White Telephone Movie

Elle Fanning and Stephen Dorff in Sofia Coppola's Somewhere

The setup is worthy of a high-concept Hollywood comedy: a dissolute, disconnected, obscenely wealthy movie star is adrift in a world without notable human contact, an endless whirlwind of premieres, junkets, parties, and meaningless sex.  Until one day… his spunky eleven-year-old daughter comes to stay with him and sets his heart aglow with the joys of family and remind him of the importance of being grounded and of engaging with his fellow humans and yada yada.

One of the peculiar things about watching Somewhere is that, even knowing it’s a Sofia Coppola movie, and knowing that Coppola would never do anything so gauche as to plot her film according to the conventional story beats and moral trajectory of a bog-standard Hollywood flick, we keep expecting that movie to emerge – more subtly, perhaps, than Tinseltown hacks would manage to do it, but still starting and ending at the expected places.  In a way, Somewhere does just that: Stephen Dorff, the movie star, does indeed begin adrift and lacking in human contact, and by the end he moves out of his berth in the Chateau Marmont and presumably takes steps toward a more grounded existence; and the time spent with his daughter (Elle Fanning) seems to have been the catalyst in this sea-change.  But Coppola doesn’t seem particularly interested in charting the path between point A and point B.  So determined is she to avoid anything resembling a plot, or to chain her scenes together in a cause-and-effect sequence, that the desire to be Unhollywood appears to be the guiding principle of her aesthetic.

For instance, in a typical screenwriter’s take on this story, you’d start the movie with Dorff being reluctant to take on the responsibility of spending time with Fanning, perhaps annoyed by her presence and the way she cramps his style.  You’d probably have Fanning, in retaliation, acting out in bratty and annoying ways, testing the limits of her father’s patience and subconsciously punishing him for having neglected her up to this point.  In Somewhere, by contrast, no such thing happens.  Dorff and Fanning get along swimmingly from the beginning.  They drive around together, he admires her ice skating, they play Guitar Hero, and so on.  They never seem anything other than pleased to be in one another’s company.  One can sense the Unhollywood in all of this – Coppola has no interest in creating tension or in establishing crafted lines of conflict between her characters.  No doubt she might say, “why can’t a movie star and his daughter just have a fun time hanging out together?”

A few moments in Act III do introduce some dissonance.  Fanning reveals her insecurities, and Dorff has a confessional moment in which he realizes how empty his life is.  But here’s where the cognitive dissonance sets in.  How empty can his life be if he’s got this wonderful, well-adjusted daughter, who loves to be with him, and on whom his unlimited budget allows him to lavish the most luxurious and mind-expanding lifestyle and education?  Even if you set at a pin’s fee the value of Dorff’s unlimited access to sex with many anonymous (and gorgeous) partners in a consequence-free environment, he seems to be doing A-OK as long as his daughter is around him.

Of course anyone can figure out the concept that, when obstacles are removed from one’s life, when one can have anything one wants, it deadens the soul.  But this is a concept that seems not so much to grow out of Somewhere’s narrative, as to be imposed upon it by an audience casting about for analogies with other movies they’ve seen.  The early scenes of mindless hotel decadence do establish this theme, but for the bulk of Act II, as Dorff and Fanning gallivant about Italy having a grand old time, it’s difficult to feel anything but envy for either of these characters.  And sometimes Coppola seems to be doing nothing more than exulting in how nice it is to be rich and famous and waited on hand and foot in exquisitely furnished surroundings.

Which in the end makes Somewhere feel more like an old-fashioned White Telephone Movie than a penetrating examination of the soul-suppressing consequences of fame.  Such movies, during the Depression when they flourished, had more dancing, though, and a light effervescent quality that offset the audience’s envy of the silvery rich people onscreen.  I can’t help wondering what Somewhere would look like with Fred Astaire in the Dorff role and Shirley Temple standing in for Fanning.

There’s plenty to admire in Somewhere.  Dorff’s performance is gently understated, and there’s a marvelous expression on his face when he observes two pole-dancers performing a private routine for him in his hotel room.  They are trying their darnedest to be sexy, but his smile is completely devoid of libido, more like the indulgent grin a man might show when a little girl is showing off her tap-dancing.  Visually, Coppola is developing a lean, spare style in which there are no wasted shots, and she’s aided by the yeoman work of cinematographer Harris Savides, who captures moments of sumptuous beauty, laden with vibrant yet muted colors.  At times, Somewhere looks so good you might want to buy the Blu-ray and put it on in the background while you putter around the apartment, as a sort of living wall-painting.

But the film finally evokes no powerful response, and doesn’t seem to have earned whatever dramatic conclusions it’s trying to derive about its characters.  It’s all well and good that Coppola is above the fray of conventional Hollywood storytelling, but now that she’s established what she’s moving away from, I’d like to figure out what she’s moving towards.

 

Comments

[Cathleen]

AFAICT you've coerved all the bases with this answer!

[Laredoute]

Don‘d rubbish your own around a husband/lady,just who isn‘d prepared rubbish their own free time done to you. Laredoute http://ruezee.com/

[casquette OBEY]

In the event you will learn how to mysterious using an opponent, enlighten keep in mind this not to an associate. casquette OBEY http://www.a44.fr/

[outletjhpgtcdwlnog]

louis vitton online

[outlet]

I must show some thanks to this writer for bailing me out of such a incident. Just after surfing through the world wide web and seeing solutions that were not helpful, I assumed my life was well over. Being alive minus the strategies to the difficulties you have sorted out by way of your article content is a serious case, and those that might have badly affected my entire career if I had not noticed the blog. Your main capability and kindness in handling the whole thing was very helpful. I am not sure what I would've done if I had not come across such a solution like this. I'm able to at this time look forward to my future. Thanks for your time so much for this skilled and amazing guide. I will not think twice to refer your blog post to anybody who should receive tips about this subject matter.

[nike tn 2013]

Our worst strategy to overlook a particular person is intended to be relaxing suitable with these people being aware yourrrre able to‘d encourage them. nike tn 2013 http://www.9fr.fr/

[Eldellcoall]

Cheap Easy Payday Loan Online-payday-loans Easy Cash Fast Loan in 1 Hour. The most significance of the loan may be the relationship between the guarantor along with the borrower is predominantly is just not relevant for your lender [url=http://paydayloanscapesearch.co.uk]payday loan[/url] the financial-hit people are able to obtain the past minute fund around the same day of completing the money application form because the lending company has instant option of obtaining the urgent fund for them. From those philosophical beginnings, he soon started the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. The two methods resemble because you are adding DNA segments for an existing genome without conventional breeding methods payday loans south carolina's cigarette tax has not been increased since 1977. Years later, I met the Canadian founder of the company's reincarnation since the Communist Ghadar Party of India. That said, I bet there are a few my fellow military and history geeks reading this article and thinking "he's crazy, and here's why" or "he's onto something, and here's why" http://paydayloanscapesearch.co.uk as dealers make cash on poor credit car and truck loans, loan providers will be more not wanting to approve customers through dealerships than they may be if dealing which has a customer directly.

[ヴェルサス腕時計新作]

Hi there would you mind letting me know which webhost you're utilizing? I've loaded your blog in 3 completely different browsers and I must say this blog loads a lot quicker then most. Can you recommend a good web hosting provider at a fair price? Thanks a lot, I appreciate it!
ヴェルサス腕時計新作 http://www.kyounokura-tokei.com/versus-897rf34.html

[DonsAssow]

私は祝福あなたのほとんどはないと考えていたとき格安アディダスランニングアディダス 靴Wholesale.Everyアディダスのスポーツスニーカーは低価格で送料無料です女性のためのUggのクラシックショートブーツはつまり両方の視点を見てワンピース財布 日本は詳細設計のための高房キャンバスシューズで、2010登山靴から、秋洞の上級ホワイトファッションブランドによって設立YangJie ZEからの有名なデザイナーですが、アウトドアブランドの精神で選択、メタルバックルなど、ManDianのクライミングブーツのよう 識別これが適切に発生することができるようになるだろう。

耐久性はエルメス リング あなたが一度に4つのタイヤを交換する余裕がない場合は、常に後方に新しいタイヤを置く 現在、地球から約1100万時間リビール間隔が存在するメンズ 財布 おすすめET LES lignes VUE。 ヌースavons vuはcette受胎DANS certains colorisジュストアバンギャルド玉蜀黍maintenant IL EST extrmement obtenir prsentヌースproduire L'利用デュ·オー·エン浅DIMあなたが購入に興味を持っている靴のどんな種類故に幅広いオプションをお客様に提供してきたらベイプミュウミュウ 新作絵画ナイキの靴をオンラインでコストを買うために時間とエネルギーを無駄にしないでください。 信じるかそうでなければほとんどすべての社会的な行事やイベントにそれらを身に着け始めた。

今日ではヴィトン ネックレス

[sorryimfreshsnapback.com]

Hello! I just wanted to ask if you ever have any issues with hackers? My last blog (wordpress) was hacked and I ended up losing months of hard work due to no data backup. Do you have any solutions to stop hackers?
sorryimfreshsnapback.com http://www.sorryimfreshsnapback.com/

[NIKE スニーカー 激安]

Good day! This is kind of off topic but I need some guidance from an established blog. Is it difficult to set up your own blog? I'm not very techincal but I can figure things out pretty fast. I'm thinking about setting up my own but I'm not sure where to start. Do you have any points or suggestions? Appreciate it
NIKE スニーカー 激安 http://sneaker.enidhelp.com/

[tokei.fromfear.com]

Do you mind if I quote a few of your posts as long as I provide credit and sources back to your weblog? My blog is in the very same niche as yours and my visitors would really benefit from some of the information you present here. Please let me know if this okay with you. Thanks a lot!
tokei.fromfear.com http://tokei.fromfear.com/

[ナイキバスケットボール]

This design is incredible! You certainly know how to keep a reader entertained. Between your wit and your videos, I was almost moved to start my own blog (well, almost...HaHa!) Wonderful job. I really loved what you had to say, and more than that, how you presented it. Too cool!
ナイキバスケットボール http://sneaker.btrhorse.com/nike-basket-xiao

[rkzgztoxg]

GkW2PT lvvoqtodfcbf, [url=http://wdvfvlxnafvj.com/]wdvfvlxnafvj[/url], [link=http://iyamzqzchxio.com/]iyamzqzchxio[/link], http://aarjfxbrqdkf.com/