Week 9: The Auteur Theory

This week you are to watch three movies by a particular director and to write a 500 word response discussing how the three works you chose exhibit common themes or other elements that are attributes assigned to the personality of the director as an author of the works.  (Or, alternatively, you could argue they are not an auteur or that the term "auteur" should not be applied in the critical discussion of film.)

 On Sofia Coppola's work:

I watched the following four of Sofia Coppola's films for which she is also best known for: Lost in Translation (2003), The Virgin Suicides (1999), Somehwhere (2010), and Marie Antoinette (2006). I felt that Lost in Translation, Somewhere, and Marie Antoinette shared the most similar qualities that someone could definitely tell came from the same director. As I was watching I felt as though i kept waiting for something to happen, but nothing ever did. That's because Sofia Coppola chooses to showcase and focus on the true-ness and mundane aspects of life, as opposed to only the interesting or exciting, which is not commonly shown in films. I believe this quality is specific to Coppola's directing throughout these films. 

Lost in Translation

This was the first of four of Coppola's films that I watched. I immediately understood the title of the film from watching the first scene where a japanese commercial director is trying to direct Bob Harris. His discomfort of being in a foreign country is palpable. He seems so jaded and bored of his movie star life that he barely makes an effort to try and understand the director. Sofia Coppola uses long drawn out scenes of moments that seem to last forever to heighten the feeling of mundane moments of life.

Somewhere

Somewhere was definitely not like any movie i've seen before but after watching other Coppola films I was able to understand it a little more. It shares the same elements with Lost in Translation of life being what it is and not candy coated or edited to just show the good parts. Like Lost in Translation, Somewhere focuses on a jaded actor and the in-between moments of his life that are not always glitz and glam like most people like to believe. My favorite scene is the long drawn-out and uncomfortable scene of the actor getting a mask made of his face.

Marie Antoinette

 In Marie Antoinette, Sofia Coppola puts the viewer in the Queen's shoes. From the beginning you can see the excitement and confusion in Marie Antoinette as she grows to become the Queen of France and later on hated by her people . She has all the luxuries a girl could want with the exception of a few things. 

Overall, Sofia Coppola's films share a common theme: "the grass is not always greener on the other side". She showcases the lives of people who are rich and famous and puts them under a microscope. She gives the viewer a chance to see the not-so-glamourous aspects of the glamorous lifestyle that everyone seems to want to have.