by Ingrid Dané – Scene Reporter
Sofia Coppola is back with her fourth full-length film “Somewhere,” which features a man in crisis living in a world where he is made not to think, but to entertain.
The film centers on Johnny Marco (Stephen Dorff), a divorced actor who is living at the legendary Chateau Marmont hotel in Hollywood.
To escape the solitude, he drinks, has multiple flings and drives a Ferrari. Johnny drifts along without asking himself any questions.
One morning, Cleo (Elle Fanning), his 11-year-old daughter, arrives at the Chateau when Cleo’s mother leaves her with Johnny for longer than usual.
Their shared time together, the freshness of the relationship and the discovery of new responsibilities encourages Johnny to size up the situation and decide the meaning he wants to give his life.
“It’s funny; ‘Somewhere’ was a temporary title, but it just stuck,” Sofia Coppola said during an interview with Focus Features. “Since I wanted the movie to be like a tone poem of this time in this guy’s life, it reflected his knowing he needs to go somewhere — but he doesn’t know where exactly.”
The movie was shot on 35-millimeter film, rather than in high definition digital, giving the movie a unique quality and a kind of romantic feeling, according to Coppola.
“Somewhere” is different compared to movies that we are used to watching. The characters in this film seem more realistic. “Somewhere” is just about life, especially when you know that you must make a decision about how you want your life to be. I thought the plot was interesting but it was hard to figure out the true meaning of Coppola’s message. Personally, I was expecting something else, even if the father-daughter relationship was very touching.
“I like the portrayal of the relationship between Johnny and his daughter,” said Stephanie Ivec, an Arts & Sciences senior. “It was cute and you could tell he cared about her.”
In 2010, with “Somewhere,” Sofia Coppola became the first American woman (and fourth American filmmaker) to win the Golden Lion, the top prize at the Venice Film Festival.
Sofia Coppola is an American screen-writer, film director, actress and producer. In 2003 she became the third woman (and the first American woman) to be nominated for an Academy Award for directing for “Lost in Translation.”