The final scene in Sofia Coppola’s “Lost in Translation” is the emotional farewell between unhappy movie star Bob Harris (Bill Murray) and lonely newlywed Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson), who become very close due to their shared alienation in Tokyo.

The scene commences with Harris riding in a taxi, with hardly any audible sound. Suddenly, however, when he opens his door upon noticing Charlotte nearby, he lets in the loud buzzing common of a street in a major metropolis. This is an example of the power of sound perspective, as the noise that Harris is greeted by when he opens the door exists while he is in the car, but we do not hear it until he becomes a part of that space. The volume is consistent as he walks toward Charlotte, but changes drastically once they meet face to face.

Once Murray states, “Hey, you,” and hugs Charlotte, the sound dims perceptibly to the point that it is almost nonexistent outside of Murray and Charlotte's bubble. He pulls Charlotte close and whispers something in her ear that is purposefully low and muddled so that the audience can only infer what he might be saying. The audience assumes that this is perhaps the most important, and certainly the most intimate, line in the film, which makes Coppola’s decision to have Harris whisper it all the more interesting.

As they remain locked in each other’s arms in the middle of the street, the surrounding street noise is considerably lower than it was when Harris and Charlotte first walk towards one another, though the environment has not changed. Coppola has dulled the background noise to create a more intense feeling of intimacy at the expense of realism.

As Harris walks away from Charlotte, the noises in the background appear to be almost blurred, especially the voices. As he says goodbye for the last time, “Just Like Honey” by The Jesus and Mary Chain plays, the first non-diegetic sound in the scene. When Murray reenters the taxi, the city sounds are again cut off entirely as he ponders the gravity of his final encounter with Charlotte.