Some time in the late 90s I bought a Milkfed beanie, which didn't suit me and my small head at all and was hence worn about twice, but was nonetheless treasured. Because I'm pretty sure Sofia Coppola and I are twin souls.
I love everything this woman does. First job? Chanel intern. Ex-husband? Spike Jonze. Current boyfriend? French new wave rock star who's best mates with Daft Punk. Home? Paris. If I were to make movies I would cast Kirsten Dunst and Bill Murray in them too. So I feel confident in saying that were we to meet for a milkshake, we'd click.
I love everything this woman does. First job? Chanel intern. Ex-husband? Spike Jonze. Current boyfriend? French new wave rock star who's best mates with Daft Punk. Home? Paris. If I were to make movies I would cast Kirsten Dunst and Bill Murray in them too. So I feel confident in saying that were we to meet for a milkshake, we'd click.
I would get (most of) the fawning out the way and start by telling her that she is my favourite director, and not to pay attention to the people who say her movies are vapid and superficial. These are the people who do not understand the inherent value in aesthetics. Her imagery looks like memories, drawing out your own and thus making each film entirely personal to the viewer, and leaving it up to them to construct their own meaning from what they see.
I think a lot of the naysayers are probably boys too. To me, Coppola's films are about the mythology of being a girl, and what the world feels like when you are one who is lost and unsure of herself in the face of the expectations placed on you by yourself and others. The external world she presents might be sumptuous, but the films are unmistakeably about the internal world.
Although I am (still) dying to see Somewhere, in which Stephen Dorff (excellent choice, Sof) is the one who is lost, although his character is apparently an autobiographical version of Sofia.
Coppola chooses actresses who exemplify the beauty of imperfection. Much like Sofia herself, Kirsten Dunst and Scarlett Johansson are beautiful not because they are perfect, but because they are interesting to look at. It's an ordinary, off-beat beauty. The same type Chloe Sevigny and Clémence Poésy (my other two leading ladies) are possessed of. And the type Keira Knightley, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Megan Fox are not.
Her aesthetic, both on screen and off, pretty much sums up my own ideal, the DNA of which was set during that 90s New York moment populated by lo-fi heroes Chloe Sevigny, Kim Gordon, Marc Jacobs, and Harmony Korine and photographed by Juergen Teller, in which everything took on the quality of a polaroid picture, steeped in memories and childhood and reality, with wit and intelligence inherent.
This is a style executed in a plain, muted, tomboyish wardrobe of ankle grazing navy trousers and slouchy t-shirts, white Converse and round-neck sweaters and practical jackets; a fresh, innocent, un-jaded, American version of classic Parisian insouciance.
Coppola chooses actresses who exemplify the beauty of imperfection. Much like Sofia herself, Kirsten Dunst and Scarlett Johansson are beautiful not because they are perfect, but because they are interesting to look at. It's an ordinary, off-beat beauty. The same type Chloe Sevigny and Clémence Poésy (my other two leading ladies) are possessed of. And the type Keira Knightley, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Megan Fox are not.
Her aesthetic, both on screen and off, pretty much sums up my own ideal, the DNA of which was set during that 90s New York moment populated by lo-fi heroes Chloe Sevigny, Kim Gordon, Marc Jacobs, and Harmony Korine and photographed by Juergen Teller, in which everything took on the quality of a polaroid picture, steeped in memories and childhood and reality, with wit and intelligence inherent.
This is a style executed in a plain, muted, tomboyish wardrobe of ankle grazing navy trousers and slouchy t-shirts, white Converse and round-neck sweaters and practical jackets; a fresh, innocent, un-jaded, American version of classic Parisian insouciance.
