Today Sofia Coppola’s latest film, Somewhere, was awarded the top prize of the Venice Film Festival, The Golden Lion, after a unanimous decision from the festival’s jury, headed by Quentin Tarantino.
At the festival’s closing ceremony, Tarantino praised Somewhere telling The Associated Press, “This film enchanted us from its first screening…It has the artistry we were looking for in a Golden Lion [winner].”
Somewhere’s been generating Oscar buzz, territory that’s not new to Coppola. In 2004, she scored an Oscar nomination for Best Director, Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay for Lost in Translation. Ultimately, she walked away with one out of three (Best Original Screenplay), and was added to the minuscule ranks of women who’ve been nominated by the academy in the director category. (Only one, The Hurt Locker director, Kathryn Bigelow, has taken the prize.) Winning The Golden Lion could prove a solid path back to Oscar for another shot.
The film itself centers on a Hollywood star, played by Stephen Dorff. His existence is vapid, what Coppola calls a, “portrait of today’s L.A.” But he is thrown in turnaround when his daughter, portrayed by Elle Fanning, moves into his life, which is wall-to-wall hotel-room-living. Seeing himself through the eyes of his disappointed child, he looks to change.
Coppola acknowledged aspects of the film are culled from her own life. As daughter to the illustrious director Francis Ford Coppola, she admits to spending much of her childhood in hotel rooms with her family when her father’s shoots took them away from home. The senior Coppola told reporters he “loved” the film, and Sofia honored his influence when accepting the award, saying, “Thanks to my dad for teaching me.”
On a day full of emotion, Tarantino was the most visibly moved. Near to tears when he announced the winner, the two, who dated years back, hugged once she reached the stage.
Asked if his prior relationship with Coppola affected his vote, Tarantino insisted he would never “let anything like that affect me.” Furthering his point, he added, “There was no me steering any directions. Sofia doesn’t know any of these other people on the jury and her prize was unanimous.”
Somewhere is slated for limited release on December 22, 2010.
Will you seek out Somewhere?