Sofia Coppola’s latest film is an emotional roadtrip, dragging us through a curious Hollywood limbo searching for a connection to something to make sense of the strange world we are in. We’ve been here before with Coppola, and we’ve passed many signposts to Somewhere on the way.
Stephen Dorff plays a successful actor who, much like Bill Murray’s vacant Bob Harris in Coppola’s Lost in Translation, drifts through the press conferences and photocalls for his movies in a daze, falling asleep as pole dancers twirl for him at the foot of his hotel bed. His seemingly permanent stay at the famous Chateau Marmont on Sunset Boulevard is as far from luxurious as can be imagined. Early in the film we see Dorff’s Johnny Marco stumble through conversations and meetings without any connection to anyone or anything, the droning soundtrack occasionally finds a harmony and only when Marco’s eleven year old daughter turns up to stay does he begin to engage.
The pace of the film is slow, it will turn some people off and there was a division amongst both critics and audiences when the film was released last year. I like Coppola’s films so found a lot to engage me here. I can’t remember the last time Stephen Dorff was this good, the narrative is confident and knowing, the low-key nature of the performances suit the film undeniably and there are moments, as there are in all of Coppola’s films, when the erratic nature of the scenes find a perfect plateau in a sustained moment and the film exhales and we realise that we’ve been on track the whole time.
Elle Fanning, as Marco’s daughter, is charming and capable beyond her years, the two make a convincing and engaging leading team. The film isn’t obvious and it’s not easy, but this is its strength. While the naysayers will fill the silences and empty moments with accusations of pretentiousness there’s nothing of the sort of here. Coppola tells the story confidently with a knowing and well translated connection to the material and that is why the film works.
The Making Of featurette has its heart in the right place and manages to borrow from the tone of the film but not offering too many concrete answers to how and why the film came to be, but peppers its 17 minute running time with enough location footage and contributions from Coppola and cast to make it a worthwhile companion piece. A commentary would have been nice but the fact that the film is so personal to the director makes a sit-down explanation of why each scene or character was important a redundant exercise, it would be like underlining a word twice.
Fans of Coppola will love it, her critics will find their misgivings redoubled, I enjoyed it, with a reservation about the final shot, and I have a feeling you might too.
Film: [Rating:4/5]
Disc: [Rating:2/5]
Somewhere is out on DVD now.
