January 10, 2011: Somewhere
We’re into that time of year when Oscar buzz is in the air, and the potential contenders are lining up and trying to position themselves for recognition. The funny thing is, there’s a lot of stark disagreement about whether any particular film may be brilliant or total crap, and Somewhere is the perfect embodiment of that conflict. The reality in most of these films seems to be uneven implementation or incomplete ideas leading to justified three-out-of-five ratings for a bunch of these so-called best of 2010 films.
Somewhere is the fourth feature film written and directed by Sofia Coppola, the daughter of famed director Francis Ford Coppola and a quirky but genuine artist in her own right. After suffering extremely harsh criticism of her acting before she was even 20 years old as she supposedly ruined the “Godfather” film franchise in 1990, she pretty much disappeared for most of a decade before popping up with The Virgin Suicides (1999), a warped but somehow endearing portrait of a family with a half-dozen suicidal daughters. Her big break, though, came with Lost in Translation (2003), which struck a chord with the conflicted attitudes of the time and introduced Bill Murray’s newly discovered dramatic acting ability. Marie Antoinette (2006) was a period piece but still explored Coppola’s usual themes of loneliness at the core of a supposedly full life. With Somewhere, she turns the camera around and focuses the lens on the Hollywood ennui to which Coppola has been exposed for her entire life, a sentiment which is unfathomable to most of society as we see celebrities enjoying the pinnacle of popularity and wealth and all that they can bring.
The centre of this story is Johnny Marco (played by Stephen Dorff), a movie star who has it all, and yet at the same time has nothing. He drives around in wild circles in his Ferrari, orders twin strippers to his hotel room, eats room service food on a whim, is sought after at all the parties, and is in the media spotlight as he goes through the promotional cycle for his latest action film. The trouble is, Johnny finds that this life bores him to tears. He literally falls asleep even as the strippers dance. He drives his car in endless circles in the desert because where else can he go? He sits around all day playing video games with his buddy (Chris Pontius, better known as one of the Jackass crowd!) because he hasn’t thought of anything better to do. He is a reminder that the trappings of material wealth really can’t buy happiness beyond a certain point, and ironically can even diminish the excitement of things through their ease of acquisition.
Then his 11-year-old daughter (played by Elle Fanning, younger sister of Dakota) drops into his life for more than just her usual occasional perfunctory visit. Her mother has to go away for an unspecified purpose and length of time, leaving Cleo in Johnny’s care. At first they laze around as many kids do with their divorced dads, playing video games and going out to eat, with just an occasional stab at responsibility as he takes her to her figure skating practice. Soon Cleo slips into the parenting role, shunning room service to make meals from scratch and making sure Johnny gets where he’s going on time, but we’re given stark reminders that she’s still an insecure little girl, as evidenced in her disapproving glare at one of Johnny’s one night stands as she emerges from the bedroom one morning to a feast created by Cleo. This forced closeness with another person who is significant to him makes Johnny realize how empty his life is, but he doesn’t know what to do about it other than to try to pursue the newfound meaning in his life. This leads to a perhaps well-intentioned but awkward and inconclusive ending.
Coppola is known for long, quiet scenes and Somewhere pushes even this style to an extreme, with repetitive actions and long stretches with little or no dialogue. The “real work” of stardom is shown as Johnny navigates through vapid press conferences and TV appearances, sits through the long slow process of building a latex prosthetic model of his face for special effects purposes, and deflects eager youngsters hounding him at parties trying to get him to read their scripts. The iconic images of Los Angeles, from those tall palm trees to the famed Chateau Marmont hotel with its population of Beautiful People, allow for the undeniable allure of the lifestyle to clearly show while at the same time forcing the perception of its reality down to earth. It can certainly be argued with some merit that Somewhere is an incomplete film, not to mention boring at times, but it’s those long takes which permit the time to reflect on just how much TIME there is in life, and how long it can seem when there’s nothing meaningful going on. I found the overall message to be coherent even if the execution is muddled at the end. Somewhere isn’t for everyone, but it’s worth trying.
Thoughtful if slow meditation on stardom.
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