FILM · 2003 · UK
Lost in Translation
- Directed by
- Sofia Coppola
- Runtime
- 102 min
- Studio
- American Zoetrope, Elemental Films
57 archived facts 6 topics 1 source Last reviewed Nov 2026
Two lost souls visiting Tokyo -- the young, neglected wife of a photographer and a washed-up movie star shooting a TV commercial -- find an odd solace and pensive freedom to be real in each other's company, away from their lives in America.
57 Interesting Facts About Lost in Translation
Interesting Facts (37)
- #001
Sofia Coppola was not sure whether Bill Murray would actually appear in the film. Murray worked without an agent, and according to Coppola he had given her only a verbal confirmation. As the production was being set up in Tokyo with no sign of him, she began to worry, but Wes Anderson (who had directed Murray in Rushmore (1998) and The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)) assured her that Murray was a man of his word. Indeed, Murray's participation was secured when he landed in Tokyo a week before shooting.
- #002
Contains a major spoiler — show
Scarlett Johansson's opening scene was actually inspired by a painting by John Kacere that is later displayed in the hotel. Johansson was reportedly nervous about appearing in her underwear, so to put her at ease Sofia Coppola did the first take herself in the same underwear.
- #003
In 1999 Bill Murray replaced his talent agency with an automated voicemail box reachable through an 800 number that he gave out sparingly; he calls back only when he is interested in the proposed project. Sofia Coppola got the number through her friend Wes Anderson, who frequently collaborates with Murray, and reportedly left hundreds of messages on Murray's voicemail, and Murray called back to discuss the offer to star in her film.
- #004
The script available online was written not in a conventional sense but rather in terms of broad scene descriptions that allowed for the actors' contributions. Many dialogue scenes were largely improvised, including Bill Murray's lines in the photo shoot and his conversation with Scarlett Johansson about the Shiatsu massage.
- #005
Contains a major spoiler — show
The question the old man with the cane in the hospital tries to ask Bob (in Japanese) is: "How many years have you been in Japan?" Meanwhile, the diagnosis Charlotte receives from the doctor (in Japanese) is that her toe is broken but that taping it is enough.
- #006
Sofia Coppola's father, Francis Ford Coppola, wanted her to shoot the film in High Definition Video because "it's the future," but she chose film because "film feels more romantic."
- #007
Contains a major spoiler — show
Bob and Charlotte never introduce themselves to each other.
- #008
Because the production team could not get filming permits there, shooting had to be done covertly in certain locations. For example, the team faced the threat of arrest while filming in the Tokyo metro and at the Shibuya Crossing.
- #009
Sofia Coppola designed most of the film's shooting by taking a series of photographs in Tokyo and then recreating them with the actors and crew using the photos as reference.
- #010
The voice of Bob's wife is provided by the film's costume designer.
- #011
The red-haired salon singer Catherine Lambert was not a professional actress. Sofia Coppola saw Catherine performing in Tokyo in 2001. A year later, Sofia's producer Ross Katz of Elemental Films (based in New York) tracked Catherine down in South Australia and invited her to return to Tokyo to play the "Red Haired Jazz Singer."
- #012
There is a shot in which Bob runs down a crowded street as a minivan passes, and uniformed women wave and call out politely to a P.A. system. This is a form of advertisement used by political candidates. The candidate himself also runs alongside the minivan.
- #013
Contains a major spoiler — show
While filming the Suntory commercial, Bob was asked to act as a channel for Roger Moore, but he said he preferred Sean Connery. In the real world, Sean Connery had actually made commercials for Suntory.
- #014
While riding the metro, Charlotte looks at a man reading the comic Ghost in the Shell. In 2017, Scarlett Johansson would star in the film adaptation of the comic, Ghost in the Shell (2017).
- #015
The whisky Bob represents is the 17-year-old Suntory Hibiki. Meaning "resonance" in Japanese, Hibiki has won numerous awards, including World's Best Blended Whisky.
- #016
One of the things Bill Murray genuinely enjoyed while filming the film in Tokyo was that he was very rarely recognized.
- #017
Contains a major spoiler — show
Bob and Charlotte do not exchange dialogue until the 32nd minute of the film.
- #018
The plastic flowers/leaves Charlotte prepares to hang in her room are generally used as decoration in stores in Tokyo. Being pink means spring has arrived.
- #019
The painting in Charlotte's hotel room in Tokyo was made by John Kacere under the title "Jutta" (1973). Kacere is a famous photorealist who specialized in painting women in lingerie.
- #020
Bill Murray had a Japanese phrasebook called "Making Out In Japanese", and with it he would go to sushi restaurants and ask chefs whether "they had a curfew" or whether they would "use protection." He even mentioned on The Graham Norton Show (2007) that he had learned a phrase similar to "Who do you think you're talking to?" and uttered it to others' fear.
- #021
The BB gun the angry bartender uses to kick out Bob, Charlotte and Charlotte's friends is an Airsoft MP5 with a Tokyo-Marui viewer adapter that fires plastic phosphorescent glowing BBs. The adapter's flash light makes the BBs glow.
- #022
The shots of Shibuya were filmed from the second-floor window of a Starbucks.
- #023
Kelly Strong's name is shown in the Japanese text before it is spoken or shown in English. When she holds the press conference for Midnight Velocity, her name is written in katakana as "Kerii Sutorongu."
- #024
Most or all of the game sounds heard in the arcade are not the original sounds of the games shown.
- #025
The car Bob Harris is chauffeured in is a Toyota Century, a limited-production luxury limousine widely used by royalty, government leaders and executive businessmen. It is also the choice of Japanese embassies outside Japan.
- #026
The ringtone on Bob's cell phone is Frédéric Chopin's Fantaisie Impromptu in C-sharp minor, Opus 66.
- #027
Bob is asked to channel Roger Moore for the photo shoot. Later in the film there is a karaoke performance of "Nobody Does It Better," the theme from Moore's own Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me (1977).
- #028
John says he has to go downstairs to talk to Kelly at the bar. The New York Bar is actually on the 52nd floor. It is higher than all the guest rooms at the Park Hyatt Tokyo.
- #029
Footage from the second season of Saturday Night Live (1975) is visible very briefly while Bob Harris (Bill Murray) watches television in his hotel room. Apparently Murray would have been watching himself, since he was one of the 'Not Ready for Prime Time Players' on SNL from 1977 to 1978.
- #030
Contains a major spoiler — show
Feeling abandoned by her husband is not the only reason for Charlotte's behavior. Her husband's shallow character is a clear obstacle to her deeper nature, and the people her own age she meets in Japan are all equally empty and immature. Her relationship with Bob thus takes on far greater significance.
- #031
The song playing in the arcade where the young boy plays guitar belongs to the Japanese punk band 'The Blue Hearts'.
- #032
The pink floral cell phones Charlotte hangs in her hotel room are cherry blossoms, which hold a very important place in Japanese culture.
- #033
Both Giovanni Ribisi and Scarlett Johansson have fraternal twins as siblings; Giovanni a sister and Scarlett a brother.
- #034
One of the extras in the party scene wears a Death Pizza T-shirt. This is the name of an independent record label.
- #035
The blanket resting on the couch in Charlie Brown's apartment while Charlotte takes photographs is actually a 'Sarape', a blanket made in Mexico, specifically in the northern Mexican city of Saltillo, which has a centuries-old tradition of making them. It is made of soft wool, very warm, and brightly colored.
- #036
The close-up camera lens on the crane/jib camera in the TV game show is a Fujinon 5.5 mm wide-angle lens; when it is physically very close to an object or person, it gives an almost distorted, aquarium-like appearance.
- #037
Giovanni Ribisi and Anna Faris both guest-starred in recurring roles on Friends (1994). Ribisi played Phoebe's brother, who fathers twins with Faris, and Faris played Erica, the girl later adopted by Chandler and Monica.
Production Story (12)
- #038
For years, no one besides Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson and Sofia Coppola knew what Bob whispers to Charlotte in the final scene, but on October 28, 2009, a subtitled YouTube video appeared containing slightly enhanced audio of that part of the film, and more than 20,000 visitors got the chance to learn what Bob whispers to Charlotte: "When John is ready for his next business trip, go up to that man and tell him the truth, okay?" Another YouTube video uploaded on April 15, 2007 proposes the sentence: "I have to be leaving, but I won't let that come between us, OK?" On closer inspection, it turns out that the opening words are "Promise me…" and that the closest match to the audio is most likely "Promise me, that the next thing you do, is go up to that man and tell him the truth."
- #039
In the karaoke scene, the singer of God Save the Queen plays the role of Charlie Brown. Hayashi is a longtime friend and guide of Sofia Coppola in Japan.
- #040
After John tells Kelly to call him, he uses the phrase "Moshi-moshi!" and leaves with "Arigato!" meaning thank you. Moshi-moshi is used as a greeting when using the telephone. It is almost never used face to face, except in situations where you are trying to get someone's attention (for example, a person across the street).
- #041
The dish Bill Murray's character complains about, saying who goes to a restaurant where you have to cook your own food, is called Shabu Shabu. It consists of very thinly sliced raw meat along with various vegetables that the diner dips into boiling broth.
- #042
The conversation between the two men in the sauna (toward the end of the film) goes something like this: - "I can hardly eat papayas anymore!" - "At first I was really happy… at first, I thought… well I thought…" - "At the beginning, yes." - "In Germany, I was looking forward to it, but in the meantime…" - "Yeah. Now, something German…" - "Hmmmm." - "After this, we'll go out and get something German to eat here!"
- #043
At the New York Bar/Grill in the Park Hyatt hotel, there is a "Lost in Translation"-themed drink called L. I. T. It is available. According to the menu, the ingredients are: sake (Kikuizumi Daiginjo), Peachtree, cherry blossom liqueur (Sakura Liqueur) and "cranberry drink".
- #044
The temple Charlotte visits in Kyoto was Nanzen-ji. However, since Japanese weddings are not held in temples but in shrines, seeing a wedding there was strange to her. The second place she visited was Heian Jingu Shrine.
- #045
Bob and Charlotte watch "La Dolce Vita" (1960) in the hotel room.
- #046
Sofia Coppola's decision to base the character of Charlotte's husband on Spike Jonze caused some friction between himself and Michel Gondry, a mutual friend of Coppola and Jonze. In an interview with The New York Times (dated September 17, 2006), Gondry said that after the film's New York premiere he confronted Coppola about the matter. "There was a character in 'Lost in Translation' clearly based on Spike… And it was not nice. I don't believe in being mean-spirited or mocking, and I told her that."
- #047
The film is on Roger Ebert's "Great Movies" list.
- #048
Bill Murray's character sings "More than This" by Roxy Music at the karaoke party.
- #049
This was the only film Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson worked on together until The Jungle Book (2016) and Isle of Dogs (2018). They also reconnected during the filming of SNL50: The Anniversary Special (2025); Johansson later told Vanity Fair: "He's such a different person now," adding, compared to his attitude on the Lost in Translation set, "I think life has humbled him."
Behind the Scenes (3)
- #050
Contains a major spoiler — show
The kiss between Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson at the end of the film was not in the script but was an "in the moment" improvisation between the actors. Bob's whisper to Charlotte at the end was also not in the original script.
- #051
Contains a major spoiler — show
In the hospital waiting area, where the old man tries to ask Bob how long he has been in Japan, the scene was reportedly so improvised that two women sitting behind the men struggled to suppress their laughter at the strange conversation.
- #052
During the photo shoot, the photographer mentions the Rat Pack. Among all the members Bob names, he leaves out Sammy Davis Jr., who made commercials for Suntory.
Characters & Cast (1)
- #053
According to Anna Faris, the role was originally offered to Naomi Watts. Faris said in 2026 that she feared her performance was "too loud" compared with her co-stars' quieter performances.
Deeper Meaning (2)
- #054
The idea of having Bob Harris shoot a Suntory whiskey commercial stemmed partly from the fact that Sofia Coppola's father, Francis Ford Coppola, had made a real Suntory commercial with Akira Kurosawa in the 1970s.
- #055
Anna Faris explained that people often assume her character was inspired by Cameron Diaz, who worked with Sofia Coppola's ex-husband Spike Jonze on Being John Malkovich (1999). Faris said in 2026 that she was bothered by the accusation, because Diaz was never an inspiration, and Coppola has denied it over the years. She said it was annoying because it negatively affected her performance; "I'm not part of some grand weird sabotage".
Career & Awards (2)
- #056
At the 2004 Oscars, Bill Murray began introducing the film's "Best Picture" nominees by saying: "Two days after we started shooting, four members of the Tokyo crew wanted to quit because they thought the director didn't know what she was doing. We were politely declined" (meaning he was one of them).
- #057
George Price considers it one of the top 20 films ever honored with an Oscar.
Related pages
- Scarlett Johansson — Lost in Translation comes up in the facts on that page
- Charles Bronson — Lost in Translation comes up in the facts on that page
- Bill Murray — Lost in Translation comes up in the facts on that page
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
- Wikipedia
- IMDb
Information from external sources is independently selected, consolidated and edited by Arka Evren. Sources are listed for verification and further reading. Encyclopedia text is used under its licence (CC BY-SA). How we work