SOMEWHERE
US, 2010, 97 minutes, Colour.
Stephen Dorff, Elle Fanning, Chris Pontius, Michelle Monaghan.
Directed by Sofia Coppola.
Somewhere could have been called Anywhere or even Nowhere. The writer-director is best known for her Oscar-winning screenplay for Lost in Translation. This screenplay is just about someone who is lost.
There is an emotional problem with Somewhere, in identifying with the central character, your average film star, Jack (played with a blend of conviction in his performance and the lack of conviction required of his character by Stephen Dorff who has himself been around for a long time in the movies). Jack is not the kind of celebrity you would be eager to meet. He does the expected PR things, but there is a hollowness underneath this tinselly behaviour. We would not be satisfied if we were to spend time in his company. He is too shallow and too self-centred.
Sofia Coppola has set herself a very difficult task: how to make an interesting film centred on an uninteresting character. She has not always succeeded but, if we are willing, we can make allowances for that because she is showing the US movie industry and its hoo-ha and its potential for destroying those who are lost in it. As the daughter of Francis Ford Coppola, and appearing in some of his films, she has a fair amount of background to draw on. And what she brings up for her film is not exactly flattering.
But, what she does do is introduce a character to be interested in, Jack's eleven year old daughter. She is played effectively and interestingly by Elle Fanning. She is a young girl of imagination, has quite some poise (but she does not come across as a mini-adult as her sister, Dakota, did in so many films at that age and even younger) and really loves and is devoted to her father, no matter what. There are many scenes between father and daughter, even meals and cooking while he is carrying on with some woman or other. His wife has walked out on him.
While Jack is caught up wherever Somewhere is, we do see a lot of what is expected of the star: appearances and smiles for fans, supplying copy for interviews, spending lots of time in make-up (and being still for the setting of a face mask), being whisked off to the media rounds in Italy, especially for appearing on idiotic Italian TV shows and required to perform inanely, and relying on minders. Then he has a lot of free time where he presumes he must go womanising. Be with friends, hangers-on, surrounded by people who ultimately couldn’t care less about him.
There is a lot that is admirable in the making of and the performances for Somewhere but, maybe it couldn't, it doesn't completely grab attention or feelings.
1. A film by Sofia Coppola? The Golden Lion in Venice?
2. The director, her family, her experience of Hollywood, sharing her experiences, observing other Hollywood families?
3. The title, the style, vague and wandering? The visual style, slow, unfussy? The variety of critical responses, for and against?
4. The portrait of Johnny Marco, Stephen Dorff and his screen presence and performance? The opening, driving his black Ferrari, his status in Hollywood, star, his career, celebrity, the experience of the divorce? Media attention? Living at the Chateau Marmont, his lifestyle, promoting his new film, the variety of appearances, interviews, award ceremonies?
5. His private life, his friendship with Sammy, sharing the experiences? The driving, his drinking, pills, the casual sex, the range of women, the pole dancers¦?
6. Cleo arriving, Elle Fanning and her screen presence, her age, living with her mother, preparing to go to summer camp?
7. Johnny, with Cleo, the beginnings of his change, her accompanying him on his activities, the trip to Milan, the experience of Italy, the celebrity, the TV show? Johnny beginning to reassess his life?
8. Cleo going to camp, Johnnie phoning his ex-wife, his admitting his faults, tears, her not responding to his confession?
9. The end, leaving the Chateau Marmont, driving away, stopping, walking from the car, his smile, to what?
