I don't think I have ever thought to focus on a directors works specifically enough to think about who the director is, so this assignment is a first for me. In fact, I find I hardly ever think about the director much in the first place. So much emphasis is put on the actors and their characters, it can sometimes be hard to remember that there is in fact a director behind it at all. This assignment was actually a refreshing change in thought for me.
I chose to focus on three works by Sofia Coppola. I had previously seen her work in Marie Antoinette, a movie I had sought on my own, and quite enjoyed. This gave me a basis of thought for the next two films of hers I watched, which were Somewhere and The Bling ring. I tried to pick films that seemed varied from the synopsis so I could get a better read on who she was as a writer.
From that moment a theme became abundantly clear. Even from looking at the descriptions of the movies you can see the main idea she is getting at. In each of the films I watched, there was the idea that being rich and famous was not everything in life. In Somewhere, an actor searches for himself after spending more time with his daughter. In Bling Ring, teenagers get carried away trying to gain the life and luxury of the rich and famous. They all pretty much had this common theme; it's not all it's choked up to be.
Another observation I had was that in all of the movies I watched there was a kind of jarring, unclear and somewhat melancholy ending. In Marie Antionette, she is forced to leave her home, and is eventually killed as we know because of the unrest in France. It is such a contrast to many of the other parts of the film. I believe Coppola wrote these somewhat unsatisfying endings in a way that complimented her theme very well. Not only is being rich and famous not all it's choked up to be, but it also doesn't just get better to have a perfect happy ending.
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