August 9, 2004
Princess Cinema
So Sofia Coppola’s next project will be an adaptation of a biography of Marie Antoinette. Whatever problems I have with her work, I gotta say she certainly has auteur-ish obsessions with the same themes. Rich women tucked away in tall castles, that’s her thing. Until now it has been metaphorical, but with this project it becomes literal. Rich people who do not apologize for being rich. Scarlett Johansson was tucked away in the posh penthouse of a Japanese hotel in Lost in Translation, the girls of Virgin Suicides were tucked away in their repressive family home. Women of mystery, women of privilege, inaccessible women. That is the cinema of Sofia Coppola. Even if it rubs me the wrong way sometimes, I am happy to watch a female artist developing. And I am eager to see how she treats Marie Antoinette, the most reviled rich woman in history. The biography is said to be sympathetic, and I’m sure Coppola’s treatment will be as well.
Filed by cynthia rockwell at 1:25 pm under Uncategorized
Comments Off on Princess Cinema