



Produced by Sofia Coppola, Roman Coppola, and Youree Henley
Written by Sofia Coppola
Based on the Vanity Fair article "The Suspect Wore Louboutins" by Nancy Jo Sales
With: Katie Chang, Israel Broussard, Emma Watson, Claire Julien, Taissa Farmiga, Georgia Rock, Leslie Mann, Carlos Miranda, Gavin Rossdale, Stacy Edwards, G. Mac Brown, Marc Coppola, Janet Song, Annie Fitzgerald, Kirsten Dunst, and Paris Hilton
Release Date: 21 June 2013
Color/Aspect: Color / 1.85 : 1
Editing: Sarah Flack
Music: Daniel Lopatin and Brian Reitzell
Runtime: 90 min
Release Date: 21 June 2013
Aspect Ratio: 1.85 : 1
Color



Sofia Coppola’s The
Bling Ring is based on
the true story of a group of shallow star-worshiping teens that became
celebrities themselves by breaking into the homes of the famous people they
hope to emulate and stealing over three million dollars worth of clothes,
jewelry and other “bling.” The story is such a ripe metaphor for all that’s
wrong with contemporary American culture that it requires a film of extreme
subtlety and understatement to avoid the kind of heavy-handed moralizing that
would render it just as superficial as its characters. Coppola certainly walks
that line with her typical observational story-telling style, but the film
fails to say much of anything more about its zeitgeisty themes than a simple
tabloid headline could. The movie neither celebrates nor condemns the lifestyle
and choices of its characters, nor does it give us any insight into their
psychology. Perhaps these kids are so vacuous and undeveloped that there is
literally no insight to give, but that begs the question: why then make a film
about them? Similarly, despite the fact that the story is based on facts, it is
difficult to suspend disbelief at how these teens get in and out of the houses
and cars of their idols without getting caught. Perhaps the security of the
rich and famous in LA really is this lax, but in a narrative film, which surely
takes liberties with time and other specifics, we need to be better convinced.
In her best films (Lost in Translation and Somewhere--both original screenplays), Coppola focuses on the isolation of one or two characters, exploring their inner lives through the simple act of watching them without any narrative crutches like voiceover, journal entries, non-linear structures or outside perspective. In those films, the audience experiences the emotional lives of the characters in an immediate, moment-to-moment way. Thus, even if our own lives bear no resemblance to those of the characters, by the time the film is over we understand their innermost feelings because Coppola has tapped into something universal within all of us. In The Bling Ring, like her 1999 début feature, The Virgin Suicides (both screenplays she adapted) Coppola deals with an ensemble cast and employs structural narrative conventions that comment on the group’s behavior rather than simply showing it. This keeps the audience scrutinizing the characters from a distance for the whole film, rather than unnoticeably shifting from observation to identification somewhere during the act of watching.
Things sure have changed for the teenaged girls of the LA suburbs
since Adrian Lyne's Foxes in 1980--a film I thought of many
times while watching The Bling Ring--but they certainly haven’t improved.
Produced by Sofia Coppola, Roman Coppola, and Youree Henley
Written by Sofia Coppola
Based on the Vanity Fair article "The Suspect Wore Louboutins" by Nancy Jo Sales
With: Katie Chang, Israel Broussard, Emma Watson, Claire Julien, Taissa Farmiga, Georgia Rock, Leslie Mann, Carlos Miranda, Gavin Rossdale, Stacy Edwards, G. Mac Brown, Marc Coppola, Janet Song, Annie Fitzgerald, Kirsten Dunst, and Paris Hilton
Release Date: 21 June 2013
Color/Aspect: Color / 1.85 : 1
Editing: Sarah Flack
Music: Daniel Lopatin and Brian Reitzell
Runtime: 90 min
Release Date: 21 June 2013
Aspect Ratio: 1.85 : 1
Color
★★★★★
One of the 5000 greatest films. Usually only awarded after repeat viewings, so there are more five-star films from decades past than recent years.
★★★★☆
An excellent film. Possibly one of the 5000 and certainly worthy of repeated viewing.
★★★☆☆
A good film well worth seeing. Films listed at the top of this ranking could end up one of the 5000.
★★☆☆☆
A disappointment, an interesting failure, or just a bad movie. Still, maybe worth seeing: I often enjoy the top two-star films in a given list more than the bottom three-star films.
★☆☆☆☆
A bad, rant-worthy film. Should be avoided regardless of hype or talent involved.
☆☆☆☆☆
One of the worst films.






















