Release date (UK) – 10th December
Certificate (UK) – 15
Country – USA
Directors – Sofia Coppola
Runtime – 98 mins
Starring – Stephen Dorff, Elle Fanning, Chris Pontius
Somewhere is Sofia Coppola’s fourth directorial outing. Sharing notable similarities in tone, style and plot with her hit film Lost in Translation it is understandable that some might be sceptical about this film’s prospects; fears being that it might prove to be Coppola’s aim to repeat her greatest success – thus not leaving much room for originality.
Although there are indeed some very strong parallels between the two films, such as situational comedy hinged on the seemingly odd habits of foreign cultures (here the Italians, and in Lost in Translation the Japanese), rest assured that this is no strained attempt by Coppola to repeat her former glory.
Somewhere focuses on the character of Johnny Marco (Stephen Dorff), a famous Hollywood actor who is living the idealised lifestyle; he has all of the women he could want, a fancy car, is an adored Hollywood actor, and yet he isn’t happy, finding his life unsatisfying and lacking meaning in every respect, bar his relationship with his daughter Cleo (Elle Fanning), whom he has been guilty of neglecting for much of her life.
The unfulfilling cycle that Marco lives out (jumping from woman to woman, partying frequently, publicising his films and clearly not enjoying it, and so on) is represented beautifully from the first shot of the film by what serves as a continuing motif here – a Ferrari. The film opens with a partial shot of a circular road, on which Marco drives his Ferrari around repeatedly (what seems like many times); clearly representing the cyclical nature of his life at this point in time and the fact that it is leading nowhere – he just keeps returning to the same point. This is a very long and drawn out shot, which you could see was already causing some boredom among the audience, but it does serve to set the tone perfectly for what the rest of the film will be like. Coppola very often lingers on a single shot (sometimes on something vaguely interesting – a set of twins’ pole dancing routine, on Cleo resting her head on her father’s shoulder – and sometimes of not much at all – on the two of them sunbathing) for a very long time, which will likely split audience opinions in two; those who feel that Coppola is superb at timing – at making great points with these shots and knowing just how long to leave it before finally cutting away, so as not to labour the point, and those who find them bore-inducing and unnecessary.
The Ferrari motif that represents Marco’s current lifestyle is revisited later on many times, most notably with Marco abandoning the car and walking away from it at the end of the film; representative of him walking away from his unfulfilling lifestyle and presumably towards the choice to spend more time with the only thing that truly holds any real meaning for him - his daughter.
Another successfully subtle and brilliant Coppola moment here is the way in which the most important line of the film is delivered; Marco says something to the effect of “I’m sorry I haven’t been around” to his daughter, who is several feet away leaning out of a car window, but behind Marco a helicopter has started up and the sound the blades cause considerably drowns out Marco’s words, invoking a puzzled response from Cleo, leaving us unsure of whether she heard him (or perhaps read his lips) or not, and wondering whether Marco chose this moment to apologise on purpose, due to cowardice, since he knew that his words would likely be drowned out.
Elle Fanning gives the best performance out of the cast here, proving her as wonderful a young actress as her sister, Dakota Fanning. Dorff is also excellent and even Chris Pontius (of Jackass fame) is well cast here, in a very funny and likeable role. Michelle Monaghan and Benicio Del Toro also put in turns that are extremely brief but still very welcome.
The comedy here (and there is great deal) is mostly successful, if sometimes coming across as a bit strained. Coppola again successfully draws decent comedy out of the juxtaposition of two foreign cultures, and also again mocks the ridiculousness of backstage and public situations that actors must go through in order to publicise their films.
This is another subtle and understated masterpiece of Coppola’s, about one man’s internal struggle to find meaning in his life. Just be warned: not all Coppola fans are likely to come out of the cinema thinking so – there have been some negative responses by fans to this film, and indeed the clapping at the end of this screening seemed a little half hearted, as though some were unsure of whether it truly deserved applause. This is likely simply due to the film taking subtlety, a downplayed nature, and a lack of events to extremes (if Lost in Translation sceptics thought nothing happened in that film, wait until they see Somewhere). Just retain an open mind, notice the elegant of motifs and expert script structure, and don’t expect to see that Coppola magic in quite the same form as you probably know and love here.
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