Best of the Decade #10: Lost in Translation (2003)

Sophia Coppola's Lost in Translation places a deadpan has-been actor trying to avoid a marriage past its prime and a young newlywed starved for her husband's time and attention in the foreign environment of Tokyo. Both characters (superbly played by Bill Murray and Scarlet Johansson) are desperately lost and confused, facing hard transitional points of their lives, mirrored by their alien status in an unfamiliar city. But with each other, they are able to find fleeting but meaningful refuge from their unhappiness. It is not really a romance (as some have mislabeled it), but a quiet character study of two unlikely companions who rely on each other's love to muster the strength to move forward into uncertain futures.

BRILLIANT SHOT ALERT:

This opening shot of Johansson's bottom thinly veneered by a pair of soft-pink panties puts us into the relaxed yet observant state of mind that's perfect for watching Lost in Translation. She's neither naked nor clothed, just somewhere in between. It establishes a basic colour scheme (we come to associate Charlotte with soft pink) and communicates her restless desire for intimacy. Like the whole film, the shot is simple yet nuanced, sure of itself yet understated, beautiful but not in a sexual way. It's eternally memorable, and it gets my vote for the single best shot of the decade.

Catch up with previous "Best of the Decade" entries here.