Russh Magazine

Who can resist this? Four Sofia Coppola films over four days at ACMI in Melbourne. The consistently strong, sympathetic and complex females who lead these films are so very real and each straddles naivety and wisdom in a way which isn’t intimidating, only intoxicating and always a little mysterious. For me, each of her films takes me back to a specific period of my life and it is one I remember with absolute clarity. 

I saw The Virgin Suicides when I had just finished school. I fell in love with Kirsten Dunst and Josh Hartnett and for that reason, immediately wanted to kiss a boy in a car to a Heart song. The AIR soundtrack was haunting. Because of my new fascination with Sofia Coppola, I discovered Milk Fed and in fact all Japanese clothing and it opened up a whole new creative universe whose members were also Mike Mills and Spike Jonze. 

Lost in Translation sparked a Roxy Music passion. I listened to More than This 100 times a day and hungered to wear a pink wig. There were so many stars of that film, Japan being the biggest and it only enhanced my already brewing Japan-obsession. Bill Murray epitomised everything I wanted in life, having just finished university and about embark on a career in ‘the film industry’. No film made me more excited about this step into the unknown. 

Marie Antoinette was much better than everyone said and it refreshed me in a particularly cynical moment. In this sympathetic take of the ill-fated Austrian Royal, it had music I loved in the early 2000s, like The Strokes and New Order (in fact, I still like that music) and the original Sofia muse in Kirsten Dunst having an awkward relationship with Jason Schwartzman. It also bought to life Ladurée cakes, pastel colour schemes and the importance of love beyond an heir. 

Somewhere is about life and love lost, then a life and love found between father (Stephen Dorff) and daughter (a very special Elle Fanning). It is simple, quiet, and the Golden Lion winner at the Venice Film Festival in 2010. I watched this for the first time at the end of a difficult relationship and this love letter sparked the final nails in the coffin for that – it reminded me of the importance of simplicity. It also really made me want to make macaroni and cheese. Which I did, in bulk. 

ACMI presents Sofia Coppola On Film from 23 February – 27 February, 2012.