Lost in Translation started when Bob Harris, an over-the-hill movie star, went to Tokyo, Japan for picking up some easy money filming commercials for Suntory whiskey even though he hated his job. Here he met the young woman who was neglected by her busy photographer husband, Charlotte. Both of them felt lonely and lost in Tokyo. Bob Harris and Charlotte have lost since they were in America. But being placed in the context of Tokyo, a city of strangers, the language barrier and culture shock, their loneliness was more emphasized. They did not have sexual needs or any romantic relationship, just loneliness which needed to be shared pulled them together. Bob and Charlotte then striked up a close relationship which is more intimate than friendship but still cannot reach the engagement of love, built largely on the respect and trust they develop through self-disclosure. More interestingly, the film about these two lonely soul mates does not only tell about social intimacy and friendship but also is a masterpiece exploring intercultural communication.
The cultural differences between America and Japan, more generally Western and Eastern culture, can be recognized in Lost in Translation through some visual comparisons. Differences in some from traditional customs such as language, greeting and eating habits to intercultural communication aspects like collectivism/individualism, high/low context, and high/low power distance are all reflected during 102 minutes of the movie. This