Where did you come up with the idea for Lost in Translation?
I spent a lot of time in Tokyo in my 20s. I had a little clothing company with a friend, so we went there a few times a year. I was living in L.A. at the time, and I always thought about the little cultural differences between the two places. And since I was in my 20s and didn’t really know what I wanted to be doing, I think it’s my most personal movie because it’s about what I was going through at the time. And then Bill Murray, my fantasy hero, just swooped in.
I know how hard it is to even try and nab Bill for an interview … how did you corral him?
We went to Japan without knowing if Bill was going to show up—he wouldn’t even tell us what flight he was on because he’s so elusive—so it was nerve-wracking, but he showed up right before we started shooting.
Despite the big age difference, the relationship between Bob and Charlotte doesn’t come off as creepy.
I’m glad! I think it’s a lot to do with the casting. There were certain actors that people mentioned for the Bill part, and if they were lying in bed, that could have been creepy, but it’s just something about how Bill is that it never came off lecherous. Maybe because he’s such a kid.
I heard that the kiss at the end between Bill and Scarlett was sprung on her, and she didn’t know it was coming.
It was always meant to be this tender goodbye where they both knew that they had touched each other in some way. And I remember sometimes he would always spring things on her, and it was fun to get her reaction.
Is the statute of limitations up on what Bill whispers to Scarlett at the end?
No, I still love that Bill says it’s between them!
Sofia Coppola Discusses ‘Lost in Translation’ on Its 10th Anniversary
On Sept. 12, 2003, the Tokyo-set love story, starring Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson, opened in theaters. A decade on, the movie’s Oscar-winning filmmaker, Sofia Coppola, talks to Marlow Stern about making the film.
The Daily Beast
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/09/12/sofia-coppola-discusses-lost-in-translation-on-its-10th-anniversary.html
There are a handful of films that have carved out prime real estate in the hearts of millennials. During one of your many aimless trips to the mall, you may have nabbed the movie’s poster from f.y.e. to grace the wall of your dorm room or moseyed over to Tower Records to cop the soundtrack. You may have even taken your fandom on the road, annoying the rest of your family mid-vacation with eager observations like “Oh, this is the place where _________ kissed!”
Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation, which was released theatrically on Sept. 12, 2003, is one of those films.
Bill Murray plays Bob Harris, an aging American actor who is in Tokyo to shoot a whiskey commercial, for which he’s being paid $2 million. Bob isn’t happy. His career is on the downslope, and the fire in his marriage has long been out. Also in Tokyo is Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson), a young college graduate whose hipster husband (Giovanni Ribisi) is a celebrity photographer on assignment in the city. Much to her chagrin, he seems more interested in palling around with a young American actress, Kelly (Anna Faris), than spending time with her.
The two marooned Americans keep running into each other at night in the hotel bar, and soon a relationship begins to form. In each other, these two lost souls have found exactly what they’d been missing, and they bust out of their hotel-prison to explore the vibrancy of Tokyo. Many millennials, in particular, connected with Lost in Translation’s themes of loneliness and ennui, and the movie grossed $120 million worldwide—against a budget of just $4 million—and was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay, with Coppola winning the latter.
In honor of the 10th anniversary of the movie, Coppola spoke to The Daily Beast about the making of the film, her favorite memories of hanging out with Bill Murray in Tokyo, and much more.
Where did you come up with the idea for Lost in Translation?
I spent a lot of time in Tokyo in my 20s. I had a little clothing company with a friend, so we went there a few times a year. I was living in L.A. at the time, and I always thought about the little cultural differences between the two places. I put a lot of things in that really happened. And since I was in my 20s and didn’t really know what I wanted to be doing, I think it’s my most personal movie because it’s about what I was going through at the time. And then Bill Murray, my fantasy hero, just swooped in.
I know how hard it is to even try and nab Bill for an interview—going through his lawyer, etc.—so how did you corral him?
When I was writing it I was picturing him and he really inspired it, and I wasn’t going to make the movie without him, so I was determined to convince him. I spent about a year trying to track him down and was asking random people who knew him through golf. I was on a mission. And he didn’t have an agent at that time, so he was very elusive. I showed my friend Mitch Glazer, who’s a writer, a very early version of the script, and he thought it had something and liked that I saw Bill in that way, so he helped introduce us. We went to Japan without knowing if Bill was going to show up—he wouldn’t even tell us what flight he was on because he’s so elusive—so it was nerve-wracking, but he showed up right before we started shooting.
Also, with Scarlett, she was a relatively green actor at the time. How did you arrive at her, and what made you feel she and Murray would have such great chemistry together?
I just liked her from that movie Manny & Lo, and she was 17, but I had this idea of her being this young Lauren Bacall-type girl. I loved her low voice. You can’t really gauge the chemistry unless you do tests before you start shooting, and I don’t think they even met before we did, so I just picked someone I liked and hoped that it worked. And Bill is so lovable.
One of the film’s many accomplishments is that, despite the big age difference, the relationship between Bob and Charlotte doesn’t come off as creepy.
I’m glad! I think it’s a lot to do with the casting. There were certain actors that people mentioned for the Bill part, and if they were lying in bed, that could have been creepy, but it’s just something about how Bill is that it never came off lecherous. Maybe because he’s such a kid.
**
I heard that the kiss at the end between Bill and Scarlett was sprung on her, and she didn’t know it was coming.
It was always meant to be this tender goodbye where they both knew that they had touched each other in some way. And I remember sometimes he would always spring things on her, and it was fun to get her reaction.
Is the statute of limitations up on what Bill whispers to Scarlett at the end?
No, I still love that Bill says it’s between them!
Do you think Bob and Charlotte would ever cross paths again?
That’s so funny…I’ve never thought about that! I have different fantasies of what would happen to them, but I’d like people to form their own.
9 Things You Didn’t Know about ‘Lost in Translation’
by Archana Ram
https://www.yahoo.com/movies/9-things-you-didn-t-c1406308817580/photo-lost-in-translation-photo-1406308690789.html