When East Met West: Wong Kar Wai’s In the Mood for Love as an Influence on Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation Anonymous College

The quietly devastating works of Wong Kar-wai, the auteur from the east, have influenced the filmography of contemporary American directors, including Sofia Coppola. In the Mood for Love, in particular, is a reigning force of this influence. The resonance of Kar-wai’s tiring fixation on the worn and ordinary, and his dependence on a limited, but warm color palate to create both a tranquilizing calmness and urgency in fashioning the worlds in his films, creates an aesthetic that carries a depth without ever appearing contrived, and holds an indelible presence in the visual style and camerawork of Coppola’s Lost in Translation. As a viewer, being able to discriminate and identify this influence is a testament to the nature of cinema as an organic collective of works that are not limited by or characteristic of the lands or culture (for example, East versus West) in which they are produced; they’re alive and ever-changing.

Even though both films maintain a character driven narrative and isolate their two lead protagonists into warm frames of open composition that oversee moments of personal discussion between them, in atmospheres reiterating a gloomy warmth and comfort that allows them to grow closer despite the troubles that...