This was a moral failure, but keep in mind he was drunk (another failure but, have pity, he was going through a mid-life crisis). While all this is obvious, it goes deeper... Bob could have taken advantage of Charlotte if he wanted to but didn't because he genuinely loved her, which is revealed at the end. Bob could sleep with the singer because he didn't love her (not that it justifies his actions). Simply put, true love transcends sexual expression and sexual union does not equal love. The ending is powerful and tear-inducing. No CGI, explosion or action stunt can compare. It's just an older man and a too-young woman embracing in the midst of 20 million strangers. Tears flow, kisses are given and unheard words are whispered. They could never be a couple, even if they weren't married, and they know they'll never see each other again, at least on this physical plane, but their love has been expressed and will be treasured for eternity. GRADE: A
JPV8522019-08-29
★ 10/10
Lost in Translation is one of my all-time favorite movies. The film grabbed me when I first saw it in the theater (unusual for back then, but my cineplex got this one in) and since I've watched it dozens of times. Bill Murray and Scarlet Johansson are both great and Sofia Coppola's direction taking in the sights and sounds of Tokyo (a city I've always been curious about and wanted to visit) was amazing.