Sofia Coppola
The Fearlessly Feminine Icon of Cult Cinema
I’m shining a light on director Sofia Coppola this month to celebrate International Women’s Day and our first Belle Rebelle! A woman after my own heart..we share a love of visual storytelling, a beautiful colour palette, Marie Antoinette and Adam Ant!
But there is a lot more to discover about this gentle, stylish soul who by staying true to her femininity, her passions, her creativity, has risen gracefully above all the expectation that comes with being born into the Coppola family dynasty.
She has made a consistent flow of gorgeous, unconventional, and fearlessly feminine films.
The Teen Queen
Sophia Coppola started her career by creating a unique, more elegant version of the teen movie - from high school film-noir Lick the Star (1998) to teenage mystery The Virgin Suicides (1999) and rococo-punk Marie Antoinette (2006).
With her sensitive understanding of the complexity of girlhood, her emphasis on visual atmosphere and mood, she established herself as the most contemporary feminine voice of her generation.
In an interview on The Playlist Sofia talks about where this passion comes from:
“ I just go with what interests me. But I was really drawn to doing things that were feminine because I grew up with so many guys and in such a masculine dominated world that I guess I clung to that feminine side of myself. ”
“I had brothers and all male cousins, so it’d be me and six or eight boys and they had a louder voice. And all the filmmakers I knew were all these macho guys, so I think I was drawn to making something that was closer to my own experiences”
Sofia wanted to make films that could not only resonate with young women by telling stories from a female perspective but also respect this audience by giving them beautiful cinematography, distinctive costume design and a cool soundtrack.
She talks about how growing up she felt there were not enough films featuring young women, and if they did, the actresses were too old to play the characters, or the overall vibe was either patronizing or nostalgic.
Pretty in Pink
I must admit I can’t remember any significant teenage film character I identified with at the time - I loved the John Hughes film Pretty in Pink (1986) though, mainly because of the title song by British band The Psychedelic Furs.
It’s not surprising that Sofia is also a fan of John Hughes, her favourite being Sixteen Candles (1984).
I can see the influence, especially with the 80’s soundtrack on Marie Antoinette. But Sofia added a dreaminess and overall gorgeousness to the screen which these movies are missing, and it’s what makes her earlier work appeal to me now as an adult, in their femininity, they are timeless.
The Male Gaze
Having a feminine style and viewpoint has not excluded central male characters from Sofia’s films. In fact, in keeping with the novel by Jeffrey Eugenides, The Virgin Suicides is viewed from the perspective of the boys in the film.
It’s a story about infatuation, boys looking at girls and being mystified by their dreamlike femininity and strange rituals. By using an ethereal colour palette, hazy photography, and atmospheric music by the French band Air, Sofia directs this gaze back to a female point of view, by evoking a strong sense of what a teenage girl’s world felt like in the 1970s.
The Beguiled (2017) almost 2 decades later, is similar in style with its softly hued photography and feminine aesthetic. There is also a strong male presence, a handsome wounded soldier finds himself on enemy ground during the American Civil War, to be discovered and taken refuge in a tiny, isolated school for women.
Sofia is focused on how this group of women of different ages react individually to this sudden arrival of a man, and also how the dynamics between them change.
In an interview with Vice Talks Film Sofia talks about the making of this entertaining melodrama which she adapted from the novel by Thomas P Cullinan.
“This one actually reminded me of Virgin Suicides, that kind of pastel world – I wanted the story to be very feminine and non-threatening until a man comes into it.”
Sophia received Best Director for The Beguiled at Cannes, becoming the second woman ever to receive this prize.
Do you remember the first time?
I love these images which were featured in the May 2000 edition of The Face magazine. Sofia invited fashion photographer Corrine Day onto the set of The Virgin Suicides to document the filming, which suited the candid style of photography both women were pioneering at the time.
Today we are so familiar with this kind of personal, journalistic imagery but social media did not exist back then!
The article included words by Sofia and the title “Do you remember the first time?” references the song written by Jarvis Cocker - another artist revelling in the reality of bittersweet teenage life, turning it into musical poetry.
The Fashionista
As a young fashion student, I remember how vital it felt to carry a copy of The Face magazine, to stay in touch with the more edgy side of youth culture and fashion. It showcased Corinne Day as a revolutionary fashion photographer with her intimate, documentary-style and her innocent shots of teenage Kate Moss in an earlier issue launched her to supermodel stardom.
This early collaboration is significant I think because it placed Sofia as a new kind of director equally talented at expressing herself with music, fashion, photography and journalism.
It also gave her a certain kind of art-house cool, and influence. The Virgin Suicides (1999) and later Lost in Translation (2003) are both considered indie cult classics.
Sofia interned for both Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel and Vogue and started a fashion label, Milkfed (which still exists) in the 1990s. I love her guest edits of W Magazine (May 2021) and Paris Vogue (Dec 2004) and her video collage In homage to Mademoiselle (2019) for Chanel.
Her friend the fashion designer Marc Jacobs describes Sofia as his muse, but he has also invited her to design signature collections alongside him, as has Louis Vuitton. Sofia has made music videos for the White Stripes and directed perfume commercials including Miss Dior Blooming Bouquet (2013) for Dior.
Style and Substance
There has been criticism though, aimed at Sofia for having such an interest in fashion, as if this somehow reduces her kudos as a director.
The release of Marie Antoinette (2006) provoked some of this reaction. The visual feast of fabulous bright pastel costumes designed by Milena Canonero were inspired by a box of Ladurée macarons given to her by Sofia (and won the film an Oscar for best costume design.)
“You’re considered superficial and silly if you are interested in fashion....But I think you can be substantial and still be interested in frivolity”
I love the extravagant, playful style of the movie but it’s also the unconventional re-telling of the story that I think is important to not overlook.
It was a risk in this sense for Sofia to take on such a loaded subject as Marie Antoinette, which is still a provocative conversation to start in France. I can relate to this with my current collection of work The Ghosts of Versailles.
A Wild Nobility
Inspired by the book by Antonia Fraser Marie Antoinette: The Journey (2001) Sofia retains a similar, sympathetic view of the labelled “Queen of Deficit”
We experience the life of Marie Antoinette through the eyes of an innocent Austrian girl, just 14 years old, arriving in France with a mix of uncertain emotions, vulnerability and excitement. We feel the hostility, the gossip, the absurd hierarchy and outrageous behaviour that had become the norm for the royal nobility of France ever since King Louis XIV built his lavish playground at Versailles.
Sofia Coppola takes us into an isolated wonderland from the perspective of a modern adolescent girl, adjusting to a new world, making mistakes, and escaping into pleasure whenever possible!
Staying true to her experimental style, the story becomes less of a history lesson and more of an observation of a girl coming of age in an overwhelming, privileged environment where hedonistic temptation was the norm.
The New Romantic
The rococo-punk soundtrack that includes The Cure and Vivaldi was inspired by Sofia’s teenage years, during the 1980s New Romantic era, which was all about flamboyant originality and mixing up historical styles with the futuristic.
A celebratory article in British Vogue (Oct 2021) goes into great detail about all the design concepts of the movie and mentions that the character of Axel von Fersen (the Queen’s lover) was based on 1980s pop idol Adam Ant. It makes sense to depict him as the rock-and-roll teenage heart-throb that Marie Antoinette would view him as.
“I made reference boards that had a lot of New Romantic visuals and John Galliano’s work at Dior. I loved that mix of 18th-century fashion and couture”
All these snippets of modern cultural references in the film, including a pair of Converse trainers sneaked into the I want Candy sequence, are Sofia’s way of connecting this iconic piece of history to the present. It gives the audience the chance to view Marie Antoinette from a new, unexpected perspective.
Sofia is currently adapting another epic tale, from the novel by Edith Wharton The Custom of the Country (1913) as an Apple TV series. The story follows Undine Spragg, a Midwestern woman trying to climb up the ladder of New York high society. This is said to have inspired the extravagant film, Gone With The Wind (1939) It’s going to be exciting to see how Sofia portrays this literary anti-heroine and if there will be any similarities with the design concept of Marie Antoinette.
The Gentle Rebel
Sofia has been described as having a very softly spoken manner on set, whilst remaining quietly in control, she creates a warm gentle atmosphere that brings out the best in people. This is the kind of magical, feminine touch I think that is so unique about her and flows into her films.
“You don’t have to be loud. If you know what you want, people respect that.”
Her style of visual storytelling is intuitive, observational, there is often very little dialogue, in addition to the decorative aspect, this is a female perspective that is courageous to bring to the screen.
“In real-life emotions are not talked about, people do not always say how they feel, so we learn to read body language”
The Belle Rebelle
You may still be asking, but what makes Sofia Coppola a Belle Rebelle?
When your name is Coppola, it takes spirit to stay true to your creativity and make your own identity as a filmmaker, away from your father’s limelight.
But what makes her success so inspiring, so Belle Rebelle is that despite criticism, she is confident with the girliness of her films, and this is powerful.
Let's call it Fearlessly Feminine.
The Sofia Factor
“Here’s to beauty and living well, and taking the time to enjoy it.”
So, how can we find inspiration from Sofia Coppola and weave some of her Belle Rebelle creativity into our life?
Take the time to appreciate beauty, however simple or momentary.
See fashion as empowering, a visual way for you to project who you are.
We become what we consume, so remember to surround yourself with the things you love: art, music and culture.
Believe in the power and magic of womanhood
That’s it for this first post, Belle Rebelles! Remember, this is a space for us all to inspire and be inspired - so your suggestions are welcome! Maybe there is a Belle Rebelle you would like to see featured? Please email me at hello@thebellerebelle with any thoughts, I would love to hear from you!
Jacqueline
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