Sofia Coppola presented at the Venice Film Festival in September Her new feature film ‘Priscilla’ was inspired by the life of Priscilla Presley. It will be released in the United States on November 3 and here in early January. The arrival of the eighth film coincides with the following period: 20th anniversary of one of his most important films, ‘Lost in Translation’ (2003), which won its first and only Oscar (in the screenplay category).
That same year, London-based publisher MACK published the book. ‘Sofia Coppola Archive’A deluxe volume of approximately 500 pages that reviews the author’s career, based on personal materials: photographs, collages, interpreted scripts, sketches, effects…And in March, Japanese clothing chain UNIQLO launched a collection of t-shirts inspired by his films (with the 1998 short film ‘Lick the Star’) to celebrate 25 years since the beginning of his career.
This was also the year the filmmaker found a way to share her work and the things she loves on Instagram (@sofiacoppola). It may seem anecdotal, and perhaps it is, but it is still intriguing that last year he opened a profile on a social network whose more artistic and friendly side seems to have been invented by him. Not hard Imagine the Lisbon sisters’ Instagram profiles From ‘The Virgin Suicides’ or the Austrian Princess in ‘Marie Antoinette’ (2006). If there is one director who shines and shines especially this year, it is Sofia Coppola.
Although they are two very different directors, similar things happen with the director of ‘The Virgin Suicides’ (1999). WesAnderson. Today, no one need believe that these are two very important and influential filmmakers who are vital to understanding the cinema of the last decades. But both create equal passion and rejection. This is not a hostile rejectionand each has their own reasons for connecting or not connecting with a filmmaker. But in both cases, the arguments against their films usually have to do with the aesthetics of the universes they propose.
Since her debut film, ‘The Virgin Suicides,’ Sofia Coppola has relied on uncompromising beauty to tell her stories, no matter how difficult. sophisticated and aesthetic style in some cases he flatters the ads with pride. Let’s also remember that he directed advertisements for brands such as. Dior, Calvin Klein, Marni or Marc Jacobs whose universes and aesthetics are not too far removed from what he suggests in his films.
It’s completely understandable that not everyone is willing to tolerate this shameless aestheticism, this celebration of beauty. Even less in such a gray gift. Most of his films are not set in the world of the rich (although he is very critical of them: ‘The Bling Ring’, for example). But doing so and enjoying it means entering a filmmaker’s universe. twenty-five years ahead of many problems and concerns what defines today’s cinema, especially (though not exclusively) when it is directed by women. With the difficulty of finding a place for yourself as a woman (‘Virgin Suicides’ from 1999, although there is no equality today, it was a utopia then) and on top of that the ‘nepo baby’: no matter how many opportunities your lineage offers you, You have to be very brave to be Francis Ford Coppola’s daughter and devote yourself to cinema.
It is very difficult to synthesize the findings of a filmography that spans decades. This is just an experiment. Coppola has never doubted the need and necessity to create female characters (from teenagers in ‘The Virgin Suicides’ to thirty-somethings in ‘On the Rock’). Or why was there explain them well, engage them, and uncover their complexities and what makes them happy and unhappy on an intimate and structural level.
It is not absurd to debut with a film that also speaks with great clarity, ‘The Virgin Suicides’, adapted from Jeffrey Eugenides’ novel. female desire and sexuality (themes that today’s filmmakers return to the big screen) and an oppressive environment that punishes and castrates them. The effects of this pressure are constant in his work, where it explodes and emerges frequently in different ways. through the idea of imprisonment: ‘The Virgin Suicides’, ‘The Seduction’ or ‘Marie Antoinette’. In the latter he also set a precedent in a very specific and imitated way. Rereading history: Breaking with idealized visions of female characters in history.
Sofia Coppola has some things too pioneer of automatic editingIt is an area that some people observe with disdain, but which has played a key role in both cinema and literature in recent years. The filmmaker has never said his films are autobiographical, but you don’t have to piece together much to see Coppola in the protagonists of ‘Lost in Translation,’ ‘On the Rocks,’ or ‘Somewhere.’
In the latter, one of his best films, he said: Communication problems between an 11-year-old girl (Elle Fanning) and her father (Stephen Dorf), a Hollywood actor in crisis. He created a female character that will once again be remembered, one that explores ideas from his filmography (this time including being locked up in the legendary Chateau Marmot Hotel), and thirteen years ago he opened the door to another topic of our time: new models of fatherhood. The surface of Sofia Coppola’s cinema is satin, but inside there are giant steps that open many doors.