Sofia Coppola's The Bling Ring

People who know me know I adore Sofia Coppola's movies. I don't really have favourite filmmakers these days, but if I did, Sofia Coppola would probably be right up there. If not, at the top. First off, she made a movie of my favourite novel of all time, The Virgin Suicides, by Jeffrey Eugenides

and then she chased that with the sublime Lost In Translation, whose performances by Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson

and Kevin Shields out of reclusive retirement godly contributions to the soundtrack, stun me every time. After the lengthy wait between the fabulous Cure/ New Order scored Marie Antoinette

and the beautiful materializing polaroid of a film, Somewhere, I was somewhat thinking there would be a lengthy wait part two for a new film.
Gossip that she had acquired the film rights to Francine Prose's Goldengrove

got me excited, but then I wasn't sure about how the book would adapt.
After a short silence again, during which time all gossip about Goldengrove fizzled out, Sofia Coppola directed a new commercial for Miss Dior Cherie starring Natalie Portman

After the Dior commercial and another leg of waiting, Somewhere came out on DVD.

I appreciated Somewhere on DVD even more than I did at the cinema: it's a supreme grower: I notice different details each time I watch it. Stephen Dorff is incredible in the film: subtle incredible: the first viewing you don't get the magic of what he's doing: every viewing after that, you get it incrementally.
Thinking it was definitely now going to be a long wait until a new feature, Sofia Coppola suddenly popped up shooting the commercial and campaign stills for Marni for H&M

When the campaign broke, I loved the use of the Roxy Music track Avalon in the commercial, since Somewhere had played out to Bryan Ferry's Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, which my parents used to play endlessly on 7" when I was a child: I love such in-the-know one project to the next segues in my favourite artists' work: they're like in jokes for the fans.

At the same time as the Marni for H&M campaign broke, so did news that Coppola is gearing up to shoot her fifth feature, The Bling Ring. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film will star Emma Watson and be shot on location in Los Angeles starting this Spring.

The Hollywood Reporter also summarised the film as follows, "Based on true events that took place in Beverly Hills, the movie will tell the story of a group of fashion and fame-obsessed teens who broke into the homes of celebrities."
Sounds like the perfect theme again for Sofia Coppola: a story of characters lost at a moment in their lives. Can't wait.