Lost In Translation/Friday Night

I adore Lost in Translation. Everything about it was perfect. The script/dialogue -- a blend of depth and clever humor (ranging from subtle to laugh-out-loud). The themes -- longing, loneliness, profound human connection.The look -- a mix of pastels and neon lights.

I also recently saw the latest Claire Denis film, Friday Night. A woman living in Paris is packing up her apartment, getting ready to move in the next day with her boyfriend. That night, she's to have dinner with friends. She gets in her car and begins the drive to their house, only to become enmeshed in a gargantuan traffic jam caused by a transit strike. The radio announcer urges drivers to give rides to those stranded by the public transportation shutdown. The woman does, and the movie follows her and her stranger until dawn.

Both of these films focus on two people in sealed environments (hotel/car) surrounded by big cities (Tokyo/Paris). Both of the films' actresses wear the camera's presence lightly, allowing us to intrude on and participate in their private moments, rather than experience them voyeuristically -- a welcome change.

I haven't read a review that compares these two films to one another yet. But each film has been compared by different reviewers to Wong Kar Wei's "In the Mood For Love." A visually gorgeous film, but one that did not manage to achieve the depth of feeling of either Lost in Translation or Friday Night.

See these movies.