Sofia Coppola, left, writer/director of "The Beguiled," and cast member Nicole Kidman. Photo / AP
Writer and director Sofia Coppola talks to Michele Manelis about family and her films.
In a career that spans 18 years, Sofia Coppola, Oscar-winning writer and nominated director (Lost in Translation), has spent her professional life examining the female psyche, a quest evident in such movies as The Virgin Suicides (1999), Marie Antoinette (2006), and The Bling Ring (2013).
Her exploration has never been more prominent than in the upcoming thriller The Beguiled.
"I'm interested in stories about women because that's my experience in the world. Part of what I liked about this particular story, The Beguiled, was that it was about a group of women from ages 12 to 40, and how they reacted, all very differently, to this male intruder coming into their lives, which was fascinating to me," she says.
An historical drama, based on the 1971 film of the same name (starring Clint Eastwood), this many-layered melodrama, set against the backdrop of the American Civil War, is a paradox of femininity. Set in a Virginia boarding school, the female-centric cast includes Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst, and Elle Fanning. The arrival of Colin Farrell's Union soldier, a cinematic cat among the pigeons, has him feeding off the dynamic as the women vie for his attention.
"I was interested in the idea that these women were cut off from the world; their repression and their desire [are in conflict], which is human, and I wanted to treat that as just a part of their humanity."
Coppola enjoyed their volatile and duplicitous interaction. "I grew up surrounded by men. I was the only girl of my generation, so I was never looking for male attention."
She hails, of course, from one of Hollywood's most revered families; her father is Francis Ford Coppola, widely considered one of America's greats. Coppola snr is a director, producer, and screenwriter, at the helm of such masterpieces as The Godfather and Apocalypse Now.
Among other business ventures, he also helms successful wineries, and an international resort hotel chain.
In person, Sofia Coppola is softly spoken, at times barely audible. The first thing that strikes you about her is an understated elegance, which reaches from her designer ensemble, always chic but subtle, to her barely-there makeup (despite her morning's schedule of television interviews) and overblown lips - a feature inherited from her father (who grew a beard to cover it) - painted neutral. In a world where plastic surgery is the norm, she says of another prominent feature, "I met Angelica Huston when I was 14 and I remember her telling me, 'Don't worry, you will grow into your nose someday.' And I thought, 'Someday, I want to be like Angelica Huston.' She made me feel okay about the way that I was."
Having sat across from her multiple times while promoting her films, I find the idea of her raising her voice at all, let alone commanding a film set, seems unimaginable. Does she get her assistant to scream, "Action" for her? "Oh no, I do it," she assures, laughing. "I'm not shy." She pauses. "My mother has a very quiet and calm demeanour, and that's where I get mine from. In contrast, my father is big and loud."
Although her much-celebrated father is the focus of the family, her mother, Eleanor Coppola, a former set director, documentary film-maker, and artist who met Francis on the set of Dementia 13, in 1962, made her directorial feature debut in this year's Paris Can Wait, at the age of 81.
"I'm very proud of her," says Sofia. "And I feel now having daughters, that I draw so much on what my mother taught me: her values of what is important, how you want to be as a person and as a woman, and to be able to express yourself," she says. "I find that I have learned a lot from her about being a mother and an artist."
Her formative years (along with those of her cousins, actors Nicolas Cage and Jason Schwartzman) were spent living a high-class gypsy lifestyle. Based in Northern California, Sofia and her brothers followed their father from set to set in some of the more exotic locations of the world. Their itinerary included a year in the Philippines while he was shooting Apocalypse Now, as well as periods of time in Rome and Sicily while he filmed The Godfather trilogy. She made background appearances in many of her father's films, and appeared for the last time, aged 19, as Mary Corleone in The Godfather Part III. The ill-fated decision on the part of her father to replace Winona Ryder, who suddenly fell ill, with his daughter, spawned much criticism.
Sharing such vivid and diverse experiences, Sofia and her siblings formed a strong bond growing up, and although from the outside their life appeared idyllic, it wasn't without pain. Tragically, her older brother, Gian-Carlo, died in a boating accident when she was 15 and he was 22.
Her early years inspire images of a bygone era, with such names as Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro and Al Pacino engaging in lively dinner-table discussions. "Well, yes, the actors my dad worked with were definitely around. And, yes, there's this romanticised idea about it, but I grew up with lots of normal people around, too, who didn't have glamorous jobs."
Naturally, her career has been plagued by accusations of nepotism. Being the offspring of an icon grants entree into their world, and for many such scions, there is no end to proving their legitimacy. But clearly, she has nothing to prove: recently winning the Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival (the only American female to achieve this feat) is another notch in the belt of evidence that she is not riding on her father's coat-tails.
"You hope to be on that director's list, and it was a big surprise and very exciting to actually win. I was with my daughters when I found out." She smiles. "They were very excited for me."
Actors who have worked with her enthusiastically sing Coppola's praises, including returning actors Kirsten Dunst, who has worked with her three times, and Elle Fanning, twice. Nicole Kidman says working with Coppola was on her bucket list. "I like the particular stamp she puts on her films; it's very much a Sofia Coppola vision. I think being the daughter of a very famous film-maker, it's very difficult to have established that [independent identity], and she has done it. So to support her and to be in one of her projects was important to me.
I grew up surrounded by men. I was the only girl of my generation, so I was never looking for male attention.
"She's very unique, Sofia. She is not a carbon copy of her father - she has her own particular atmosphere that she creates with a film, and she almost hypnotises you," she says, laughing.
"She has a twisted humour and I'm very proud of her for that.
"They are just a very unique family, and for Sofia to win the Best Director award at Cannes was a huge triumph.
"I see [The Beguiled] as a strong depiction of women uniting," says Kidman.
At 46, Coppola appears a good decade younger than her years. Married since 2011 to Thomas Mars, from the French rock band, Phoenix, she and her husband are raising their two daughters, Romy (10) and Cosima (7), in New York city.
The couple met when they collaborated on her first movie, The Virgin Suicides, in 1999.
Despite the iconic legacy the Coppola dynasty represents, she is determined to see her kids grow up under somewhat normal circumstances.
And which of her characteristics would she like them to inherit?
"I'm a hard worker," she says.
"It's something my dad made a big point of, and something I value and hope I can pass on to them."
The Beguiled
nziff.co.nz
General release
August 31
River Haven features a cafe, vineyard, wellness space, and The Bugger Inn pub.