Marriage Story

Noah Baumbach’s latest film, Marriage Story, was released two days ago. Since then, I have watched it twice. I thought this film was brilliant, probably the best film of the past few years; and is Baumbach’s best film. I was looking forward to this film a lot and was so surprised when it turned out to be as good as it was. The combination of the cinematography and the incredible performances by Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver are the perfect mixes to create an incredible film. As I have said before, I am a very big Noah Baumbach fan, and love his films. This film blew me away and left me in tears at many points throughout.

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Cinematography

This is cinematographer Robbie Ryan’s second film with Baumbach; the first being his brilliant work on The Meyerowitz Stories. The aesthetic of this film is very simple but incredibly beautiful. Ryan served as the camera operator as well as the cinematographer for this film. He made this choice because he didn’t want to be far removed from the emotions that the actors were portraying. This way he could be influenced on the day; mostly how he can position the camera or what lens to use to make the audience feel a certain way that the characters are feeling. He says “Being in front of an actor’s face is one of the best perks of my job.”

The choice to shoot the film in the 1.66:1 aspect ratio was stunning. Baumbach chose the aspect ratio after doing multiple tests and eventually decided to go with 1.66 because of how he thought it “framed the faces just beautifully”. It is both used effectively in terms of framing and composition, but also in creating a nostalgic feeling; the ratio looks reminiscent of an old photograph.

Ryan says that Noah loves camera movement, which is unfortunate as this film consists mostly of people sat around in offices. He kept it mostly static because he didn’t want any camera movement to be unmotivated. So, most emotion is conveyed through composition, rather than movement. However, the moments there is camera movement, it is motivated by the movement of the characters.

After filming The Favourite, known for its incredible use of wide-angle lenses, Ryan had the idea of using the wide-angle lenses in Marriage Story. They didn’t use the lenses loads, mainly because they wanted the offices to feel cramped and stuffy. However, occasionally for wide shots, they would use the wide-angle lenses; Baumbach called them “low, institutional wides”.

The lighting in this film is fantastic. I noticed that they would often light a set using fluorescents, mainly due to the office block locations. However, a lot of natural light was used in the film, which provided a beautiful look, but was challenging to work with. Ryan says, “From a technical point of view, I would be filming in 20-story offices, where the light would go at four o’clock, and we hadn’t finished the scene. I’d have to be aware of that to be able to light for the scene’s reverse shots so that you’d get out still in daylight. So, that was the biggest challenge for me, was to keep the continuity of light in a scene. Because we’re doing so many takes that the day would go very quickly, in the winter lights.”

The lighting and colour palette of the two locations are very different. This is of course helped by the costume and production design but is primarily due to the cinematography. The lighting in LA is much warmer compared to the steeliness of New York. This can be seen at multiple points throughout the film.

However, another noticeable lighting trait in this film is the green-tinted lights. Often in the highlights of the frame, a green tint is used. This is especially seen during scenes lit by fluorescents; fluorescents naturally have a green spike in them; which, in this case, is accentuated in post when colour grading. This can be seen in the shot below.

In the courtroom scene, the depth of field is mostly set on the lawyers rather than the protagonists. This shows the lawyers’ dominance over the protagonists, and how they have lost their voice by ironically being given a voice. Throughout the entire scene, the camera is constantly shooting down the tables in both directions, to keep the viewer in both Charlie and Nicole’s perspective. In addition to this, they would use a longer focal length to make all the characters, especially Charlie and Nicole, still feel connected and close together. Also in this scene, Baumbach and Ryan looked at scenes from Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove (1964); as a lot of that film is spent with people sat at tables, like Marriage Story. The low angle shots seen in the courtroom scene were inspired by that film.

In the courtroom scene and throughout the film, often when shooting Nicole and Charlie’s conversations they are shot in profile while both being present in the frame. This sense of both of the characters being there while one out of focus creates a very intimate tone, and makes their conversations feel inescapable; as the majority of the frame is taken up by them.

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Editing

Editing in Marriage Story is noticeable, it isn’t invisible; but, it enhances the storytelling. Jennifer Lame’s editing subtly forces the viewer into the characters’ perspective. An example of this is in the opening montage of the film. The shots flow from one to the other in a graceful way, to reflect the characters love for each other. Then, when discussing the flaws of their relationship, when Charlie hits his head on a cupboard door, we are forced into the character’s perspective; as we almost instantly cut away from this to Nicole opening the door to the apartment. The cut is sudden and subtly noticeable, which provides an explanation to the viewer about what hitting your head feels like, and what it felt like for Charlie. This quick cut, in the middle of an otherwise smooth and dreamlike edit, instantly turns you into one of the characters of the film. 

Another point in the film where editing is used brilliantly is that when Charlie finds out Nicole has hired a lawyer for their divorce; something he didn’t want, and something Nicole wants him to find out later. In this scene, there is a lack of editing; not a long take, just a lack of editing. Charlie’s conversation with Cassie and then with Nicole is shot using mostly wides and is cut very little. This, in addition to the kitchen’s very white production design, all creates a feeling of agoraphobia. This is accentuated through the lack of editing, a feeling of having nothing to hold on to.

Editing is used effectively later in the film, specifically the part where Charlie is taking Henry away from Nicole for the night. Awareness is pulled to the editing, as the camera jumps back and forth between the two of them. This noticeability of the editing is to again force the viewer into the characters’ perspective and situation. The pacing of editing is rapid at this moment, to inform the reader that they are trying to hang onto every passing moment they can get together. It subtly shows their love for each other, regardless of their divorce. It intentionally breaks the flow of the scene to draw the attention of the viewer to their relationship.

During their argument scene, towards the end of the film, the majority of the editing favours the wide shots. However, as the ‘masks’ that the characters wore come off, Lame uses tighter shots; and makes the edit favour these more. This makes the argument much more intimate and acts as a realisation of what they truly want to say to each other.

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Score

The score for this film is so charming and heartbreaking simultaneously, and I believe is Randy Newman’s best score. He had worked with Baumbach on his previous film, The Meyerowitz Stories (2017).

Baumbach didn’t want the score to be entirely conventional but still wanted it to play an imperative role in the film; which it does. He described to Newman that he wanted a “big, warm, romantic score for the movie” as if it were “the movie’s reaction to what was going on” often reacting with”compassion”. The opening seven-minute montage of the two characters’ lives together uses this tone, which establishes all of the main themes that will be used throughout the film.

The ‘What I Love About Charlie’ section opens on Driver’s character with a french horn, which is his most significant musical motif in the film. It is graceful while having a certain strength to it, as well as having a more vulnerable feel. Nicole’s musical motif would use a piano; Newman says this is because she is always “walking”. This adds quite a happiness to her character as if it were a representation of the appearance of ‘happiness’ that she tries to maintain for her child, Henry. But, like Charlie’s french horn, Nicole’s piano also has a certain strength to it; it gives the audience a sense of resilience.

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“I never really came alive for myself; I was only feeding his aliveness.”

Scarlett Johansson – Marriage Story, 2019

Doctor Sleep

After seeing the trailers for Doctor Sleep, I was very nervous. However, after seeing a review of the film and a talk about the director, Mike Flanagan, I thought I would watch some of his other work. I started with his Netflix Original Series The Haunting Of Hill House, which was brilliant; also his other Netflix Original Film Gerald’s Game, which was also very good. Since then, and after a rewatch, The Haunting Of Hill House has become my third favourite TV show. This gave me a confidence boost for Doctor Sleep and was now looking forward to it.

After seeing Doctor Sleep, it is now one of my favourite films of the year; with stand out performances from Ewan McGregor and Rebecca Ferguson.

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Mike Flanagan

Mike Flanagan is a horror director and in my opinion one of the best working today. The thing that makes him so good at directing horror is that he focuses less on the horror and more on the people experiencing the horror. The Haunting Of Hill House would spend a 50-minute episode on a single character’s backstory and emotional trauma. This is also seen in the first act of Doctor Sleep; we spend a while just getting to know an adult Dan after the events that occurred at The Overlook Hotel. We see him struggling with alcoholism and the grief of losing his mother and dealing with the death of his father. Other than the occasional visit from a ghost of The Overlook Hotel, Flanagan decides to just show Dan in the present day, getting a job and becoming “Doctor Sleep”.

In addition to Flanagan directing, he also edits and writes all his films as well. His work has been critically acclaimed mainly due to his focus on the characters instead of the horror, and lack of reliance on jump scares.

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Recovery Haunted by the Ghosts of Addiction

The Shining is a film about addiction. Jack Torrance doesn’t drink anymore, after he hit his son Danny. That film was about addiction; whereas, Doctor Sleep is about recovery. At the start of the film, we see Dan Torrance who has become an alcoholic. Dan says that it is to get closer to his father. He says he cannot remember his father; so, when he drinks it is the only way he can truly know him before the events of the Overlook. We see how the events that occurred at The Overlook are still affecting him. He is still haunted by the mask of his father that the hotel used to try and kill him.

Dan is at the end of his rope, as you can’t really recover until you’ve reached the bottom. Dan has no where left to turn; beating up people in bars, sleeping on the streets, needing to drink at all times so he can deal with his past traumas. He still has to deal with the shining in a world that is dark and ‘hungry’. But, we see him do what his father never could, recover. He stops drinking, and gets a job that helps people. He uses his ‘shine’ to help others, and eventually our other protagonist. She needs help, and to help her Dan puts her needs above his fears; even if it means going to the place he least wants to, back to the Overlook Hotel. Dan is constantly putting the needs of others above his own. His job helps people pass away peacefully and he also helps someone in danger.

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Cinematography

I noticed Doctor Sleep was very similar to Kubrick’s The Shining in terms of cinematography. During dialogue scenes it would often centre frame the character and position the camera slightly off to one side while using a long lens, just as Kubrick did. In addition to this it would occasionally throw in a profile shot of each character when talking.

The cinematographer, Mike Fimognari, states that “The Shining offered some inspiration on Doctor Sleep’s framing, but not so much in lighting”. This is very apparent in the film as they tended to use a lot more soft light. It can also be seen in the colour grading; as colour grading was not possible back when Kubrick’s film was made, they manipulated colour through paints and dyes, wardrobe and hotel decor. Where as, in Doctor Sleep, they used colour with a range of chromatic lights. This is then accentuated when colour grading the world of Doctor Sleep, Fimognari used yellow-warm autumn tones, mainly for the highlights, and cyan shadows. This colour ‘twist’ can be seen throughout the film, mainly in darker scenes; such as the scene on the beach and the scenes in The Overlook Hotel.

Below is a comparison between Kubrick’s The Shining and Flanagan’s Doctor Sleep. Here, it is much more clear how Doctor Sleep uses warm tones and cyan shadows, compared to The Shining’s more naturalistic approach.

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The Score

The score is one of the best aspects of this film. It takes significant parts from The Shining’s soundtrack; such as, the main theme, the fast chiming of a piano key, and the tribal human chants. The more subtle of these, the chants and the piano chime, are used throughout the film. Whereas, the more iconic main theme is only used at high points of nostalgia, like the opening of the film, and in the third act. Brilliantly written by the Newton Brothers, they also wanted to bring something new to it. They mainly did this by adding in a nail-biting heart beat sound. This skillfully creates a lot of tension in the film; every time the beating is heard an uneasy feeling falls over you.

What makes some parts of the film so great is the soundtrack. This is possibly most apparent in the scene with the track labelled number 19. The music builds and builds as we watch this horrific event play out before our eyes. Each time the antagonist plunges the knife down, the music jolts louder and more violently. Also, as we see the eating of the steam affect the protagonists the music builds to the loudest point, which gave me chills every time I watched it.

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“Our beliefs don’t make us better people. Our actions make us better people.”

Ewan McGregor – Doctor Sleep, 2019

Frances Ha

‘Frances Ha’ was released in 2012, and was directed by the brilliant Noah Baumbach. It follows the story of Frances, a 20-something year old, living in New York. After her best friend moves out, she struggles to find connection with others. What she does is complicated because she “doesn’t really do it”. ‘Frances Ha’ is one of my favourite films, it’s brilliant.

Noah Baumbach

Noah Baumbach is an absolutely brilliant director. I recently discovered him, and he’s already one of my favourite directors/writers. He has directed another film co written with Greta Gerwig; ‘Mistress America’ (2015). More recently he has made a film starring Adam Sandler and Dustin Hoffman; ‘The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)’ (2017), as well as his 2005 film ‘The Squid and the Whale’ starring Jesse Eisenberg and Jeff Daniels.

‘Frances Ha’ was directed and written so well. They way in which Noah Baumbach writes dialogue is so realistic, but so romantic. He writes conversations with people talking at the same time, and very jumpy. One second the person is talking about a topic, and then it will turn away very quickly, and then they’ll jump right back into the first topic again. The conversation topics are usually quite quirky, and directed in such a way that you become so invested in the characters.

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Maturity, Loneliness and Friendship

Frances is a 27 year old living in New York, who isn’t really able to do her job, isn’t really able to pay her rent, and isn’t really able to maintain a relationship. Her friendship with Sophie, her initial roommate, is at the start so precious. We see short vignettes of Frances’ life living with Sophie, and you are lead into a false sense of security; this will be it, forever. Their life seemed so fun, until Sophie moves out and leaves Frances to go and live with her boyfriend, Patch. Frances sees this less like Sophie growing up and moving forward with her life, and more like a betrayal.

With Sophie now leading a ‘grown up’ life, with a blog of her travels; Frances feels as if she has no best friend, and acts the fool to make new ones. This can be seen when she first meets Lev and Benji; where she is asked to dance, and she prances about for their enjoyment. She also tries to find a new ‘Sophie’ with Rachel; where she tries to play fight with her, like she had done with Sophie before, but it does not go well. With Sophie trying to grow up, Frances is trying to desperately hold on to the past, could link to the choice of using black and white. This clinging to the past can be seen when she and Sophie meet back up, and Frances asks Sophie to go to the bathroom with her, like teenagers do. Sophie replies “really, are we still doing this?”.

Without Sophie in her life, Frances looks for it elsewhere. She travels to Paris, thinking she might find something there, but ultimately feels exactly the same as how she felt back home. She also thinks she can find connection by going to dinners with people who have jobs, and are well established. When asked what she does she says it’s “complicated”; not because they wouldn’t understand, but because she “doesn’t really do it”. Later that evening, she pours her heart out to others at the party about what she wants in a relationship. In this monologue, she expresses a very idealistic, but real relationship that others just hear as coffee table discussion. She then feels embarrassed, and defense mechanisms kick in; immediately thanking them for the dinner, and leaving.

In the end, once she has choreographed her dance show, she experiences this ideal relationship she described, with Sophie. They catch each others eyes from across the room, and start smiling. This is when Frances discovers their relationship didn’t end with Sophie moving out and moving on, it just changed into something new; and without knowing, something better.

Gerwig says, “everything she has at the end was actually available to her before, she just wasn’t able to accept any of it. She had access to this more grown up version of her friendship with Sophie, she had the ability to make her own work, she had the ability to take the office job, she had all these things in her power, she just couldn’t figure out how to do it”.

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Cinematography

As well as this being one of my favourite films in general, it is also one of my favourite films for cinematography. The cinematography for this film is absolutely brilliant. It evokes that of the same look as the 1979 Woody Allen film ‘Manhattan’; another of my favourite films, both in general and in terms of cinematography.

This film was shot by Sam Levy, one of my favourite cinematographers, who worked with Noah Baumbach on a couple of his other films, such as ‘Mistress America’ (2015) also starring Greta Gerwig. He later went on to work with Greta Gerwig on her solo directorial debut, ‘Lady Bird’ (2017).

The film is in black and white, which I think is a brilliant choice; more often than not, it features fairly low contrasted scenes. Gerwig said that it was difficult to get the film released because it was in black and white; that movie studios thought it would be to ‘risky’ to release it. However, the black and white of this film looks absolutely fantastic.

In terms of lighting, this film was mostly shot using diffused light, it gives off a very gentle feel. This works very well with the low contrast colour grading, and I believe was to represent the emotion of loneliness, very soft and melancholy. To further this softness that is created, often a very shallow depth of field is used. This creates a very pleasing look, as well as helping the feeling of seclusion and isolation.

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Editing

The editing for this film is so brilliant, mostly due to the writing and the actors’ performances. The emotional scenes are often drawn out using still shots that can go on for quite a while. This sustaining of emotion goes on for so long it becomes comical. Scenes feel very raw, a simple shot would endure 35 takes, and would go on for around a minute.

This view of letting the performance go on, uninterrupted by a cut to another shot helps with the realism of the characters. This can be seen in Frances’ monologue; she talks for almost two minutes, and the majority of that is one shot of her talking. The shot is very simple, but because of her uninterrupted performance it feels like a real person talking to the viewer. Except for one shot in the middle; to show the person, and others, she is talking to. This however, helps express the fact that the people across from her are not really taking anything in. Other than this, the entire monologue is just one long shot, helping the emotion expressed by the character feel so much more sincere to the viewer.

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Performances

Greta Gerwig delivers such an incredible performance in this film. Her delivery of lines feel fearless, with an underlying tone of shyness. Her desperate grasping of the past makes the viewer feel so sympathetic towards her, and this very relatable and real character that she perfectly embodies. The performance is so sweet and charming, the sincerity of the delivery of her lines is brilliant. She later shows a similar performance in ‘Mistress America’. A very lively woman living in New York, reaching for her dreams, and failing a lot.

Another good performance in the film is that of her best friend Sophie, played by Mickey Summer. They have so much chemistry on screen, and give off the feeling that they have been friends for a very long time.

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“It’s this secret world that exists right there in public, unnoticed, that no one else knows about.”

Greta Gerwig – Frances Ha, 2012

Lady Bird

‘Lady Bird’, directed by Greta Gerwig, was released in 2017 and set in 2002-2003. It follows the story of Lady Bird/Christine as she struggles with love, getting into college and her relationship with her mother. This extremely likable coming of age story shows the riddance of innocence, and the regret of change; all feeling so real like you are viewing real peoples lives, rather than characters in a film.

This film displays quite a commentary on the class system. Lady Bird cannot apply for certain colleges due to financial reasons; and multiple times throughout the film, Lady Bird is seen admiring or wanting that which the working class cannot afford. Near the start of the film, both Lady Bird and Julie talk about how another pupil can afford a very expensive car; and they stand outside a large house in the middle class suburbs, saying how if they lived there they would get married in the backyard. Also, later on in the film, after being lied to by her boyfriend Kyle, her and her mother do their ‘Sunday activity’. This involves them looking around large houses for sale, and imagining different, easier lives.

Also when Lady Bird and Marion are at a supermarket and Lady Bird wants to buy a magazine, because it’s been a “hard week”. Her mother tells her she can read it in the public library, because reading it at home in bed is what “rich people do, and we’re not rich people”; following this, we see Lady Bird attempt to steal the magazine.

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Greta Gerwig

As this was Gerwig’s solo directorial debut (previous to this she had been an actress in films such as ‘Frances Ha’ by Noah Baumbach, 2012) this was brilliantly directed. The quirky dialogue of Catholic school students is both written and directed very well; from how characters will awkwardly speak without thinking, or from the characters place in the hierarchy of their school. Greta Gerwig’s script was a very secure vision of how she wanted the film to turn out, she stated “I think it comes from my first love being theatre, where the playwright is king. You don’t change those words, you figure out how to make them work. You work for them, they don’t work for you.”

Although Gerwig does describe the film as semi-autobiographical, she does say very loosely. She said “None of the events in the movie are the events of my life, I never made anyone call me by a different name and my parents 100% knew I was applying to schools in New York. But there is an emotional core and truth to it in the relationships that feels right to me.”

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Time, and the change it brings

The ‘coming of age’ genre is perfectly executed by the way it was directed and written. The film is a compilation of moments over the period of one year; each scene taking no more than two minutes, these flashes and vignettes of Lady Bird’s struggle of being a high school girl trying to get into college are perfectly displayed through abrupt cuts from scene to scene and moments ending with jokes.

The change that time brings is difficult to accept; Gerwig states that for writing the character of Marion (Lady Bird’s mother) “One person’s coming of age is another person’s letting go, and letting go is hard. You have raised this baby in you and then they are leaving and you think, ‘Are they ready? Have I done my job?’ And you never know.”

Every moment that time passes relationships can heal or get worse. This is shown at the end of the film when Lady Bird thanks her mother for raising her, after spending time apart. Also, how one minute they are squabbling in a thrift store, and the next they are admiring a dress together.

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Cinematography

The cinematography of this film is so beautiful, and works alongside the story really well. As it portrays everyday life, there is not anything particularly striking about it, but is still very stylized in the way each scene is lit, framed or colour graded. It doesn’t distract you from the story, it moves it along; in intimate moments a shallow depth of field is used, etc…

The director of photography, Sam Levy (who also worked on ‘Frances Ha’ which starred Gerwig), said “We didn’t watch any films until we completed a first draft of our shot list. Both of us wanted ‘Lady Bird’ to be original. Sometimes when you watch too many movies in prep, whether you intend to or not, your own voice can get drowned by the style of the reference material. Greta and I both stopped watching TV shows during the entire time we worked on ‘Lady Bird’ for this reason”. I believe this really shows through in the cinematography, it feels like this style is unlike anything I have seen before; so simple, but so stunning.

The majority of the film is lit using quite soft light, it gives the film a very friendly and familiar feel. The occasional use of hard lighting is usually when the relationship with her mother is worst than usual, more towards the third act of the film.

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As well as using shallow depth of field in intimate scenes, Levy also uses it to put the viewer in the situations of the character. My favourite use of a shallow depth of field in this way is in the third act of the film, when she is in a hospital after drinking too much. the really shallow depth of field gives the viewer the same experience that she is having; feeling very disorientated, and only being half conscious, all while having a bright light shone in her eyes, also helped by the slight over-exposure.

The colour grading of this film is quite subtle, the goal of it is to be reminiscent of an old photograph of a beloved memory, and succeeds in this brilliantly. The amount of contrast has been decreased, to feel almost like a faded photograph look; the highlights are brought down, as well as the blacks being raised. A cool blue tint is added to the shadows, and the highlights are tinted green.

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The Score

The score for this film is absolutely brilliant; composed by Jon Brion, also known for his work on ‘Synedoche, New York’, ‘Punch-Drunk Love’, ‘Magnolia’ and the Pixar short film ‘The Blue Umberella’.

It has a tremendous delicacy in its piano solos that are very moving, and help demonstrate the character’s state of mind. Another point in which the character’s state of mind is portrayed through the music is in the beginning of the third act of the film; where Marion, Lady Bird’s mother, is ignoring her and she is getting very upset, the music sounds like it is falling apart in a near psychotic fashion. In addition to this, the very up-beat theme, that comes in near the start of the film, further accentuates the abrupt cut from the previous scene; it has almost a taunting feel to it, matching the message written on her cast.

My favourite part of the score in the film is at the end of the film when Lady Bird is leaving a voice mail to her mother and she describes driving through Sacramento for the first time. As it cuts between Lady Bird and Marion driving through Sacramento, the piano solo theme comes in which creates an incredibly emotional scene.

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Mothers and Daughters

The acting in this film for both Lady Bird and Marion is outstanding. The character of Lady Bird is so full of confidence as well as being so insecure about herself at the same time. Marion, wants Lady Bird to be the “very best version of herself” as well as not wanting her to leave. When Lady Bird secretly applies to schools in New York she does not tell her mother; but when she finds out, Marion gives Lady Bird a very long silent treatment for two reasons. One; they cannot really afford it, and it would involve refinancing their house. Two; Marion doesn’t want Lady Bird to leave, she’s scared she will get hurt and that she is not ready to be by herself, she is angry at her for not telling her.

Their relationship is the emotional core of the film, it’s heartbreaking when they don’t talk or get in fights, and is joyous when they celebrate together.

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“Anyone who talks about California hedonism has never spent a Christmas in Sacramento.”

Joan Didion

Lost In Translation

The 2003 film ‘Lost In Translation’, written and directed by Sofia Coppola, is one of my favourite films. It follows the story of an aged actor, ‘Bob Harris’ (played by Bill Murray), staying in Tokyo to shoot an advertisement for Suntory Whiskey; and a college graduate, Charlotte (played by Scarlett Johansson), unsure about what her future is with her husband and as a profession. While Charlotte and her husband are staying in a hotel in Tokyo due to his job as a photographer, she crosses paths with Murray’s character; who, like her, spends most of the nights wandering the hotel. They form a connection as they discover the night life of Tokyo and each other’s relationship problems, which ends in a blossoming romance. This film won Coppola ‘Best Original Screenplay’ at the 76th Academy Awards in 2004, and was also nominated for; ‘Best Actor’ for Bill Murray’s performance, ‘Best Picture’, and ‘Best Director’ for her fantastic directing.

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Sofia Coppola

The directing is fantastic throughout every aspect of this film; however, where I think her directing shows the best, other than the dialogue scenes, are when Murray and Johansson have scenes together without dialogue. These completely silent scenes are directed with such skill that you can feel all the emotion and feelings being expressed with just a glance from one character to another. These times show such deep thought and emotion that really connects the viewer with the characters.

While I do love these scenes, she does direct dialogue scenes in such a realistic way that makes the characters feel so real that we are watching true events rather than a performance by an actor. Such as the scene when they are sat at the bar together; the pauses in their speech makes their performances feel so true and sincere. Also, after Charlotte visits the shrine, near the start of the film, and then calls her sister about not knowing what to do with her life and not knowing the man she married anymore.

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Depression – Loneliness and Aimlessness

To me, this film is about depression, a sense of unknowing sadness. Two people not content with their lives, and struggling with connection. This lack of connection is amplified for both of them by being in a foreign landscape. They are lost without connection. The multiple uses of faxing messages and notes limits the contact that the characters have with other people. While the title suggests an inability to communicate with people speaking other languages, I think it has a deeper meaning of being lost when trying to communicate with others in general. I believe this is most apparent when Charlotte and her husband run into an old friend; the following interaction is very awkward, where Charlotte is excluded from the conversation, her husband puts his arm around her which makes her uneasy and push it off. She does not know what she wants to do, and thinks she can find it in self-help CDs.

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It is similar for Bob, in that he is struggling with connection in a foreign place, but also with his wife and son. This is shown through the multiple faxes he receives from his wife, usually about a complaint or a request; which ultimately makes it feel like he is interacting with a machine rather than a real person. In addition to this, the phone calls he has with his wife are very half-hearted in that he waits until late at night so it is the morning for his wife, resulting in a very slow and sleepy phone call for him. In these phone calls, when trying to talk to his son he runs off; and when trying to talk with his wife she is distracted from him, and more directed towards her children. All this disconnection with his home life causes him to feel lost because he has no one to talk to, from both America and Tokyo. Also the fact that he is shooting a commercial when he says he “could be doing a play somewhere”. This aimlessness he feels is what Charlotte labels as a “midlife crisis”, but is simply just not happy with his life and what he is doing.

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Their lack of sleep, or rejection of sleep, is due to their lack of connection; not knowing what to do with your time, but still wanting the time. This is eventually what draws them together, and starts their relationship. With this new connection, they find comfort and more meaning in their lives. Before, this aimless wandering and disconnection with everyone; and now, connection and love that entertains the possibility of no longer being adrift in a sea of millions. This is shown in the main turning point in the film, the karaoke scene. It is a point where their depression is no longer felt by them, just pure joy, and most of all a sense of belonging with each other.

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Cinematography

For this film, Coppola wanted a very natural look for the cinematography, which lead it to its very minimalist approach, by the director of photography Lance Acord. Following the state that the characters are in, the cinematography changes according. For the majority of the film the characters take up small areas of the frame, to show their loneliness, and how disconnected they feel from everyone else; the use of a very shallow depth of field helps with this. Often you will see the characters in a sea of people, but they will be the only one in focus, creating a feeling of disconnection from society, and isolation even when surrounded by millions of others.

However, in the final scene when Bob spots Charlotte in the crowd before he leaves and they embrace, the use of a shallow depth of field makes the encounter seem so intimate and special. It gives the viewer the same experience the two characters are having; that they are the only two people in the world that matter, and that their love is so strong.

The Colours are mostly desaturated, often using cool blues and sometimes pale yellows; even when Charlotte leaves the hotel, to visit the shrine, the colours are all very desaturated and is shot on a grey overcast day.

It was shot on Kodak 35mm film stocks which I think gives the very structured environments of Tokyo a bit more chaos, and more of a friendly feel. The choice to shoot on film made the movie feel like an old photograph of a pleasant memory; a lot like the film itself, a trip to Tokyo.

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“For relaxing times, make it Suntory time.”

Bill Murray – Lost In Translation, 2003