Revised Sofia Blog

A Hollywood Dynasty

            As we have learned there have been great women directors throughout history, but more specifically in recent years. They range from, Penny Marshall, to Jodie Foster, to Barbra Streisand, to one of my favorites Sofia Coppola. Coppola, a new and young addition to this league of women, has directed four major studio movies, including “The Virgin Suicides,” “Lost in Translation,” “Marie Antoinette,” and her latest film “Somewhere.” Her young career has been one of hits and misses. She hit critical acclaim with her first two films “Virgin” and “Lost,” the latter being in my top five all time favorite films. Sofia Coppola speaks to a younger, hipper, and perhaps slightly lost generation. Her films reflect a playful femininity and yet a quiet sadness that I feel speaks to my generation, especially to women. She includes current trends into classic stories that make young audiences eager to watch her work.

            Sofia began her career as an actress, or rather the daughter of a major director (Francis Ford Coppola). At the age of 11, she took the stage name “Domino” and appeared in a few unknown films, along with her infamously panned performance in her father’s film “The Godfather III.” This sense of a lack of identity, during this time her life, may have transitioned into the common thread we all see in her work today. She transitioned into the role of director in 1996 with her first short “Bed, Bath and Beyond,” which focuses on a “British bombshell,” who is desperate for her husband to cast her in his film as a pop star. Her next short “Lick the Star,” came in 1998 and centers on a group of young school girls who devise a secret devious plan. Her studio feature debut came in the form of “The Virgin Suicides,” based on the book by Jeffery Eugenides. Her father played a key role in landing her the job at Paramount Classics (Paramount’s mini-major studio division), by coming on board as an executive producer. The choice proved successful for Coppola, earning her major critical acclaim. Her next film, “Lost in Translation” (2004) was a huge critical success and earned her an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. With “Translation,” she also became the youngest and first American women ever to be nominated for Best Director. (IMDB.com).

(Tagline: "Everyone wants to be found.")

            It seemed as though Coppola was on top of the world and could do no wrong in the eyes of critics and the public, until the release of “Marie Antoinette,” which received very mixed reviews. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festive, where several members of the audience booed during parts of the film, yet it still received a standing ovation at the end. Is it true that once a director turns out one or two acclaimed films, they have a get-out-of-jail free card for a few misses? I would hope not. Excuses like that, do no one any good, especially the director themselves. Sofia’s work has seemed to center solely on women and their struggle to find themselves, until her latest film, “Somewhere.” The 2010 film, focuses on a rebellious jaded actor who becomes reunited with his young daughter. A similar theme exists in “Translation,” with actor Bill Murray playing a burnt-out aging actor lost in his own life and also the city of Tokyo. It will be interesting to see how Coppola let’s us peak into the life of another male or will we see mostly through the eyes of the female lead (Elle Fanning)?

            It doesn’t take a close look to see the theme of daughter and father in most of her work. It was rumored that “Translation” was a true story about her and the films star Bill Murray. The two differ in age by more than 30 years, Electra Complex anyone?  Growing up as the daughter of one of Hollywood’s “film school brats” can’t be easy and the thread of privileged women searching for themselves exits in all of her films.

Her cinematography is one of her trademark assets, with diffused light and hand-held shots that make you feel present in every one of her picturesque moments. Coppola is a director that makes us feel visually, allowing us as the audience to feel present in every frame of her work. The simplest, quietest moments powerfully penetrate our consciousness, turning a moving image into moving art, that can make you cry with only the slightest flicker of emotion on one of her character's faces.

I think an important thing to consider in regard to Sofia's career is whether she would be at the point she is without the nepotism granted to her by her father. Many other female directors struggle for years without a “Hollywood royalty” support system. Other female directors such as Penny Marshall have also been given opportunities due to the incestuous nature of Hollywood. We must consider the other female directors we have learned about, who didn't have it as easy, especially the African-American ones such as, Kasi Lemmons and Neema Barnette. This insinuation on my part does not mean I am discrediting her work, I think she is for the most part a fantastic director, but we need to consider the other female directors who have had to pull their way up rung by rung, who don't have a father that can green-light a studio movie by merely attaching his name as an executive producer. I understand the perspective of having to make it on your own without a Hollywood family support system by your side. With characters, that don't really have jobs, or missions of any real substance, they all seem to just be drifting though their lives, perhaps as Sofia was before she found her calling as a director. Sofia's privileged upbringing is also a theme that flows through most of her work. Sofia's privileged upbringing is also a theme that flows through most of her work. With characters, that don't really have jobs, or missions of any real substance, they all seem to just be drifting though their lives, perhaps as Sofia was before she found her calling as a director.

            Her much anticipated film, “Somewhere”, will be released later this year and only time will tell if her follow-up to the disappointing “Antoinette” will sit well with audiences and critics. But at the end of the day, Sofia is a director that makes studio movies that feel like independent films. They lift us up, and push us down, all while making us wonder what we would do if we were in the shoes of one of her characters. In fact, much of her storytelling is done in moments where no one aside from one character is present, allowing you to feel you are sitting in that taxi with Bill Murray gazing out at the glowing lights of Tokyo. Rather than telling us how to feel, she let’s us decide for ourselves, leaving a bit of mystery at the end of each movie. Such as in “Translation,” where Murray whispers something into Scarlett Johansson’s ear, which we the audience are not allowed privy to. It's too important of a moment to spoil with any line written by even the best director. It’s moments like this that keep us guessing what Coppola is trying to say, even in those quite moments when she isn't saying anything at all.