Sofia Coppola‘s latest film, Somewhere, won the Golden Lion for best feature at this year’s Venice Film Festival. The trailer – true to form – looks ravishing. And the song that accompanies it, ‘I’ll try anything once’ (the Strokes’ haunting demo version of ‘You only live once’) is a perfect complement.
But while I’m a fan of her picturesque settings, thoughtful pacing and eminently stylish fittings (music, clothes, actors, it’s all good) there’s something about Ms. Coppola’s favoured plotlines that niggles. Granted, I haven’t yet seen Somewhere, so I’m pretty much going by the trailer and the poster – risky. Still.
What do we know? Our two lead characters, played by Stephen Dorff and Elle Fanning, are not just ‘somewhere’. They spend their time in environments of extreme luxury. They have their every whim catered for. They bask in sunshine, swim underwater, lay about in bed ordering room-service, eating ice-cream and watching films. Sometimes, beautiful, slender, glamorous people enter their lives.
Most of the time the main protagonist is troubled – in spite (in spite!) of his luxe life. Who would have guessed it? And who would have guessed that spending ‘quality time’ (that means, basically, any time at all) with your beautiful, talented, playful daughter might make you a little bit happy?
I enjoyed Lost in Translation. I surprised myself by enjoying Marie Antoinette, quite a lot. I’m sure I will enjoy Somewhere. But my problem is: how could one not? It’s furniture porn, hotel porn, fashion porn, travel porn, all parcelled up with a cool soundtrack.
Perhaps this isn’t fair. After all, great art often comes from telling stories about the places you know best, and Coppola apparently based Somewhere partly on her own experience, travelling around hotels with her father.
And there are moments of genius: the shot of Stephen Dorff having a plaster mask made of his face is a great natural metaphor, full of pathos.
The truth is, I would really like to see Sofia Coppola, who is undoubtedly talented, make a film that isn’t set in five star surroundings. There is something so hypnotic about watching these poor rich people with their neuroses, their addiction to opulence, their everyman need to be loved. It’s fun to watch them just traverse the locations, like watching an exclusive travel show. But I’d like Coppola to challenge herself and her audience, by going somewhere that isn’t naturally beautiful, and then making us watch.
hello there,
nice trailer-review.
i saw the movie last saturday. i have to say, although the film indeed takes place in luxury surroundings, it doesn’t bring someone to dream. the hotel is just an excuse – it is there but fortunately isn’t as much present as it could have been.
i really like that movie because it manages to show the character’s boredom without boring the watcher.
and being a fan myself of “Sofia Coppola’s picturesque settings”, i loved the scene in the hotel where they are playing ping-pong / sitting by the pool etc. , so quiet & refreshing.
it is just the Coppola’s touch. It reminded me of some moments of the virgin suicides (but also on the video “is this sound okay?” from coconut records that directed Roman Coppola).
hope to read your feedback on the movie when you see it.
take care x
c.