Critical response
Lost in Translation received widespread critical acclaim, particularly for Murray's performance and for Coppola's direction and screenplay.[115] On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 95% based on 232 reviews, with an average rating of 8.4/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Effectively balancing humor and subtle pathos, Sofia Coppola crafts a moving, melancholy story that serves as a showcase for both Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson."[116] On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, the film has an average score of 91 out of 100 based on 44 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[117]
Critics widely praised Murray's performance as Bob, commending his handling of a more serious role that was combined with the comic persona for which he was already broadly known. Edelstein argued that it was "the Bill Murray performance we've been waiting for", adding that "his two halves have never come together as they do here, in a way that connects that hilarious detachment with the deep and abiding sense of isolation that must have spawned it".[40] Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly regarded Murray's performance as Oscar-worthy and lauded it as his "most vulnerable and unmannered" to date; she praised his treatment of a more delicate role as well as his improvisations in the film's comic sequences.[118] Roger Ebert gave Lost in Translation four out of four stars and named it the second best film of the year, describing it as "sweet and sad at the same time as it is sardonic and funny".[119] The New York Times critic Elvis Mitchell had similar praise, calling Lost in Translation "Mr. Murray's movie" and remarking that the actor "supplies the kind of performance that seems so fully realized and effortless that it can easily be mistaken for not acting at all".[120][note 17]
Coppola received a similar level of acclaim for her screenplay and direction. Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times commented that Lost in Translation was "tart and sweet, unmistakably funny and exceptionally well observed—[which] marks ... Coppola as a mature talent with a distinctive sensibility and the means to express it".[121] Much of the praise was directed specifically at her attention to qualities of subtlety and atmosphere; David Rooney of Variety praised the film as "a mood piece", adding that its "deft balance of humor and poignancy makes it both a pleasurable and melancholy experience".[122] Likewise, Salon critic Stephanie Zacharek lauded Coppola as a "stealth dramatist" whose understated narrative style made for an artful depiction of emotion; she praised Lost in Translation as an intimate story that marks Coppola as an exceptional filmmaker.[123]
In his review for The New York Observer, Andrew Sarris called the film "that rarity of rarities, a grown-up romance based on the deliberate repression of sexual gratification ... when independent films are exploding with erotic images edging ever closer to outright pornography, Ms. Coppola and her colleagues have replaced sexual facility with emotional longing, without being too coy or self-congratulatory in the process."[124] USA Today gave the film three and a half stars out of four and wrote that it "offers quiet humor in lieu of the bludgeoning direct assaults most comedies these days inflict".[125] Time's Richard Corliss praised Murray's performance: "You won't find a subtler, funnier or more poignant performance this year than this quietly astonishing turn."[126] His performance has been likened to the sardonic persona of W. C. Fields.[127][128] In his review for The Observer, Philip French wrote: "While Lost in Translation is deeply sad and has a strongly Antonioniesque flavour, it's also a wispy romantic comedy with little plot and some well-observed comic moments."[129] In The Guardian, Joe Queenan praised Coppola's film as "one of the few Hollywood films I have seen this year that has a brain; but more than that, it has a soul."[130] Rolling Stone's Peter Travers gave it four out of four stars and wrote: "Before saying goodbye, they whisper something to each other that the audience can't hear. Coppola keeps her film as hushed and intimate as that whisper. Lost in Translation is found gold. Funny how a wisp of a movie from a wisp of a girl can wipe you out."[131] J. Hoberman, in his review for the Village Voice, wrote: "Lost in Translation is as bittersweet a brief encounter as any in American movies since Richard Linklater's equally romantic Before Sunrise. But Lost in Translation is the more poignant reverie. Coppola evokes the emotional intensity of a one-night stand far from home—but what she really gets is the magic of movies".[132]
Praise was also offered for Johansson's performance as Charlotte; Rooney commented that she "gives a smartly restrained performance as an observant, questioning woman with a rich interior life",[122] and Turan added that Johansson "makes what could have been an overly familiar characterization come completely alive".[121]
Lost in Translation was listed as a best film of the year by more than 235 critics[133] and has appeared on other "best of" lists in the years after its release. Paste ranked it number seven on its list of "The 50 Best Movies of the 2000s",[134] Entertainment Weekly ranked it number nine on its list of the decade's top ten,[135] and the film was ranked number 22 on a 2016 list of the BBC's 100 Greatest Films of the 21st Century, based on a poll of 177 critics.[136] In 2021, the Writers Guild of America ranked the film's screenplay the 19th greatest of the 21st century so far.[137]
The Los Angeles Film Critics Association and National Society of Film Critics voted Bill Murray best actor of the year.[138][139] The New York Film Critics Circle also voted Murray best actor and Sofia Coppola best director.[140] Coppola received an award for special filmmaking achievement from the National Board of Review.[141] Lost in Translation also appeared on several critics' top ten lists for 2003.[142] Roger Ebert added it to his "great movies" list on his website.[143] Paste Magazine named it one of the 50 Best Movies of the Decade (2000-2009), ranking it at #7.[144] Entertainment Weekly named it one of the best films of the decade, writing: "Six years later, we still have no clue what Bill Murray whispered into Scarlett Johansson's ear. And we don't want to. Why spoil a perfect film?"[145] Director Quentin Tarantino included Lost in Translation in his list of top 20 films released since 1992, when his career as a filmmaker began.[146]
Accusations of racial stereotyping
Lost in Translation received some charges of Orientalist racial stereotyping.[6] The filmmaker E. Koohan Paik argued that its comedy is "rooted in the "otherness of the Japanese people", and that the story fails to offer balanced characterizations of the Japanese. Paik wrote that it is "the shirking of responsibility to depict them as full human beings, either negative or positive, which constitutes discrimination, or racism".[147] The artist Kiku Day wrote in The Guardian: "There is no scene where the Japanese are afforded a shred of dignity. The viewer is sledgehammered into laughing at these small, yellow people and their funny ways."[148]
Japanese distributors were concerned about how it would be received.[149] The critic Yoshiro Tsuchiya of Yomiuri Shimbun wrote that Coppola's representation of Japan was "outrageously biased and banal".[150] Perceptions of stereotyping also led to a campaign by an Asian-American organization that urged members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to vote against it at the 76th Academy Awards.[151]
The film scholar Homay King argues that while the film does little to counter Orientalist stereotypes, it fails to establish the perspective from which Japanese representations are made, writing that "the film [does not] sufficiently clarify that its real subject is not Tokyo itself, but Western perceptions of Tokyo ... When Japan appears superficial, inappropriately erotic, or unintelligible, we are never completely sure whether this vision belongs to Coppola, to her characters, or simply to a Hollywood cinematic imaginary."[152] King wrote that while depictions such as Charlotte's alienation from experiences like ikebana are evidence that the film abstains from the Orientalist "mythology of Japanese tradition as source of solace", the film often situates Japan as a source of "difference" for the characters by relying on crude jokes and stereotypes of Japanese people as "crazy" or "extreme".[153]
Coppola was surprised by the criticism, saying, "I think if everything's based on truth you can make fun, have a little laugh, but also be respectful of a culture. I just love Tokyo and I'm not mean-spirited ... I think that everything you do, people could be offended by — unless you're just trying to be nice about everyone." She said the film "came from experience", and gave the example of the confusion between L and R sounds, which appeared on the daily call sheets.[50]
Accolades
Lost in Translation received awards and nominations in a variety of categories, particularly for Coppola's direction and screenwriting, as well as the performances of Murray and Johansson. At the 76th Academy Awards, it won Best Original Screenplay (Coppola) and the film received three further nominations for Best Picture, Best Director (Coppola), and Best Actor (Murray).[154] The film garnered three Golden Globe Awards from five nominations: Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, and Best Screenplay.[155] At the 57th British Academy Film Awards, Lost in Translation won three awards: Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Actress in a Leading Role (Johansson), and Best Editing.[156]
Lost in Translation also received awards from various foreign award ceremonies, film festivals, and critics' organizations. These include Best American Film at the Bodil Awards,[157] Best Foreign Film at the César Awards,[158] and Best Foreign Film at the Film Critics Circle of Australia,[159] French Syndicate of Cinema Critics,[160] and Deutscher Filmpreis,[161] as well as the Nastro d'Argento for Best Foreign Director.[162] The film also won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Film,[163] Best Film – Comedy or Musical at the Satellite Awards,[164] and two prizes at the Venice International Film Festival.[165][3] From critics' organizations, Lost in Translation received awards in the Best Film category from the San Francisco Film Critics Circle,[166] the Toronto Film Critics Association,[167] and the Vancouver Film Critics Circle.[168]
