Last week we talked about Claudia Weill for our Female Filmmaker spotlight. She is a little less known than today's spotlight on a celebrated director from a celebrated film family. Let's talk about the one and only Sofia Coppola!
Sofia Coppola was determined to set herself apart from her father, but not in an annoying way. She was simply set on being a director with her own style and she has definitely proven herself with award-winning, thought-provoking films that have also delivered some of the most beautiful nude scenes that we have seen in modern movies. In fact, if there was one thing I could say about Coppola's films it's that they are beautiful. They are all aesthetically gorgeous as they also tell detailed and complex stories about human behavior. Let's get started talking about Sofia, starting with the movie that really put her on the map: The Virgin Suicides.
A lot of children grow up in Hollywood with famous parents. But not a lot of children have parents who made some of the unrefuted best films of all time like Sofia did. Those are big shoes to film! That's why it may have been sort of surprising to see the movie that began it all with how subtle, intricate and chilling it was all at once. Originally, she was interested in fashion, but when she made her first short film in 1998 called Lick the Star, she became hyper-focused on making movies because it combined beauty with storytelling. Again, Coppola's films are about beauty!
The Virgin Suicides brings beauty by telling a story of sheltered sisters, all with all-American good looks. The movie stars Kirsten Dunst whom she would work with again in Marie Antoinette. The film was adapted from a novel and Coppola says that reading the novel is what made her determined to become a director. She has said, "I really didn't know I wanted to be a director until I read The Virgin Suicides and saw so clearly how it had to be done." The film beautifully plays with memory as people recount what happened to the sisters and talk about the ways in which this story has affected them years later. Seeing Kirsten Dunst basking in the summer sun in her bikini is bound to have a lasting effect on anyone.
In 2003, she made Lost in Translation which is a fascinating story about loneliness. Two ex-pats are living in Tokyo, struggling to communicate with the bustling Japanese city, and they wind up finding solace in one another. Scarlett Johansson stars as the hot young wife of a hipster photographer who is too busy to really notice how bored his wife is in the marriage. She meets Bill Murray at the hotel bar and the two begin a beautiful friendship. While you often wonder "will they or won't they" as you watch the movie, I definitely appreciate that they never do. It's a complex study on loneliness and companionship, but Sofia doesn't leave us with blue balls. She does show off Scarlett in her undies, doing the impossible task of making granny panties sexy.
Marie Antoinette was a huge undertaking. This biopic about the infamous Austrian Queen of France who was misattributed with dismissing the crisis in her country by saying "let them eat cake" managed to infuse history with glamour. Coppola and crew were allowed to film in Versailles giving the setting rare hyper-realism despite all the unique tweaks that Coppola gave this story. This is an interesting film because it has only gained popularity and acclaim over time, making it a bit of a cult classic but it was definitely polarizing upon its initial release. Some of the critiques of the movie at the time have not aged well in that they dismiss this brightly-colored, frilly film as over-the-top fluff - a critique that can sound a little misogynistic. What were they mad at? The use of pink and lace? Calm down! Critiques like that completely miss the point! Coppola used these colorful baroque aesthetics to show how removed the queen's life of luxury was from the common people's plight. She also modernized a lot of style elements, including the soundtrack, to make this story more relatable to modern viewers and humanize the queen's story. A biopic about Versailles is not necessarily a sexy pitch to young viewers in 2006, so she had to take some liberties. She definitely pulls this endeavor off! She also pulls off showing how in-over-her-head the young queen was at first with a rather funny scene that shows several attendants dressing the queen for the day. This is also where we get the opportunity to see Dunst's domes and her derriere.
2010's Somewhere is probably her most "Hollywood movie" despite being her less well-known. It tells the story of a jaded actor who reconnects with his estranged daughter while also giving us A LOT of nude scenes. Laura Ramsey, C.C. Sheffield, Kristina Shannon, Nicole Trunfio, and Karissa Shannon all show off their bodies from topless scenes to stripper poles. I think this is absolutely intentional. In making a movie that shows how Hollywood actors can be incredibly irresponsible to their friends and family, she manages to show a series of "irresponsible" behaviors using sex and nudity. The sex and nudity serve to show how removed this aging party boy's life is from that of his daughter's who just wants a normal dad. Do we detect any hints of Sofia's own childhood in this story? Coppola has never copped to that, but critics raved about this film. Ebert said after watching it: "Coppola is a fascinating director. She sees, and we see exactly what she sees." This tender, slice-of-Hollywood-life film had a lasting impact on Hollywood professionals who tend to love movies and movies. Or maybe it's all of the smoking hot topless babes that they love so much? I know that's what did it for me. After all, you can't make a movie about Hollywood without showing how sexy Hollywood really is.
And now for a totally different film: The Bling Ring. This 2013 teen film was based on a true story and showed off Emma Watson's grown-up talents. The movie was intended for younger audiences as it brought-to-life Beverly Hills teens who use their internet sleuthing skills to track down celebrities in order to break into their houses when they aren't home. The movie is a little excessive in ways that Marie Antoinette was, showcasing the gaudy and materialistic. There is nothing subtle about this movie which is part of the point. These teens want an over-the-top, luxurious life to find fulfillment and will stop at nothing to get it. While adults didn't seem to love this movie, the younger generation absolutely did and The Bling Ring has gone on to be a cult classic. It's also one of the rare films that shows Emma Watson in her underwear. The girls in this movie only ever show up in their undies, but there's a power to that. They know what people want from them. They know that they are young and beautiful, so they withhold showing what everyone wants to keep us watching. It all feels very tactical.
Her most recent film, On the Rocks, brought Bill Murray back as Rashida Jones' father. This tender father-daughter story is about a wealthy playboy dad who wants to help her daughter with her struggling marriage by making sure his son-in-law isn't cheating. Who could cheat on Rashida?! This father-daughter movie felt like one of her more grownup endeavors and that could be because there was barely any nudity in the movie. Rashida shows her underwear when she dives into a swimming pool wearing her wedding veil, but that's it. That's probably a good thing that she didn't get too sexually explicit in a father-daughter movie. She wouldn't want to get Hollywood talking!
So those are her films that have sexy scenes and it is interesting to note that none of these movies have explicit sex scenes. Instead, Coppola uses sexiness to show one of two things: power and responsibility. Marie Antoinette and The Bling Ring are probably the best examples because they combine both things. She also tends to play with showing skin when her subjects are young, implying a certain sexual prowess that her characters hold and how much power they have in flirting with fewer clothes. Somewhere has by far the most nudity of any of her films and it is all used to showcase the irresponsible lifestyles that people can escape into in Hollywood. All of her nudity serves a purpose. All of it is symbolic and meaningful and that is part of what makes Sofia Coppola one of the best directors of our time. I really believe that! If you have any doubts, then just watch Kirsten Dunst undress:
