Somewhere (2010)

A million films revolve around the existential agony of the beautiful and rich. In some ways, Sofia Coppola's Somewhere is one of these film. This is a problem. Boo-hoo, how hard it is to rich, how painful it is to find pleasure in a world where everything is not for sale. Then the moment of soul-searching, the moment of Epiphany, is due. How shallow is the affluent life & love is all that counts, really. Well, uh-huh. Coppola's film still has many merits. Few other directors share her knack for depicting locations, locations in which not much happens, people just ... hang around. As her other film, Somewhere is an investigation of boredom in its many form. A few examples: moviestar watches a lengthy pole dance appearance in his hotel suite. The sound of dexterous hands against the metal pole. After the show, the pole dancers queitly fold the poles and walk away. (In a scene a while later, we see an unnerving resemblance with the pole-dancers in the movie star's daughter's ice-skating performance and her father's bland response.) Movie star sits in a make-up room, about to be transformed for a movie appearance. His face is covered with a thick layer of white grease. For many minutes, we see him sitting still, only the nostrils are moving. Movies star & movie star's eleven-year old daughter kill time with a game of Guitar hero. It's in scenes like this, with very little dialogue, or no dialogue at all, that the strenght of the movie lies. I repeat my overall impression of Coppola's ouevre: when it comes to atmosphere, she is the master. Somewhere is a good film. It is not a perfect film, far from it. At some moments, redemption seems too close at hand. Forgiveness becomes clichéd. But the clichés never have the upper hand. The movie is most of all a quiet and subdued affair. Drama is played out is what remains unstated, and not in lengthy, quasi-philosophical dialogue. That is something the world should be thankful for. What we need least of all right now is quasi-philosophical mumbo-jumbo uttered by animated actors. I prefer Coppola's subtlety a million times to that.