Lost in Translation

Italian cinema of the post-war era placed significant emphasis on architecture. Examples include films like L’Avventura, Mamma Roma, and La Notte, in which the audience is often exposed to the contrast of urban cities with rural countryside, as well as the juxtaposition of decaying ruins in the middle of modern spaces. This idea was transferred into Italian-American cinema in Coppola’s, The Godfather, when we are presented with New York’s dangerous city streets and the quiet hills of Sicily. In these films, the architectural struggle of modern vs traditional may symbolically represent the character's struggle with identity, particularly masculinity vs feminitiy and, of course, Italian vs American culture. In Lost in Translation, Sofia Coppola, tackles the theme of identity as well as several others, including celebrity ennui, observer vs object, and cultural boundaries.

The identities of Sofia Coppola’s characters are generally very similar. The majority of them tend to struggle with what Orr defines as, “the risks and betrayals of everyday existence.” In The Virgin Suicides, the five Lisbon sisters all commit suicide, unable to deal with their daily lives; In Somewhere, a newly famous actor deals with an emotional disconnect from his celebrity lifestyle; In The Bling Ring, teenagers struggle to differentiate themselves from the celebrities they steal from. Just like many of Coppola’s others, her protagonists in Lost in Translation also suffer from existential crises and celebrity ennui.

Celebrity and stardom are themes explored by many of our Italian directors. Stardom or divismo can be seen as “a product of capitalism and the ideology of individualism.” (Landy, 267) Neo-modern directors have been known to criticize capitalism in many ways, such as Antonioni’s Zabriskie Point. In this case, directors are critiquing capitalism by making fun of celebrity, as can be seen in Fellini’s La Dolce Vita, and Coppola’s Lost in Translation. Particularly humorous scenes from the latter include Bob’s photoshoot for Suntory Whiskey and his television interview.

Initially I had expected to find few similarities between Coppola and her male counterpart directors, however, it was clear from the themes explored and her cinematographic style that she was heavily influenced by them. Above all, I related her style to that of Fellini, based on her exploration of celebrity lifestyle, and also her use of time. Neo-modern directors like Coppola are not trying to create a reversion to ‘real’ time, rather they are correcting Hollywood’s neglect of time with its fast paced action-packed films. Sofia Coppola brings the audience back to a real perception of time, and connects us to characters experiencing the same identity crises as we are.