It’s rare that you find a movie that sticks with you long after you’ve seen it for the first time. “Lost in Translation” (2003) was like that for me, for some reason. Maybe it stems from a time in my life where I was offered a job in Burbank, California, and I almost up and took it. It would have meant leaving my family and friends behind, moving away from Phoenix where I lived my entire life and starting up somewhere new without a single acquaintance.
It had some appeal to me, despite the nature of being very much on my own. Perhaps that’s why “Lost in Translation” had the impact it did. Bill Murray, who plays Bob Harris, is in a strange country and cannot sleep, and he meets Charlotte, played wonderfully by Scarlett Johansson, who is also in the same situation, but almost totally alone as her new husband has other things to do.
They connect with each other out of their need to be with something familiar. Being in Japan with no English spoken, these two naturally relate and spend a lot of time together over the next few days, trying to hold onto this amazing thing they’ve found amidst their loneliness.
The movie did an superb job of bringing the audience into the emotions going on inside these two. You actually can almost feel what they are going through and how they long to just BE with each other.
And that brings us to the end of the movie. Bob has to leave, the filming is done on his commercial,it’s time to go home and that means leaving Charlotte behind. But that’s the end really, they had no future, they were both married and their time was up. You felt their pain in ending the short relationship, but what other choice was there?
So Bob gets into his limo and is taken away, while Charlotte heads out onto the streets, back to wandering aimlessly like she did before, alone and out of place in this strange country.
But Bob stops, goes back and finds her walking.
They look at each other for a moment, and then they just hold each other. He whispers something to her, which makes her cry, makes her smile. They kiss, and she continues walking down the sidewalk, tears flowing, but a new look of happiness on her face. Bob gets into the limo and is gone.
I loved the movie, and I loved the final song in it so much that I now own the “Jesus and Mary Chain” album Psychocandy that it came from.
So the big mystery for all that saw it was this: What did he say to her?
Some wise words of comfort from an older man that allowed her to move on? That he’d see her again? That he loved her?
Well, we now know. I guess this video has been around since April of this year, but I hadn’t heard about it until my wife passed on a link to me this morning. Someone took the scene, digitally enhanced it and put together the find sentence that Bill Murray whispers to Charlotte.
It’s hard to hear, but I think they got it right.
Now, not everyone wants to know. The way it ended was perfect in my opinion, leaving it up to us to decide what he said to her. It was fitting and obviously kept people thinking about it afterwards.
So if you don’t want to know, don’t watch the video or read on after this point. But if you do, check it out below.
[youtube 5MV7Sym8bIQ]
Here is the final line from him again, if you didn’t watch it or want to see it again:
Bob: “I have to be leaving…but I wont let that come between us, okay?”
Charlotte: “Okay.” *gasp*
This exchange seems totally fitting to me. But the real meaning behind it will always remain a mystery. Did that mean he was coming back to her? Or was he just leaving her with hope. That in having this hope, she wouldn’t be completely miserable and lonely. Her gasp at the end was like a breath of relief escaping her, so the words he said were the right ones.
I don’t know what it means. I don’t think we ever will. They are both married, so the real guy inside me wants to think that they just return to their lives, but another part of me hopes they end up together.
What do you think? Does it make a difference knowing what he said? Am I the only one who really enjoyed this film?
Yeah, I liked it. But I think it would lose all meaning if we were to assume they somehow ended up together. They didn’t…and that’s what makes it all work. It’s cool to know what he said, though. It’s a great line. I have no idea why they didn’t actually use it so that the audience could hear it. Strange.
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The sweetness and innocence of their relationship is what made that film for me. I liked not knowing what he said to her…having it left to my imagination…something to ponder after it was over. But a few years later I like finally knowing what he actually said and don’t find it inappropriate or unfitting to the film.
“I don’t know what it means. I don’t think we ever will. They are both married, so the real guy inside me wants to think that they just return to their lives, but another part of me hopes they end up together.
What do you think? Does it make a difference knowing what he said?”
I don’t think what he said makes a difference at all: they were an unlikely match who found themselves alone in a strange city, lost in their own lives but together in this place and condition. Despite feeling alone and disconnected from the world, they were able to make a human connection with each other BECAUSE of this perfect confluence of place, time and respective circumstances. While the romantic and sexual tension between them is palpable (this is just brilliantly acted by both of them) I don’t think there’s any question that the realization of it just wouldn’t make anything better: in their lives, in their marriages, in their relationship with one another…just worse, so they don’t go there. They also know that pursuing one another later, in the “real” world would be pointless: it would never work.
So they leave one another with the unspoken understanding that the little thing they shared in that strange place, in that short period of time, was perfect and pure and meaningful to them both…and should be left that way.
I liked that they realized that just because they could didn’t mean they should. Adultery would’ve just cheapened the sweet thing they had together.
Great, great film.
“So they leave one another with the unspoken understanding that the little thing they shared in that strange place, in that short period of time, was perfect and pure and meaningful to them both…and should be left that way.”
Perfect
Some people have said hearing the whisper ruined the movie, but
thats exactly what we all wanted to hear him say. Awsome movie,
wish I could find that kind of connection.
Good comment Xtie…there is a lot to be taken from that scene and what might be going on inside of them.
Thanks for stopping by!
Few years ago when I watched this film for the first time, I wasn’t interested in knowing what he said to her at the end. I like the mystery that the film put in the mind of its audience. But watching it again and again makes me want to know what he said that gave Charlotte some hope.
What they had was special, and nothing can take that away from them. Bob may leave her physically but the memories will bring back good feelings to Charlotte like he was never away. As for Bob I think it will be harder for him as he has to deal with being with his wife of 25 years and kids again. He may be physically back with his family, but his heart and mind is with Charlotte at the other side of the world.
That’s what I love about this film. They know their place in their special relationship and they never took advantage of the situation. Love can be translated and communicated in many ways. And this film touched me dearly.
I feel the same way Kae…good analysis of what they felt, I kind of think you got it right.
Now I’m wanting to watch it again
I read something different somewhere else. Something like “I’ll never forget the last few days with you. Don’t part mad, tell him the truth, ok?”
I don’t know about the first part, but the Don’t part mad sounds about right when I rewatched it just now.
Interesting…it’s really too hard to hear to figure out if he said that or not.
I think they meet up in the US. In his limo after the goodbye, Bill Murray beautifully communicates the look of an excited young man, embarking on something new, as a gentle breeze gusts through his hair, the first sense of fresh air we get in the film. I’m more cynical about human nature and it is wishful thinking in today’s world that people don’t jump ship when there is a better offer on the table.
Anyway, if I was her, I’d be checking the internet for his agent the moment I got back to the hotel!
[...] uns dias no jornal argentino Pagina 12 saiu uma reportagem que comentava como um garoto havia “limpadoâ€? o ruÃÂÂdo da última cena do filme [...]
Think this analogy:
Musician (composer) select a level -volume/intensity-
for each instrument, for each sound.
What happens, what happens with the music,
if you turn up and down levels a piaccere?
I think that’s what happens with this issue
the ‘message’ of the movie -that complex structure-
has been broken, or modified.
This movie will always stick with me. Have watched it countless times. Paints an incredible picture of the sense of lostness we all experience at various stages in our life. The connection between Bob and Charlotte is so well done that we find ourselves somehow hoping they get together, even though our better natures know they are both married and such a union would ruin a family and rob a young woman of her continued quest for self-discovery. I loved “Roman Holiday” and had a similar reaction when Gregory Peck walks away from Audrey Hepburn after their brief romantic fling. It was the honorable thing to do…special while it lasted, but not viable for either of them. It was simply a special moment in time. The digitally enhanced audio interpretation of the final whisper may or may not be what was said. I much prefer the mystery. Seeing Charlotte walk away from Bob with a sense of hope, or the possibility of hope, and Bob being driven to the airport, reflecting on all that has happened is enough for me. Wonderful film. Probably won’t see the like of it for many years.
I totally agree with all of you. This film is fantastic in many subtle ways and it should be left as it was done. The mistery in Murray´s final words play an important roll in the imagination of each viewer. The way it ends it´s finally your choise which will depend on your own sentimental needs. I kind of gift the script writer gave to us all I guess.
This movie reflects almost EXACTLY how I felt/feel/will feel when I travel to some specific places, or at different times in my life, or different factors such as mood, environment…
I get this sense of “No ones sees me, no one hears me, I am alone” just like they do, and I mainly see the world as perfectly smooth, this big city working and it doesnt care that im just sitting here or whatever and I can just watch it flourish.
Its actually a great environment for thinking, working, innovating etc…
This is definitely one of my favorite movies, id say the same spot as Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
When I allegedly found out what he said I completely believed it… 5 minutes later (now) I dont… I still think my mind over powers it and tells me that the movie ended there and its up to me to make up the rest
-Philip Han
“So the big mystery for all that saw it was this: What did he say to her?” I think he said who the fifth Cylon was….
He says
I’ll always remember the past few days with you… Don’t part mad, tell him the truth, okay?
or something.
Much more fitting.
THERE IS YOUR CLOSURE.
He says
I’ll always remember the past few days with you… Don’t part mad, tell him the truth, okay?
or something.
Much more fitting.
THERE IS YOUR CLOSURE.
I think I tend to agree with Xtie. This film is truly moving and the last scene kind of took my breath away and was so awesome (just like honey is the best song and works PERFECTLY here) There are so many mixed emotions going on with the two characters practically oozing out of them as their parting draws nearer and nearer until this climax of emtion and feeling that takes place on the crowded street. There is definately a sense of resolve- theres closure that washes over them as they make their final “split” The smile that Bill Murray gives her as he walks backwards…I cant even put words to that part. But it seems like they have an understanding with each other. I do not think that they will see one another again, although its very hard at the same time not to want them to! They are clearly an unlikely couple and it seems to make sense that it ends here between them. But they have somehow given each other hope to take with them to thier own lives. A really thought provoking movie
I think I tend to agree with Xtie. This film is truly moving and the last scene kind of took my breath away and was so awesome (just like honey is the best song and works PERFECTLY here) There are so many mixed emotions going on with the two characters practically oozing out of them as their parting draws nearer and nearer until this climax of emtion and feeling that takes place on the crowded street. There is definately a sense of resolve- theres closure that washes over them as they make their final “split” The smile that Bill Murray gives her as he walks backwards…I cant even put words to that part. But it seems like they have an understanding with each other. I do not think that they will see one another again, although its very hard at the same time not to want them to! They are clearly an unlikely couple and it seems to make sense that it ends here between them. But they have somehow given each other hope to take with them to thier own lives. A really thought provoking movie
I think I tend to agree with Xtie. This film is truly moving and the last scene kind of took my breath away and was so awesome (just like honey is the best song and works PERFECTLY here) There are so many mixed emotions going on with the two characters practically oozing out of them as their parting draws nearer and nearer until this climax of emtion and feeling that takes place on the crowded street. There is definately a sense of resolve- theres closure that washes over them as they make their final “split” The smile that Bill Murray gives her as he walks backwards…I cant even put words to that part. But it seems like they have reached an understanding with each other thru this last part that wouldnt have been there had they just left it in the hotel lobbey. I do not think that they will see one another again, although its very hard at the same time not to want them to! They are clearly an unlikely couple and it seems to make sense that it ends here between them. But they have somehow given each other hope to take with them to thier own lives. A really thought provoking movie
I was sure that he said “I have a raging boner and must leave to masterbate, okay?”
“Am I the only one who really enjoyed this film?”
Absolutely not. This movie blows me away every time I watch it.
The most possible (and understandable) part of the line: “…go to that man and tell(‘em) the truth. OK?” leaves them (and us, viewers) thinking of the next time they’ll meet. It also shows on their expression after – they’re happy and hopeful, not serious or sad as one would be after the final farewell. But, as it was never revealed how would that meeting happen (they never talked about it), they also experience (and express) doubt of ever seeing each other again. That to me is realistic.
It’s not comparable with Pulp Fiction’s suitcase, because artistically, in it could be anything unearthly or common as a diamond. Physically, it was probably some green lamp for the purposes of the film. And here, Murray really said a line connected to the plot, although artistically, it was left for our imagination.
I love this film, the pure relationship, friendship and love that develops between Bob and Charlotte. I feel in love with Japan because of this movie, this will be my third trip there in 3 years. I have been trying to figure out what Bob says to Charlotte for years. Maybe some of the comments made are right but i would like to think the following.
I have spent the the last 10 years doing solo travels around the world, and when my life feels like crap, I kiss my kids and partner I pack my bags and jump on a plane and take of a month. We spend our life’s seaching, trying to find ourselves along the way, hoping to be seen, for someone to touch our soul. On one hell trip with by brother I know I had my Lost in Translation moment on a 12 hour plane trip I seat next to a older man. I think that it was a time in both our life’s when we where both lost and trying to find or saying good-bye to something. For me it was trying to find myself and for him it was saying good-bye to his past and his life. Because he was dying from cancer and was very sick. We talked about life, love death and everything in between. That moment would change me for ever, it was not about going home packing my bags and running away with this man. It was about touching each another in a way that can’t be put into words. We stayed in contact emailed, phoned, talked to each others partners, but was ever to see each other again. He died a couple of years later.
I would like to think that Bob whispers the words to one of the songs in the movie to Charlotte ” More than this there is nothing, more than this there is nothing”. For a moment can change everything.
Lee
I just finished watching this movie for the first time (don’t yell at me, I’m fifteen. =P) and, as a highly curious individual, I just HAD to know what the heck he’s saying at the end. I searched on google, found this site, read what Mike had to say, and then went on Youtube. I listened to a forty second long video of the quote being said with different sound levels or whatever, and I am almost positive he is saying:
“Promise me (I only got that part of the first sentence). Don’t let that man tell you what you are, okay?”
If you listen to it, it fits perfectly. And it works with the movie, considering the way her husband acts.
I just wish I could make out the rest of the first sentence…
[...] “I have to be leaving…but I wont let that come between us, okay?” [...]
all i know is that this movie shows how the human heart can be. it also shows that some people settle with the one they are with not the one they love. and seeing this movie and now knowing that last line fits perfectly. something simular happened to me. i was with a person and everything was fine but i was settling. then i met her and i had to leave the one i was with for the one i loved. this movie is a true masterpiece. and like i said shows how the human heart is and can act.
i love this kind of love.
I first watched the movie in 2005 and was very moved by it because this is one of the rare moments that you get in a state where you are “connected” to a movie, because emotionally you very much feel like Bob and Charlotte, this strange feeling of loneliness and companionship. To me, the story is “real” in any aspect.
The film started my interest in Japan and by chance I got there in 2008 – luckily not so desperatly alone like Bob and Charlotte – and now I can say: It’s all so true: The sleepless nights, no one can understand you, different world. The street noise, elevator sounds, even the strange crow screams – when I watch the movie now, all that comes back to my mind, like a time machine for memories. Such a brilliant masterpiece. Love it.
Steve
I love this movie, the ending always made me curious of what he said. I don’t think they had necescarily a romantic love relationship. They were two people stuck in the same place in a bad position, she says. Lets never come here again because it will never be as fun. They knew that they wouldn’t stay together. I think that they are soulmates, and that last for eternity, will not come between them.
If they had used the final phrase at the end of the movie, more, if the audience had been able to hear the final line of the movie…the line would not have been…duh…lost in translation. Furthermore, the fact that they were two Americans stuck in Japan together is of little consequence, and circumstantial. They could have been anywhere. They were two people elevated above the rest. They were both too smart for their own good, and both longed for something more than ordinary. Being stuck at the top of the food chain is incredibly lonely unless there is someone just as smart as you who makes living worthwhile. That’s where the connection takes place, and that connection is what ultimately makes the film work. The title of the film is duality. The whole movie is about two people who are indefinitely lost in a crowd of failed seekers. Japan is irrelevant, unless it is to put a sharp edge on, in my opinion, an already clear point. This film was nothing if not a romance. The romance between the two was untainted and child-like, which made it pure, and that is why this film stays with you for so long. Nobody loves like that anymore. In a time where men are gods and the human race behaves as animals, responding only to the primal desires to kill and have sex, this movie is a class above the rest. We don’t have this anymore, but we want to. That’s why the film breaks your heart. And if he had said anything else to her at the end, and not gone back to her, then he’s a damn fool. But, that’s where the irony lives. Two incredibly evolved people find each other in a separate place far away from the decay of morals, and fall in love. But, in falling in love, they would have to abandon their own lives, what’s more, they would have to abandon their own marriages, making them the kind of people that they were trying to get away from.
This movie spoke to me immediately when I saw it. I’ve been a fan ever since.
I have a history of international travel without my spouse and children and I always thought it was that connection. However, I finally realized it was because of a domestic trip to a foreign city for 7 days of work at the turn of the century.
I hung out with a co-worker each day and night in the office, hotel bar, and my hotel room.
We became friends, good friends, and we have a connection no others seem to understand. And yes, I am older than she….but not that much older, just seperated by stages in life more than years.
One day, over the years of friendship, she told me she liked this movie too and that she also compares it to our week together. She asked me to find out the end of the movie…and I, too, wanted to know the ending.
I’ve read the script which was deviated from often. The script doesn’t end like this. But its ending was good too. Your translation seems applicable, but I cannot confirm it from my dvd.
Regardless, thank you for posting it.
x
“I have to be leaving…but I wont let that come between us, okay?”
Beautiful, it really seems like the only possible thing to say…
To me ‘Lost in Translation’ is one of the best movies ever to show our human condition. The way people seek consolation in each other while still remaining alone. It is perhaps the most poetic film ever made and the fact you cannot hear what he whispers only adds to that.
So for myself I will keep the mystery…
bob: charlotte!!!
bob: why are you crying?
Charlotte: I’ll miss you!
bob: I know, I’ll miss you too
(bob walks to the car)
this is from the real script written by Sofia Copola
Hey man, thanks so much for letting me knwo what bob said!!! i can’t believe I finally found out!
, I think what he ment is that he is going to contact her again… and I think that she believed him, otherwise, how can you explain her relief and his expression of happiness?
It’s pretty obvious that they’ll stay in touch.
“I have to be leaving now, but that won’t come between us”.
She goes off happy. He goes off knowing he has to change his life first and then come back to her.
That’s the whole point of “the ending”. Otherwise he would have just got on his plane having said nothing.
i love all ur comments about a subtle and bittersweet film
..i have always been and always will be a fan of Bill M. and Scarlett J.. they r both Great in their own ways .. in a world where technology should bring us together (like with MUGs and the internet), it ends up isolating us (as shown in the arcades in the film) .. in a city with millions of ppl, two ‘lost souls’ find each other and give what we need most: intimacy. she finds meaning where b4 she felt “nothing”; he learns to smile again (while still a grimace); they both grow in sharing Love .. on a recent flight from BKK to Narita, i met my own Charlotte (tho Japanese) and i believe our age difference was not as great as in the film .. she has a daughter about my son’s age and i think they could be more than friends 
.. the movie was as much about the transformative power of Love as it was about Hope .. human life is kind of dead/dull without Love/Hope 
‘my Charlotte’ brought me back to life, gave me Hope, and filled my heart with Love.
I always tear up when he puts his hand on her foot when they are about to go to sleep. It’s the sweetest thing I think I’ve ever seen in a movie.
Even before I learned what Bob said, I had come to the conclusion that they would probably meet again.
We are told that they live in the same city, Los Angeles. If a movie gives that kind of information, it usually has a purpose. In this case it tells us that their friendship doesn’t have to end with Bob leaving Tokyo. They may meet again if they both want it, and they do. Whether they will have an affair, or if their relationship will work, we don’t know, nor do they.
The last line Bob says to Charlotte and the way they part with hope is brilliant! It does not matter whether they really meet or not later in their lives. But for that moment, the knowledge that there is always hope and a chance to meet one another eases the pain of separation. It was really good that it ended after they had a chance to say good bye and not right after he was posing for the photographs.
I just adore this film. It lingers around in my thoughts for days after I have watched it – which has been several times over the years. I guess it’s a film that gives hope to love and relationships. Japan is so different, Charlotte and Bob are so different but they have this amazing rapport and time spent together. BOB gives her the attention she so craves from her husband, coupled with the maturity and paternal care only an older man could give her. Her beauty and youth and the innocent way she tries to seduce him through singing a Pretenders song on the Karoke is just so cute. Scarlett and Bill play their parts perfect.
When Bob goes back to Charlotte in the final scene and he walks away and gives her that smile as if to say I’ve had the most wonderful time, wasn’t it great! – that has got to be one of the most heartwarming scenes ever. Oh Man I love this film. Thank you Sofia Coppola
People are hopeless
The man starts clearly saying ” Promise me , ( … ) wont let that come between us ” . They made that scene perfect ! You can’t hear what he says in the middle of that sentence because they didnt want you to . Peace !
This was a movie that bored the life out of me. I was unable to watch the entire movie. Maybe when the 20th or 25th anniversary edition comes out I can attempt to watch it again (like I did with “Blade Runner”) and not have it bore me. Blade Runner is still a movie that I’ve attempted to watch on numerous occasions and still it stinks as a movie (it might have redeeming qualities, but I haven’t found them).
I had gone through a similar experience. We became friends because we were both isolated. Both married and would not compromise those elements. Though, one night for about eight seconds, I truly considered an affair and got her out of the car and going home, instead. We both did the right thing and we both had a really great experience together that infidelity would have mangled and made malicious.
Good move…..it’s better in your mind than it can ever be if it truly happens…
“I have to be leaving…but I wont let that come between us, okay?”
That’s not what Bob whispers to Charlotte at all. This movie is great, one of my all time favorite. What he whispers to Charlotte in the is this:
“When John is waiting on the next business trip… go up to that man and tell him the truth, okay.”
You’re welcome.
Correction:What he whispers to Charlotte in the ^end is this: ….
I watched this movie as a newly wed… Didn’t comprehend and didn’t care for it. Almost 9 years later I watched it and I understand all of it! Loved the sexual. tention. It is posible to have a platonic relationship, knowing u both like each other and have so many things in common, however thats it.
Just watched it again last night. Saw it years ago when it was released or when it hit the video stores. Loved it then and loved it even more last night years later. I didn’t feel compelled to know the first time – but I had to know what was said after watching it again last night.
Having experienced this very thing….being in a country where no one (or very few) speak your language and the culture is so different can leave you feeling culture shock that is a common occurrence.
I am happily married 16 years. But at that time I was single and alone in several foreign countries – I connected instead with a person in the country that spoke perfect english because you want to feel normal & not isolated.
It worked only in that moment – we kept in contact for a few months after I came back to the states but we soon lost contact (more me than her). I wonder about her regularly and want to know what happened with her – married, children, happy? but alas, it would ruin the ending – wouldn’t it?
Has anyone ever been misunderstood by the rest of the world and then suddenly connected with someone who “gets you” at a cellular level? It doesn’t matter if they are completely from another planet, but it’s amazing to you that they somehow they get the pilgram soul within you. That is the sweetest moment on earth. I think that is what these two characters found in each other. It took being stuck in a country on the other side of the world and a million miles from anyone who understands who you really are in order to find space for that connection. Suddenly it’s not only a language barrier that is broken down, but a soul barrier that makes everything else in the world instantly make sense. Okay, was it morally correct, no, but it was beautiful that he would reach out to her and she waited patiently for him. Sometimes being lost in a language barrier gives you an island for reflection. Loved this movie.