2) Lost in Translation
A Charlie Kaufman insight that has stuck with me is that one function of art is to allow us to see and experience common thoughts and feelings with another person, and for a brief moment, we feel less lonely. Synecdoche, New York does this in its examination of death and life’s meaning, and Lost in Translation does this by portraying two people who find some kind of brief commonality, allowing each other to feel less lonely in an alienating environment.
Our two principal characters, played by Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson, are bummed. They’re essentially alone in Tokyo, a foreign city made more foreign by their isolation from the people to whom they’re supposed to be close, namely their respective spouses and families. The feeling they’re meant to convey, that sense of alienation and loneliness despite being surrounded by and interacting with people, is surely a universal one—ultimately every one of us is our own lifelong companion and confidante, for better or for worse.
Sofia Coppola’s gorgeous movie captures that sense of a brief connection with another person, whether it’s out of a mutual recognition of each other’s solitude and yearning for contact, or a sincere and real chemistry with another person who shares your humor and interests. What it also captures, which is tremendously rare in a medium that is geared toward the “happily ever after,” is how temporary this unlikely encounter is. It’s beautiful in its simplicity, and I haven’t seen a feeling quite like it depicted on screen before or since.