Somewhere, someone is killing someone else for making them sit through Somewhere - Sophia Coppola's latest piece of mastery. That someone was not me, nor my friends murdering me, although they weren't overly impressed. I am of the breed which enjoys the drawn-out, real-time, almost uneventful plot line - the style many of Coppola's films (Lost in Translation, Marie Antoinette, Virgin suicides) fall in line with. Her focus on characterization and emotional development in relation to the protagonists, forces you to wear their shoes and connect with them even if you're not sure what it is your connecting with or what exactly they are thinking. Said emotional topics projected are mostly broad, like loneliness, unhappiness, lost on a search for meaning or self discovery - notions everyone at one time or another has experienced to some degree. Her subjects are usually rich/famous icons who have the world at their fingertips, just don't know what to do with it, except alienate themselves into their current state of misery. Her films often test our patience to sit and view life in realistic time frames (prime example the opening scene with the Ferrari circling the race track 10 + times). Her soundtracks often play a colossal role in Coppola's iconic stylization and although this particular film, as Coppola said in a Pitchfork interview, she wanted the music to be highly realistic, which it was, without a focus on being hip, which it wasn't. She wanted it to be believable rather than a stand alone soundtrack. Her choice of 'You only Live Once' by The Strokes for the trailer was a profound decision - definitely grabbed my attention to see the film in the first instance. She's also notorious for leaving you hanging with so many unresolved issues and unanswered questions. What did Bill whisper to Scarlet in Tokyo at the end of Lost in Translation? Where is Stephen Dorff headed and who is going to re possess his beautiful vehicle? As the viewer, Sophia gives us such a great deal of freedom to interpret her films with our own minds and ideas, and even when I leave the theatre slightly confused, I feel content that Scarlet knows Bill loves her and she impacted his life so greatly and they will meet again someday, and Stephen will discover happiness and become a better father to Elle, because after all it's love and family that triumph all. Maybe it's my hopeful positivity or my need to believe that everything will work out in the end... And maybe I should be more of a realist - but films are my escape and why not leave the theatre feeling better than when you walked into it? And I will leave you to ponder that - Sophia Coppola style.
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