text:
SOMEWHERE IN TRANSLATION:
the twilit and allegorical film art
of Sofia Coppola
Like most film artists who emerged after the fatal helicopter crash that killed actor/director/writer Vic Morrow and child extras Renee Chen and Myca Le around 2:20 am in the early morning of July 23, 1982 on the George Folsey jr. produced Vietnamese village set of the John Landis episode of the Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall produced Landis, Joe Dante, George Miller and Steven Spielberg film, TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE (1983), Sofia Carmina Coppola and her film art have been greatly influenced by the TZ disaster. However, unlike other post-TZ disaster film artists, Coppola did not embrace computer generated imagery (CGI) in her film art in order to prevent fatalities on her film sets, sticking instead to the documentary fused with feature film 'docufeature' style championed by her father and the rest of New Hollywood. Coppola was also the daughter of influential New Hollywood film artists Francis and Eleanor Coppola, granddaughter of composer Carmine Coppola-who inspired her middle name-and 'niece' of family film artist friend and honourary 'Uncle', George Lucas-a link to 'Uncle' Lucas helped by the curious fact that George and Sofia were both born on May 14th.
In addition, long before she became a film artist, the use of the newborn Coppola as the latest addition to the Corleone clan at the end of the allegorical Coppola film, MARIO PUZO'S THE GODFATHER (1972), literally made her the symbol of the arrival of the New Hollywood era. Curiously, Coppola was also linked to the revival of film art after the TZ disaster in a number of small roles in her father's post-1982 films under the nom d'art of 'Domino', chosen perhaps to distance herself from her father and her famous surname. How fitting that on top of being a black rectangular game piece, a domino was also a loose Venetian cloak with a small mask that covered the upper part of the face, as this was the perfect name for a woman who would go on to mask her true intent in her own allegorical film art.
The Domino Affect
Humourously, Domino's first appearance was as an irritatingly persistent, skinny, gangly and slant eyed Little Girl in a blue dress with two prominent upper front teeth, brown hair pulled into two side ponytails and with what appeared to be one of her younger brothers in tow begging for fifteen whole cents!-worth more in the Sixties-from the implicitly Lucas linked Dallas Winston-played by Matt Dillon-in a Dairy Queen parking lot in the allegorical and CGI free Coppola film, THE OUTSIDERS (1983), a film with music composed by grandfather Carmine which implicitly linked despised Sixties greasers battling for respect from mainstream society to the equally despised film artists of New Hollywood battling mainstream society for respect after the TZ disaster. Later that same year she joined her cousin Nicolas Cage-who also choose to hide his famous surname-her younger brother, Roman-back again as an associate producer after being given an associate producer credit along with the third Coppola sibling, Giancarlo, on THE OUTSIDERS-and rejoined Dillon, Diane Lane, William Smith and Tom Waits-who played Sherry 'Cherry' Valance, a store clerk and a bar owner named Buck Merrill, respectively, in THE OUTSIDERS-on the silver screen in a larger role as Donna, the cute, skinny, gangling and nosey younger sister of Lane's gorgeous Patty in the allegorical, CGI free and black and white Coppola film, RUMBLE FISH (1983), which implied that David Lynch would fail to succeed the following year with his massive and full colour twilit and allegorical moving painting, DUNE (1984), after years of creating only black and white moving paintings like Mickey Rourke's colour blind and implicitly Lynch linked Motorcycle Boy failed to cope with a full colour world, in the end.
Significantly, while small, these two small roles were still a momentous and memorable beginning for Domino, increased by the fact that they linked her forever to the first official year of the dread allegorical Zone Wars-and to the year of the release of TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE. The two small roles also allowed her to work with her father and grandfather for the first time THE OUTSIDERS, and on both films with sound designer Richard Beggs, production designer Dean Tavoularis and producer Fred Roos, all five of whom would go on to be significant collaborators on her own allegorical film art.
Curiously, the following year was a year of contrasts for Domino. First, she was implicitly linked to the death of the New Hollywood film art era in the TZ disaster when the unnamed and Renee Chen evoking girl she played was gunned down in the street while selling apples by mobsters working for the aspiring, homicidal and implicitly Landis linked hood, Vincent Dwyer-his 'VD' initials summing up his sick disease, and played by Cage-in the implicitly Landis and Spielberg bashing allegorical and CGI free Coppola film, THE COTTON CLUB (1984). Curiously, however, on the same day as the release of THE COTTON CLUB, Domino was also linked via her unusually blonde and Goldilocks evoking character Ann Chambers to the revival of post-TZ disaster allegorical film art in the implicit form of the revived from the dead Frankenstein family bull terrier Sparky in her first non-Coppola production, the allegorical, CGI free and Zonebusting Tim Burton film, FRANKENWEENIE (1984).
'Why, I oughtta…'
Two years later, Domino stopped playing games and openly came out from behind the Venetian cape and mask as Sofia Coppola when she returned with Cage and Tavoularis to the big screen skinnier and ganglier than ever as another cutely annoying kid sister, Nancy Kelcher-albeit this time a baton twirling and piano playing one-younger sibling of Kathleen Turner's Peggy Sue Kelcher Bodell in the twilit, Ozian themed, CGI free and allegorical Coppola film, PEGGY SUE GOT MARRIED (1986), a film which evoked such equally nostalgic and Ozian themed films as the allegorical Lucas film, AMERICAN GRAFFITI (1973), and the allegorical, AMERICAN GRAFFITI alluding and implicitly Lucas roasting Sandy Wilson film, MY AMERICAN COUSIN (1985). Curiously, the film saw Kelcher Bodell travel decades into the past like a time travelling Dorothy after falling and hitting her head at her high school reunion in the Eighties and then helping and inspiring her implicitly film artist linked colleagues to follow the life paths that would lead them to adult success, including her future ex-husband, the implicitly James Cameron and Cowardly Lion linked Charles 'Charlie' Bodell-played by Cage. Indeed, the time travelling tale's evocation of the temporal travellers from the future in the allegorical and Zonebusting film, THE TERMINATOR (1984), affirmed the film's implicit interest in Cameron.
Significantly, Peggy Sue's interest in helping others returned when Coppola returned with her father, grandfather, Roos, Tavoularis, her aunt Talia Shire-who played Constanza Corleone in MARIO PUZO'S THE GODFATHER-and her new niece Gia on her first work of film art as co-writer and opening titles/costume designer of the allegorical and CGI free Coppola film, LIFE WITHOUT ZOE, the middle cinepanel of a triptych of short films that began with a cinepanel by Martin Scorsese and ended with a cinepanel by Woody Allen that was collectively entitled, NEW YORK STORIES (1989).
'I am the daughter and you are the mother.'
Significantly, despite being directed by her father, Coppola implicitly had an influence on its direction, as the short film was a significant stylistic departure from the work of her father, both before and after the film, with an unusually assertively feminine mindset, style and gaze and an emphasis on art, colour, dance, fashion and pop music, characteristics that were unusual for Coppola sr. but would become the hallmarks of the film art of Coppola. The implicit influence of Coppola was fitting, as the short peek into the exuberant, hectored and solitary life of twelve year old Zoe Montez-played by Heather McComb-in her room at the Sherry Netherlands Hotel in New York as the daughter of celebrated flautist, Claudio Montez, and author/photographer, Charlotte-played by Shire and Giancarlo Giannini, respectively-appeared to be an autobiographical look into the life of Coppola as a girl. Thus, it was appropriate that Zoe and Sofia both had Greek names-the former meaning 'life', and the latter meaning 'wisdom'. Cowie agreed, noting in Coppola: a biography that '…Francis's seventeen-year old daughter Sofia assumed much of the creative responsibility on this sketch…Zoe, like Sofia Coppola in real life, must cope with the confusing burden of wealth as well as a famous father…(and Sofia) shows that she is already alert to the dangers and potential of having a famous artist for a father'. 1
Curiously, however, it was also possible that LIFE WITHOUT ZOE was not about Coppola. For it was noticeable that over the course of the cinepanel, Zoe teamed up with Abu-played by Selim Tlilli-her wealthy friend and '…new kid on the block' and brought life and harmony back to the universe of Claudio and Charlotte after finding one of the fabled Tears of Sharaz earrings and returning it to its rightful owner, Abu's aunt Princess Soroya-played by Carole Bouquet. Given that Abu resembled then new Disney CEO Michael Eisner and Claudio resembled Uncle Walt, perhaps Coppola and Coppola sr. implied their hope that Eisner would restore the high quality of Disney film art and the reputation of the studio in the Nineties. Indeed, to support this implication, when Zoe and her Fieldston private school girl friends were interviewing Abu in Central Park for their school newspaper DINGBAT NEWS, the Belvedere Castle was seen behind Abu. This whimsical castle evoked the famous Magic Kingdom castle seen on the Walt Disney logo, implicitly affirming Abu's link to Eisner and the short film's interest in Disney.
The fact that NEW YORK STORIES was released by Touchstone Pictures, a production company of Disney, the same film studio that released FRANKENWEENIE, reaffirmed the implicit Disney and Eisner addressing intent of LIFE WITHOUT ZOE. The implicit link of Zoe's girl friends to film artists-particularly New York film artists, including one who resembled Woody Allen-also supported that implication. For one of the girls resembled and was implicitly linked to Coppola sr., implying that Zoe's cigarette smoking dad Claudio Montez was indeed linked to the cigarette loving Uncle Walt. Thus, it was fitting that the surname Montez had the same six letters and syllable cadence as Disney.
Alas for this first production from Francis and Sofia, audiences disliked NEW YORK STORIES, particularly LIFE WITHOUT ZOE. No doubt many audience members-particularly younger Gen X members-were offended by Zoe's wealthy and carefree existence at a time of few and mostly low paying jobs. Significantly, however, despite this rejection, the implicit hope in LIFE WITHOUT ZOE that Eisner would lead Disney back to glory came true, resulting in the towering titan that the Mouse House was today. In addition, despite the failure of LIFE WITHOUT ZOE, at least one observer still held out hope that year that Coppola would go on to be a pivotal film artist. Indeed, Michael Moorcock implicitly hoped that Coppola would be the One to lead the world of film art from the TZ disaster in the implicit form of Varadia, the Holy Girl, daughter of the implicitly Coppola sr. linked Raik Na Seem in the allegorical Zonebusting novel, The Fortress Of The Pearl (1989).
Curiously, Francis was not as hopeful as Moorcock, for the following year with the help of Carmine, Roos, Shire, Tavoularis and Don Novello-who played Zoe's hectoring butler, Hector, in LIFE WITHOUT ZOE-he implied that the death of Mary Corleone-played by a Sofia Coppola who in only four short years had transformed from the geeky and gangly girl of PEGGY SUE GOT MARRIED to a beautiful, curvaceous, confident and intelligent young woman with flowing dark brown hair, her once humourously slanted eyes now giving her face an alluring and exotic cast-symbolized the end of the New Hollywood film art era in general and his own indie American Zoetrope film art dreams in particular at the end of the twilit, CGI free and allegorical Coppola film, MARIO PUZO'S THE GODFATHER: PART III (1990). Luckily for audiences, however, the allegorical Force of art did not die inside Sofia Coppola with the death of Mary Corleone. Indeed, her artistic powers continued to grow and develop inside her, and when they emerged her film art displayed an intuitive understanding of the creative interrelation of acting, costumes, film, makeup, music and words-and a seasoned sophistication and world weariness unusual in someone so young, but definitely befitting a daughter who grew up in the first family of New Hollywood. The film art of Coppola also implied that she was so moved and sobered by the rise and fall of New Hollywood and by the TZ disaster that she had no interest in taking over the system like her father, but was instead satisfied with being an indie outsider who would still be a part of the greater cinematic conversation.
Last but not least, the film art of Coppola also displayed a brash, distinctive, rebellious and refreshingly feminine and feminist body, gaze, heart, mind and soul that satirized and served as an effective counterpoint to the predominantly male body, gaze, heart, mind and soul of film art, evoking the film art of fellow actresses turned directors like Nell Shipman-who died shortly before the birth of Coppola on January 23, 1970-and Ida Lupino-particularly the latter, as she was linked to the Twilight Zone herself via her allegorical telefilm, 'The Masks' (1964), from the fifth season of the original TWILIGHT ZONE telefilm series. Complex qualities on display when she returned with Beggs to the Temple Theatre with her short and CGI free allegorical docufeature film, LICK THE STAR (1998).
'the tables turn/life goes on'
Significantly, the black and white film stock of LICK THE STAR was a stark contrast to the vibrant, exuberant and colourful LIFE WITHOUT ZOE, immediately implying that Coppola was no longer as happy and as optimistic as she was in 1989. And bummed out about the dread Zone Wars, for the black and white film situated LICK THE STAR in the same Twilight Zone midway between Light and Dark that the original TWILIGHT ZONE telefilm series found itself trapped in. Significantly, the black and white film also evoked the black and white film stock of her father's first allegorical feature film, DEMENTIA 13 (1963), as well as the twilit and implicitly Spielberg supporting allegorical Tim Burton film, FRANKENWEENIE (1984)-in which Coppola had another supporting role under the name of Domino as bimbo blonde Ann Chambers-linking Coppola's film art to the horror genre from the outset like the film art of her father (the horror, the horror of everyday embattled and apocalyptic life)!
A fitting link, for LICK THE STAR quickly revealed an equally twilit, demented and horrific DEMENTIA 12 intent. For after initially focusing on Christina Turley's perhaps Coppola linked Kate, the film's voiceover (VO) narrator, as she returned on crutches to the insular, gossipy, studiously bored and increasingly self-conscious and sexually aware world of R.L.S. Junior High-the grade featured in FRANKENWEENIE-after being briefly knocked out of the game for a week with a damaged foot, the focus of the film soon shifted to Audrey Heaven's beautiful, beguiling, exotic, mysterious, sensual, assertive, tall, commanding and Kathryn Bigelow resembling and implicitly linked Queen Mean Girl, Chloe, first seen striding from somewhere towards the camera and into the school in slow motion in a blast of punky pop music-the allegorical Amps tune, 'Tipp City' (1998)?
Chloe quickly revealed a demented and completely un-Zoe-like 'lick the star'-which sort of spelled kill the rats backwards-plot to poison all the boys she and the other girls in her group did not like, like a less vengeful and telepathic Carrie White in the allegorical Stephen King novel, Carrie (1974), or Sissy Spacek's Carrie White in the allegorical, righteously furious and implicitly Spielberg bashing Brian De Palma film, CARRIE (1976), which implicitly and furiously roasted Spielberg and his allegorical film, JAWS (1975), which had returned the money lusting blockbuster beast to the Temple Theatre. However, Chloe's rude and bossy manner and abrasive comments caused her girl gang and Greg to turn against and ostracize her, causing her to attempt suicide by drowning herself in the family bathtub. And so LICK THE STAR ended with a pensive, philosophical and poetry writing Chloe striding away from the camera and off into nowhere, the first film art linked main character to progress from somewhere to nowhere over the course of a Coppola film.
Thus, given Chloe's link to Bigelow, Coppola implied her dislike of Bigelow and her hope that Bigelow would soon fade away-a hope that did not come true as Bigelow went on to get success in the new millennium and became the first women to win the Oscar for Best Director and Best Picture for the allegorical and implicitly David Lynch roasting film, THE HURT LOCKER (2008). The presence of writer/director Peter Bogdanovich as the school Principal and Zoe Cassavetes as a gym teacher underlined that implication, as they openly linked the elementary school and its students to film art and film artists-and evoked the appearance of actor/director/writer Paul Bartel as the droll and ironic Grade 7 teacher Mr. Walsh in FRANKENWEENIE. Significantly, after implicitly roasting a female film artist, Coppola implicitly turned to roasting male film artists and Eisner when she returned with Beggs, Coppola, Roos and Turner with her first equally downbeat, canny, CGI fee and CARRIE evoking allegorical docufeature film, THE VIRGIN SUICIDES (1999), inspired by the allegorical Jeffrey Eugenides novel, The Virgin Suicides (1993).
'We knew that they knew everything about us, and that we couldn't fathom them at all.'
THE VIRGIN SUICIDES began with the ghostly and haunting sight of Kirsten Dunst's blonde, beautiful, bewitching, mysterious and unobtainable Lux 'Luxy' Lisbon-a classic Hollywood blonde with a name that evoked Lex Luthor as much as the longed for and liberating flight to Lisbon in the allegorical and implicitly Jack Warner bashing and Ozian themed Michael Curtiz film, CASABLANCA (1942)-standing outside the Twilight Zone on a sunny tree lined suburban street that evoked the suburbs already seen in FRANKENWEENIE and LICK THE STAR, looking at the camera and sucking suggestively on a popsicle like an unobtainable new Lolita before turning to her sinister left and wandering off the right of the frame to nowhere all to the wistful, swelling and haunting sound of the allegorical Air tune, 'Playground Love' (1999). Of course, this somewhere to nowhere transition and the beautiful and unobtainable mystery of Luxy recalled Chloe and her journey from somewhere to nowhere in LICK THE STAR, linking the beautiful, mysterious and distant Chloe to the equally beautiful, mysterious and distant Lux and setting us up for Luxy's own journey from bewitching popularity to limbo over the course of THE VIRGIN SUICIDES. A journey that was implicitly linked to film, as 'Lux' was once a stock name for a cinema, like Bijou. This implication that THE VIRGIN SUICIDES was as obsessed with film art and film artists as LIFE WITHOUT ZOE and LICK THE STAR was reaffirmed after Lux exited stage right.
For after a montage of shots to the continued sound of 'Playground Love' of sleepy, sunny and tree lined suburban streets that evoked the montage of shots of sleepy and idyllic Lumberton at the beginning of the twilit and allegorical Lynch 'moving painting', BLUE VELVET (1986), and of the small Pacific Northwest town of Twin Peaks at the beginning of the equally twilit and allegorical Lynch telemoving painting pilot of TWIN PEAKS (1990-91)-which included a quick shot of what appeared to be Coppola walking and talking down a sidewalk with another young woman who was walking a dog-the film suddenly cut from the sunlit suburban exterior to the gloomy, grim and silent interior of the main bathroom of the Lisbon home in the first of many jarring cuts from an idyllic and musically enhanced moment in a feature length Coppola film.
Here we discovered Luxy's youngest sister, Cecilia Lisbon-played by Hannah Hall-lying in the full bathtub with her blood draining out of her after slitting her wrists, evoking Chloe's attempt to drown herself in her family's bathtub in LICK THE STAR and bringing the horror of everyday life back to a Coppola film. While Cecilia was saved in time by paramedics, the depressed thirteen year old girl soon succeeded with her second DEMENTIA 13 attempt, leaping from her second story bedroom window and impaling herself on the gothic and medieval spikes of the black iron fence bordering the front garden below. Significantly, as her anguished father, Catholic high school teacher, Ronald Lisbon-played by James Woods-cradled her horizontal body despairingly in her arms like a despairing magician holding his beautiful female assistant after a floating magic trick gone horribly wrong, we saw that the Lisbon house number was 2037. This linked Cecilia's death to the July 23, 1982 date of the TZ disaster-a link to the fateful disaster reaffirmed by the Lisbon family's 727-8221 phone number, by the 'Landis' hidden in the name of Ronald Lisbon and by the presence of Woods, who openly linked the film to 1982 via his role as Max Renn in the eerily prescient, twilit and allegorical David Cronenberg film, VIDEODROME (1982)-and reminded us that everything went downhill for the film artists of New Hollywood after the TZ disaster.
Thus, the fact that everything also went downhill for Ronald and Luxy and the rest of the Lisbon family-which included Turner's Mrs. Lisbon and Bonaventure aka Bonnie, Mary and Therese, played by Chelse Swain, A.J. Cook and Leslie Hayman, respectively, all beautiful and bewitching Hollywood blondes as fond as art as Chloe and Zoe and as frustrated by their mother's strict and stifling religious faith as Carrie was by the insanely strict and stifling Christianity of her mother (played by Piper Laurie) in CARRIE-after the tragic fall of Cecilia implied that Coppola was addressing the fall of New Hollywood and its film artists after 1982 in THE VIRGIN SUICIDES. Particularly in the implicit form of the four frustrated and virginal Catholic school boys-Jonathan Tucker's implicitly Spielberg and Scarecrow linked Tim Weiner, Lee Kagan's implicitly Lynch and Tin Man linked David Barker, Anthony DeSimone's implicitly Martin Scorsese and Cowardly Lion linked Chase Buell, and Noah Shebib's implicitly Lucas and Great Oz linked Parkie Denton-who pined throughout the film for the four Lisbon sisters left after the suicide of Cecilia but who were never able to fully understand or connect with them. An inability to truly connect with Bonnie, Luxy, Mary and Therese or prevent their suicides, in the end, that implied that Coppola felt that Lucas, Lynch, Scorsese and Spielberg had failed to succeed after 1982 due to an inability to truly connect with their film art, as well.
The sight of Josh Hartnett's implicitly Eisner linked Trip Fontaine abandoning Lux after succeeding in making love to her after the Homecoming dance also implied that Coppola felt that Eisner had abandoned the film art for film art's sake philosophy of Uncle Walt and led Disney astray. Leaving Fontaine and the four Ozian boys-and Chris Hale's implicitly Bogdanovich linked Peter Sisten-unable to fly to Lisbon, one might say, unlike Ilsa Lund and Victor Laszlo-played by Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid, respectively-at the end of CASABLANCA, in an implicit confirmation of the importance of the Lisbon surname. Indeed, the sight of the Ozian quartet standing on the sidewalk in black tuxedoes staring uncomprehendingly across the street at the abandoned Lisbon house at the end of THE VIRGIN SUICIDES openly evoked Humphrey Bogart's white tuxedoed Richard 'Rick' Blaine in CASABLANCA, preparing us for allusions to CASABLANCA in Coppola's second feature film.
The setting of the film in Michigan in 1974 at the height of the fame and fortune of New Hollywood, and the many nostalgic Seventies pop tunes on the soundtrack reaffirmed the implicit New Hollywood roasting intent of the film. The implicit link of Bonnie and Mary to Faye Dunaway's Bonnie Parker in the allegorical Arthur Penn film, BONNIE AND CLYDE (1967), and Susan George's Mary in the allegorical John Hough film, DIRTY MARY, CRAZY LARRY (1974), also affirmed the link of the Lisbon sisters to the New Hollywood film art of the Skyrocking 1967-82 era. In addition, the sight of the implicitly Bigelow linked Rannie confessing in a news clip on tv to accidentally killing her grandmother with a rat poisoned pie linked the film to LICK THE STAR and reaffirmed that Coppola was not impressed with Bigelow.
The use of Shebib as Denton also implicitly affirmed Coppola's interest in film artists in general and in Canadian film artists in particular, as he was the son of Canadian film artist, Donald Shebib, best known for his allegorical and implicitly Coppola sr. and Lucas roasting docufeature film, GOIN' DOWN THE ROAD (1970). Of course, the fact that THE VIRGIN SUICIDES was mostly filmed in Toronto and featured the allegorical Sloan song, 'Everything You've Done Wrong' (1996), on the soundtrack reaffirmed Coppola's interest in Canada, Canadian film artists and Canadian film and music art. This implicit interest in Canadian film art and film artists was reaffirmed by the intrepid, Gremlin driving, Patricia Rozema evoking and television News 8 reporter, Lydia Perl-played by Suki Kaiser-who investigated the Lisbon suicides throughout the film-her first name Lydia also implicitly linking her to L.A. and Hollywood.
Thus, Coppola kicked off a new millennium of film art not on a hopeful note but on a deadly and depressed note, reminding audiences that she had symbolized the death of New Hollywood film art since 1990. This was in complete contrast to her cameo that same year as Sache, a handmaiden to Natalie Portman's Queen Padme Amidala in the more upbeat, hopeful, Ozian themed, Zonebusting, CGI enhanced and implicitly Cameron and Spielberg roasting allegorical Lucas film, STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE (1999), which tried to free audiences, film art, film artists and the Temple Theatre from the TZ disaster and kick off a Zone free and Skyrocking new daylit era of CGI enhanced film art. Not surprisingly, despite the high quality of the THE VIRGIN SUICIDES and the fact that not only was Lucas implicitly roasted in it but that the low budget indie film was better received than the much bigger and more expensive STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE, some observers were disturbed by the mixed messages Coppola gave by directing edgy indie films like LICK THE STAR and THE VIRGIN SUICIDE while appearing as Sache in the hyper-filmmercial STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE-particularly since her appearance in the latter also linked her to the twilit machinations that had outraged fans and damaged the reputation of Lucas since he had reached out to and worked with Kennedy, Marshall and Spielberg after the TZ disaster as executive producer of the twilit and allegorical Spielberg film, INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM (1984).
A serious implication, for working with Kennedy, Marshall and Spielberg on INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM convinced the young fans of Lucas that he was an insidious Sith Lord hiding in Jedi robes-Lord Stinkious!-who was not only indifferent to the still suspicious deaths of Chen, Le and Morrow in the TZ disaster but obsessed with blockbuster profits regardless of the cost in human lives. Indeed, the implication was serious enough that it implicitly caused Toronto film artist John Fawcett and company to implicitly warn Coppola to stick to the low budget indie art film path and not to get too close to Lucas and the twilit blockbuster beast lest she turn into a twilit and CGI enhanced blockbuster beast herself in their twilit and allegorical film, GINGER SNAPS (2000), a horror film no doubt inspired by the allusions to CARRIE in THE VIRGIN SUICIDES and done in the same docufeature style favoured by Coppola.
'The beast of Bailey Downs strikes again!'
Indeed, the film's prologue, which featured a boy-played by Stephen Taylor-with the trademark big Lucas ears playing in the sandbox of a lookalike house in the dreary, lifeless and Hollywood cadenced suburb of Toronto suburb of Bailey Downs implicitly affirmed that Fawcett was blasting Lucas and STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE. The grisly discovery of the shredded corpse of Baxter, the boy's family's dog, soon after we met the boy also implicitly affirmed Fawcett's fear that a twilit and ravening new blockbuster beast had indeed returned to theatres with the arrival of the first film of the STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy.
The horrorshow high school photography project created by the boy's exuberantly ghoulish and gothic neighbours, the Coppola resembling and implicitly linked Brigitte Fitzgerald and her older and implicitly Lucas linked sister, Ginger-their names evoking Brigitte Bardot and Ginger Rogers in an open confirmation of their link to film art, and played by Emily Perkins and Katharine Isabelle, respectively-that followed the gruesome prologue affirmed Fawcett's implicit interest in Coppola. For the fake but grisly murder and suicide photographs featuring Brigitte and Ginger evoked the five different suicides of the Lisbon sisters in THE VIRGIN SUICIDES. In addition, the attack of the blockbuster werewolf beast on the two girls soon after we met them, an attack that led to Ginge being badly mauled and then having to deal with the horror of lyncanthropy on top of the horror of adolescent life, affirmed the interest in Lucas in GINGER SNAPS.
For this opening werewolf attack and the slow transformation of Ginge into a werewolf over the course of the film evoked the werewolf attacks and transformations in the implicitly Lucas bashing allegorical Dante film, THE HOWLING (1981). In fact, Ginger's name sounded like Jar Jar-the character who affirmed that the Farce had returned to the new STAR WARS film, and played by Ahmed Best-while her nickname 'Ginge' evoked George, implicitly affirming her link to Lucas and his film art. The fact that Ginger was the older sister also reaffirmed the link of Ginge to George, reminding us that Lucas was older than Coppola. The appearance of Kris Lemche's supportive Sam after the opening attack also reiterated the film's interest in Lucas, as he looked, talked and acted like a young version of Harrison Ford's Han Solo. The solution of monk's hood herb that was used to treat lycanthropy in the film reaffirmed the film's implicit interest in Lucas and his STAR WARS films, for the monk's hood evoked the monk hoods and robes of the JD Jedi.
Thus, the full transformation of Ginge into a werewolf and her death at the end of the film implied the fear of Fawcett that Lucas had not just unleashed a CGI enhanced blockbuster beast on the world with STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENANCE, but had lost his vital humanity and irremediably transformed into a CGI enhanced blockbuster beast. The fact that Brigitte was bitten and infected with lycanthropy by Ginge and in danger of turning into a twilit blockbuster beast as well by the end of the film also implicitly affirmed Fawcett's fear that by appearing as Sache in STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE, Coppola had been infected with blockbuster disease and was also in danger of turning into a ravening and CGI enhanced blockbuster beast. The film's other allusions to FRANKENWEENIE, LICK THE STAR, STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE and THE VIRGIN SUICIDES also affirmed the implicit intent of the film. Fawcett's choice of an allegorical horror film to make his point reinforced the intent, evoking the CARRIE and DEMENTIA 13 theme of LICK THE STAR and THE VIRGIN SUICIDES. For his part, Terry Zwigoff also implied that he was responding to Coppola in his allegorical film, GHOST WORLD (2001), based on the allegorical Daniel Clowes narrative artwork, Ghost World (1997).
'l'm leaving town.'
For the film revolved around the creative, intelligent, disaffected, curvaceous, idiosyncratically dressing, Chloe evoking and implicitly Coppola linked teen, Enid-played by Thora Birch. Enid's friendship with the equally disaffected and testy, Rebecca-played by Scarlett Johansson-and their film long rants-often directed against the males of the film, who were often just as hopeless and hapless as those of THE VIRGIN SUICIDES-also evoked the disaffected rants of Brigitte and Ginger in GINGER SNAPS, reaffirming the implication that Zwigoff was sending a message to Coppola. And implicitly warning her not to be so critical, cynical and dismissive of other film artists as in THE VIRGIN SUICIDES, given that Enid slowly but surely offended and turned everyone in her life against her and was last seen fading away into nowhere on a mystery bus, evoking the sight of Chloe wandering pensively off into nowhere at the end of LICK THE STAR. An implicit warning that Coppola implicitly understood, for she returned to the Temple Theatre with a more thoughtful film, remade GHOST WORLD in Tokyo with Johansson and replied to GINGER SNAPS when she teamed up again with Air, Beggs, Coppola, and wry and wistful voiceover (VO) narrator Giovanni Ribisi and costume designer Nancy Steiner-both from THE VIRGIN SUICIDES-on her second allegorical, CGI free and CASABLANCA and Ozian themed docufeature film, LOST IN TRANSLATION (2003), a film that also alluded to such documentary films mostly set in Tokyo like the allegorical Chris Marker film, SANS SOLEIL (1983), and the allegorical Wim Wenders film, NOTEBOOK ON CITIES & CLOTHES (1989).
'Maybe she likes the movies you were making in the Seventies when you were still making movies.'
Indeed, Coppola immediately confirmed her interest in GINGER SNAPS, for a close-up of the firm, smooth, round and panty clad bottom of Scarlett Johansson's implicitly Dorothy and Ilsa linked newlywed American tourist, Charlotte-her name also evoking Zoe's mother, Charlotte, in LIFE WITHOUT ZOE and Brigitte in GINGER SNAPS-slowly appeared out of somewhere like Chloe and Lux at the beginning of KICK THE STAR and THE VIRGIN SUICIDES, lying horizontal on top of a Park Hyatt Tokyo hotel bed to the slowly swelling accompaniment of the allegorical Kevin Shields tune, 'City Girl' (2003), another wistful tune that evoked Air's equally wistful 'Playground Love' that opened and closed THE VIRGIN SUICIDES. This close-up evoked the beastly and often panty clad Ginger Fitzgerald in GINGER SNAPS, implicitly affirming that Coppola was replying to GINGER SNAPS in LOST IN TRANSLATION. Humourously, the words LOST IN TRANSLATION were soon slowly superimposed one by one over the supine bum of Charlotte in a definite 'kiss my ass' cadence, affirming only too well what Coppola thought of Fawcett and GINGER SNAPS. Then Charlotte faded off into nowhere like Lux in that first shot of THE VIRGIN SUICIDES.
Significantly, however, the film's implicit interest in Toronto and its film art and film artists quickly returned when the sleeping, rumpled, tragicomic, implicitly Great Oz linked and Blaine evoking American film star, Robert 'Bob' Harris-played by Bill Murray, who linked another Coppola film to 1982 via his role as Jeff Slater in the allegorical Sydney Pollack film, TOOTSIE (1982)-suddenly appeared from somewhere out of the black screen that Charlotte had faded into, implicitly linking him to Charlotte and implying that he was dreaming about her as he slumped over asleep in the back of a taxi being driven through the neon lit Tokyo night to the Park Hyatt Tokyo, in town for a lucrative photo shoot for Santori whisky. For the brightly lit and crowded main street of the Emerald City of Tokyo evoked the equally brightly lit and crowded nightscape of Yonge and Dundas in Toronto, complete with an HMV sign and a huge neon sign that evoked the once famous Sam the Record Man store sign that could always be seen in GOIN' DOWN THE ROAD. Tokyo cityscape shots-which included shots of CN Tower and Canadian Life-like buildings-and subway shots that evoked the subway of Toronto that were also seen throughout the film reaffirmed the implicit interest in Toronto and its film art and film artists in LOST IN TRANSLATION.
A Toronto International Film Festival(TIFF)-style film premiere press conference for the spoof allegorical Irving Forbush film, MIDNIGHT VELOCITY (200?), starring the implicitly Glinda linked and Judy Garland resembling bimbo Hollywood blonde, Kelly-played by Anna Faris-and the big black SUVs used to ferry Harris around Tokyo, which evoked the big black SUVs used to ferry around film art types during the annual TIFF in September, also affirmed the film's implicit interest in Toronto and its film art and film artists. Last but not least, the allegorical Peaches song, 'Fuck The Pain Away' (2000), and the Sebastien Tellier instrumental piece, 'Fantino' (2001), openly linked the film to Toronto and the year of the release of GINGER SNAPS, reaffirming Coppola's implicit interest in GINGER SNAPS in LOST IN TRANSLATION.
Curiously, however, Harris did not appear to be implicitly linked to Fawcett, who was more likely and implicitly linked to Charlotte's sweet but dense, distant and shallow young American husband, the implicitly Tin Man linked John-played by Ribisi. This implied that Harris was linked to someone else, an implication reaffirmed by the film's many allusions to NOTEBOOK ON CITIES & CLOTHES, an allegorical Wenders documentary that appeared to be pondering Paris loving Tokyo fashion designer, Yohji Yamamoto, on the surface but implied that it was pondering Lucas when one dug deeper as the slight and bearded Yamamoto evoked the equally slight and bearded Lucas as a young man. Indeed, the neonlit nighttime arrival of the Great Harris in the Emerald Tokonto also evoked a similar scene in NOTEBOOK ON CITIES & CLOTHES, affirming the implicit interest in the Wenders film. In fact, Coppola alluded to NOTEBOOK ON CITIES & CLOTHES so often in LOST IN TORONTO, her film seemed like an exuberant fictional remake of the Wenders documentary-that is, when it wasn't seeming like a remake of GHOST WORLD or of the allegorical and claustrophobic Lucas film, THX 1138 (1971), whose endless subterranean labyrinth of hallways and rooms returned in the endless labyrinth of rooms and hallways that trapped and stifled Bob and Charlotte in the Park Hyatt Tokyo.
Significantly, NOTEBOOK ON CITIES & CLOTHES was one of the first thoughtful cinematic meditations on the arrival of a new-in this case video-electronic media age, a brave new age in which imagery became copies rather than originals as in the age of celluloid film art. Thus, allusions to the Wenders film implied that Coppola was using LOST IN TORONTO to meditate on the arrival of the digital media age that was sweeping both the celluloid film and videotape ages away, while retaining the copycat nature of the latter. A new digital film art era that some audience members and critics believed was leaving film artists like Lucas and his new STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy lost and adrift in the translation of celluloid film into binary code, given the critical and popular scorn heaped on STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE and the allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Cameron and Spielberg roasting Lucas film, STAR WARS EPISODE II: ATTACK OF THE CLONES (2002). Thus, given all of the allusions to NOTEBOOK ON CITIES AND CLOTHES, Coppola implied that she shared the opinion of most people at the time that Lucas was lost in translation from celluloid to digital and was roasting Lucas in the form of Harris on another level in LOST IN TRANSLATION. This implication was reaffirmed by the trouble Harris had throughout the film in understanding or being understood by Tokyo citizens, even when sympathetic locals acted as translators for him.
This implicit Lucas roasting intent was affirmed by the name of Bob Harris, for it evoked that of Ford's Bob Falfa in the allegorical and implicitly Shebib roasting Lucas film, AMERICAN GRAFFITI (1973). This implicit link to AMERICAN GRAFFITI was affirmed by the flaming tressed and implicitly Ozma linked singer-played by Catherine Lambert-in the Rick's Café Americain evoking nightclub located high up in the Park Hyatt Tokyo when she sang the allegorical Maria Muldaur hit, 'Midnight At The Oasis' (1973), reminding us that 1973 was the year of the release of AMERICAN GRAFFITI. The sight and sound of Ozma singing the allegorical Simon and Garfunkel hit, 'Scarborough Fair' (1966), reaffirmed the film's implicit interest in Lucas, for 'Scarborough Fair' was released the year Lucas graduated from USC film school. The sight and sound of the possibly Spielberg linked Charlie Brown-played by Fumihiro Hayashi-singing the allegorical Sex Pistols tune, 'God Save The Queen' (1977), at a karaoke joint also affirmed the film's implicit Lucas roasting intent, for the song was released the year the life of Lucas was changed forever by the Skyrocking success of STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE. An implicit link to Lucas and the Skyrocking year of 1977 reaffirmed by Kelly, the archetypal Hollywood blonde bimbo, when she sang the allegorical Marvin Hamlisch and Carole B. Sage hit theme song, 'Nobody Does It Better', from the allegorical and implicitly Lucas addressing Lewis Gilbert film, THE SPY WHO LOVED ME (1977), at Rick's Park Hyatt Tokyo nightclub.
Even the sight of Harris trying to reboot his boring older life by striking up a relationship with Charlotte-a tragicomic sight that evoked the equally tragicomic 'fling' that Enid had with the older, Robert Crumb evoking and John Waters resembling but perhaps Lucas linked bachelor and vintage record collector, Seymour (played by Steve Buscemi) in GHOST WORLD-affirmed the implicit interest of the film in Lucas, for the failed attempt evoked the failure of Lucas to reboot his career with Portman in the STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy. Indeed, Tokonto at neon lit night evoked not just the hellish future L.A. of the eerily prescient and twilit Sir Ridley Scott film, BLADE RUNNER (1982), but the planet city of Coruscant in STAR WARS EPISODE II: ATTACK OF THE CLONES, affirming the film's implicit interest in the new STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy.
Curiously, seeing Harris at the bar of Rick's Park Hyatt Tokyo Americain club longing wistfully after Charlotte from afar also evoked Blaine longing after Ilsa in CASABLANCA and Lon Chaney's implicitly Adolf Hitler linked Phantom longing for Mary Philbin's Christine Daae from afar in the allegorical Rupert Julian film, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1925). This return of the horror of everyday life theme in the film art of Coppola was reaffirmed by the black clad and Wicked Witch of the West linked 'Premium Fantasy Woman' aka Japanese prostitute-played by Nao Asuka-who asked for permission to enter the hotel room of Harris like all good blood sucking vampires and film studio executives.
Thus, while implying that she did not think that her 'Uncle' George had died a beastly CGI enhanced blockbuster death with the release of STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE as Fawcett implied in GINGER SNAPS, Coppola still implied with the tragicomic inability of either John or Harris to truly and fully connect with Charlotte that neither Fawcett or Lucas were truly succeeding with their film art. At any rate, the implication that Coppola replied to Fawcett on one level in LOST IN TRANSLATION, the success of the film and the Best Screenplay Oscar won by Coppola implicitly inspired Fawcett and friends, for they responded with not one but two implicitly Coppola roasting and allegorical docufeature GINGER SNAPS sequels, starting with the Brett Sullivan film, GINGER SNAPS II: UNLEASHED (2004).
'You're not alone. He's found you again.'
Indeed, Sullivan soon affirmed his implicit interest in LOST IN TRANSLATION. For not long after we reacquainted ourselves with the implicitly Coppola linked Brigitte Fitzgerald-played again by Perkins-we found her lying on her side on a motel bed after an injection of a solution of the lycanthropy delaying and STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy evoking herb, monk's hood. Seeing Brigitte lying on her side in bed reminded us that the first time that we saw Charlotte in LOST IN TORONTO, she too was lying on her side on a hotel bed in a room at the Park Hyatt Tokyo. Significantly, however, Sullivan also soon implied that he was concerned about a CGI enhanced blockbuster beast linked to Spielberg rather than Lucas. For the ghost of the implicitly Lucas linked Ginger-played again by Isabelle-appeared in a Hoth evoking winter snowscape like the ghost of Jedi Master Ben Obi Wan Kenobi-played by Sir Alec Guinness-in the implicitly Spielberg bashing and Lucas executive produced allegorical Irv Kershner film, STAR WARS EPISODE V: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (1980), implicitly affirming Ginge's link to Lucas and warning Brigitte that an implicitly Spielberg linked blockbuster werewolf beast was stalking her.
This warning reminded us that Spielberg had implied in his guilt stricken, twilit and allegorical film, MINORITY REPORT (2002), that he had had more prior knowledge of the use of Chen and Le on the Landis set of TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE that fateful night in July of '82 than he had ever admitted in public, causing film artists to turn their anger away from Lucas and toward Spielberg. This implication that Sullivan was now more interested in Spielberg than Lucas was reaffirmed after a werewolf did indeed attack Brigitte and a lonely librarian named Jeremy-played by Brendan Fletcher. For Brendan's assessment of $23.97 in overdue fines for Brigitte shortly before the attack openly linked the werewolf to the 237 date of the TZ disaster, implicitly linking the werewolf to Spielberg as Lucas had never been linked to the day of the TZ disaster as he was not involved in the creation of TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE.
Placed in an asylum for troubled young women after the attack and unable to inject herself with healing solutions of monk's hood, Brigitte slowly transformed into a werewolf over the course of the film. Significantly, while Brigitte faced down and killed the implicitly Spielberg linked blockbuster werewolf, in the end, the film ended with her under the control of the asylum's youngest female member, a blonde and constantly fantasizing girl-played by Tatiana Maslany-who evoked Domino's Ann in FRANKENWEENIE and who was fittingly named Ghost given that Brigitte was haunted by the Jedi-like 'Force' ghost of Ginge throughout the film. As Ghost was obsessed with art, Sullivan implied that Coppola had successfully fought off offers to churn out beastly blockbuster dreck for Hollywood only to be taken over and controlled by her film art for art's sake side-in short, he implied that he found LOST IN TRANSLATION '…too artsy' for his persnickety tastes. A downer ending absent from the allegorical Grant Harvey trimax, GINGER SNAPS III: THE BEGINNING (2004).
'The Other will come!'
For earlier incarnations of the implicitly Coppola and Lucas linked Brigitte and Ginger-played again by Perkins and Isabelle, respectively-triumphed over a group of twilit and implicitly film artist linked Northern Legion Trading Company employees at Fort Bailey-including the implicitly Spielberg linked Doc Murphy (played by Matthew Walker) at the gory end of this curious trimax set in northern Canada in 1815, implying the hope of Harvey that Coppola and Lucas would triumph over their film artist foes, in the end. Incidentally, this curious early nineteenth century prequel to the first two GINGER SNAPS films came across as another wild daydream in the mind of the indomitably fantasizing Ghost or a response to the allegorical Michael Punke novel, The Revenant (2002). For on top of a character named Murphy, the novel featured two Brigitte Fitzgerald evoking characters named Bridger and Fitzgerald who abandoned the Lucas linked Hugh Glass to his fate, implying that Punke was replying to GINGER SNAPS in The Revenant. Film artist Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu certainly implied that he thought so, for he used Fletcher-who played Jeremy, the lonely librarian in GINGER SNAPS II: UNLEASHED and Finn in GINGER SNAPS III: THE BEGINNING-as Fryman in the implicitly Lucas supporting allegorical film, THE REVENANT (2015).
Curiously, the arrival Brigitte and Ginge at and entrance into the fort evoked the arrival at and entrance into the fortress lair of Jabba the Hutt by C3P0 and R2D2-played by Anthony Daniels and Kenny Baker, respectively-at the Tatooine beginning of the Lucas executive produced and implicitly Spielberg roasting allegorical Richard Marquand trimax, STAR WARS EPISODE VI: RETURN OF THE JEDI (1983). This linked all three GINGER SNAPS films to an individual film of the STAR WARS Classic Trilogy, reaffirming that the Ginger Snaps Trilogy was just as interested in Lucas as Coppola. The isolated and snowbound northern fort and its personnel also evoked the isolated American Antarctic research station in the presciently twilit and allegorical John Carpenter film, THE THING (1982), openly linking the film to the twilit and disastrous year of 1982. A fitting link, for the blockbuster beast linked extraterrestrial monster that slowly killed the younger New Hollywood director linked personnel of the Antarctic station of THE THING or caused them to kill themselves returned as a pack of beastly blockbuster werewolves that slowly killed the twilit fort personnel of GINGER SNAPS III: THE BEGINNING or caused them to kill themselves. Significantly, Brigitte and Ginger avoided the fate of the doomed men when the banished Ginger returned to the fort in a hooded cape like Mark Hamill's Luke Skywalker at Jabba's palace in STAR WARS EPISODE VI: RETURN OF THE JEDI and saved Brigitte from twilit blockbuster beasts and beastly men, in the end.
Curiously, the implicit support given to Coppola in GINGER SNAPS III: THE BEGINNING was also implicitly given to her the following year by Tony Scott when he implicitly and enthusiastically toasted Coppola in his Ozian themed and LICK THE STAR and LOST IN TRANSLATION evoking allegorical film, DOMINO (2005).
'To the woman who has brought beauty and grace to this profession, Domino Harvey!'
Indeed, Scott likened Coppola's courage in taking on the alpha male film artists of Hollywood and her unflinchingly tough but uncompromisingly feminine and feminist style of film art to a real life and equally tough but uncompromisingly feminine, feminist and implicitly Dorothy linked bounty hunter, Domino Harvey-played by Keira Knightley-in DOMINO. This implication was affirmed by the name of Domino, which evoked the favourite nom d'art of Coppola in her film acting youth, and by Domino's famous film and telefilm actor father, Laurence Harvey-played by Jesse Pate-who evoked Coppola sr. Indeed, the appearance of Rourke as Domino's implicitly Lucas and Scarecrow linked boss, Ed Moseby, head of the reality tv bounty hunter A-Team, the Bounty Squad, openly affirmed the implicit link of Harvey father and daughter to Coppola father and daughter via Rourke's role as Motorcycle Boy in RUMBLE FISH.
The fact that Scott also implicitly roasted Toronto in DOMINO as much as Coppola implicitly did in LOST IN TORONTO reaffirmed his implicit support for Coppola in DOMINO. Indeed, the presence of Stanley Kamel as the Moses Znaimer resembling gangster, Anthony Cigliotti, implicitly affirmed the interest of Scott in Toronto. In fact, Scott one upped Coppola in LOST IN TRANSLATION by symbolically blowing up the CN Tower observation deck and the implicitly film artist linked bad guys in a CGI aided explosion that blew up the observation deck of the tower of the Stratosphere Hotel and Casino in the implicitly Emerald City linked Las Vegas at the end of the film, for the stratospheric tower not only resembled the CN Tower but, at 350 m, was the tallest building in Las Vegas, Nevada and the United States, second in height in North America only to the 553 m of the CN Tower. Indeed, the fact that the CN Tower evoking hotel and casino was owned by Dabney Coleman's implicitly Great Oz linked Drake Bishop affirmed the implicit interest in Toronto in DOMINO, for Bishop's name evoked Toronto pop star Drake and the Billy Bishop Airport across Toronto Harbour from the CN Tower on Toronto Island.
Significantly, Bishop's name also evoked the Colonial Marine Private Drake-played by Mark Rolston-and Bishop the android-played by Lance Henriksen-in the twilit and allegorical Cameron film, ALIENS (1986), linking Bishop to Cameron. This implicit link of Bishop to Cameron was reaffirmed by the raging gun battle that preceded the towering explosion-a raging gun battle and explosion to the tune of the 1999 Tom Jones cover of the allegorical Three Dog Night tune, 'Mama Told Me Not To Come' (1970)-for the ferocious gun battle evoked the equally ferocious and explosive gun fight at the Cyberdyne headquarters at the end of the twilit, implicitly Lynch roasting and allegorical Cameron film, TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY (1991).
As Bishop and Moseby-and Moseby's Chewie and Cowardly Lion evoking partner, Choco (played by Edgar Ramirez)-died in the closing gun battle, Scott also implied his hope that the indie film art for film art's sakes of Coppola would triumph over the big budget and CGI enhanced film art of Cameron and Lucas-if not top them both by finally succeeding in breaking film art free from the TZ disaster and the dread Zone Wars. While over the top and as about as subtle as a bull in a china shoppe-and a film that paved the way for a super satirical roast of Coppola to come-the exuberance of DOMINO no doubt helped inspire Domino to return with Air, Beggs, Coppola, Dunst, Roos, director of photography Lance Acord-from LICK THE STAR-and second unit director Roman Coppola, film editor Sarah Flack, co-producer Ross Katz and music producer Brian Reitzell-all from LOST IN TORONTO-and Squarepusher-who contributed the allegorical instrumental, 'Tommib' (2001), to the soundtrack of LOST IN TOKONTO-to implicitly address Lucas again in her next allegorical and CGI free docufeature film, MARIE ANTOINETTE (2006), a film that continued Coppola's interest in Lynch by alluding to BLUE VELVET and the allegorical moving paintings, THE ELEPHANT MAN (1980) and DUNE (1984).
'Possibly.'
Indeed, the dimunitive, diffident, socially awkward and psychologically impotent King Louis XVI-played by Coppola's cousin, Jason Schwartzman-was implicitly linked to the equally dimunitive, diffident, socially awkward and perhaps psychologically impotent Lucas throughout the film, an implicit interest in roasting Lucas affirmed by the film's allusions to AMERICAN GRAFFITI, the two STAR WARS trilogies and THX 1138. The sight of his sweet and pleasant Austrian Queen, Marie Antoinette-another Hollywood blonde whose life was as dull, stifled and lonely as the Lisbon sisters, and played by Dunst-turning in bored frustration to the dashing Swedish soldier Count Fersen-played by Jamie Dornan-for a lively affair reaffirmed the implicit Lucas addressing intent of MARIE ANTOINETTE, for the extramarital affair reminded us that Marcia, the first wife of Lucas, also turned in bored frustration to an extramarital affair with Tom Rodriguez, leading to the Great Divorce of 1983. The film's cinematography also affirmed the film's implicit Lucas roasting intent, for it wryly and ironically evoked the cover and interior photos shot by Annie Liebovitz for the February 2005 STAR WARS edition of VANITY FAIR. Thus, the inability of King Louis XVI to truly connect with Queen Marie Antoinette or his people and the mobs that swept him from power implicitly symbolized the inability of Lucas to truly connect with Portman's Princess Amidala and the STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy and the furious audiences that rejected him again between 1999-2005 like they had in 1983. As such, it was fitting that Dunst played Marie Antoinette, given that she had already implicitly symbolized a film artist's inability to truly connect with their film art in THE VIRGIN SUICIDES.
Curiously, Marie Antoinette and Prince Louis XVI first met each other in a French forest on May 14, 1770 as she travelled by coach to Versailles from Austria. 2 Thus, there was a link between young Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, Lucas and even Coppola, for May 14th was the shared birthday of Coppola and Lucas. Just as curiously, MARIE ANTOINETTE was the third film openly linked to 1982 by an older male actor, in this case Rip Torn, who played King Louis XV of France. For Torn-who was linked to Coppola sr. by way of his role as I.H. Chanticleer, 'Curator of Icunabula', in the allegorical film, YOU'RE A BIG BOY NOW (1966)-via Torn's eerily Marshall linked character 'Mad' Maax in the eerily twilit, prescient and allegorical Don Coscarelli film, THE BEASTMASTER (1982).
Of course, the angrily shouting mob with the torches, sickles and pitch forks who arrived at Versailles for Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, in the end-fittingly, at chapter 23 on the DVD-evoked the same mobs that often arrived at the end of horror films, including FRANKENWEENIE. This reminded us that Marie Antoinette, with her blonde hair often piled up into elaborate dos and her even bigger blonde wigs, often evoked Elsa Lanchester's Bride of Frankenstein in the allegorical James Whale film, THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935). Particularly when we suddenly found ourselves looking at the nightmarish vision of Marie Antoinette that had been built up in the minds of the angry and bitter French people, a truly Bride of Frankenstein-like nightmare that saw the Queen lying insolently in a bathtub with her blonde hair combed straight up from her head and her pale face accentuated by dark black lipstick, and saying, with dismissive and amused contempt, the immortal and possibly apocryphal words '…let them eat cake'. A nightmarish vision that evoked but was in complete contrast to the bright and colourful but equally infuriating and apocryphal image of the Queen lounging on a couch languorously eating cake while a maid fitted a high heeled shoe on her right foot that opened the film.
Thus, it was a shock to the revolutionary and howling citizens when they arrived with their torches and pitchforks outside Versailles to be greeted by a humble, contrite, human and very ordinary Queen Marie Antoinette when she stepped out on to a balcony to acknowledge them and place herself and her family at their mercy. Alas, that mercy was not given, as Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were cut down with the same unsympathetic fury that audiences heaped on Lucas, Portman and the STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy. Curiously, Coppola's interest in Lucas was implicitly satirized by Anne Fletcher in her LIFE WITHOUT ZOE and MARIE ANTOINETTE evoking allegorical film, 27 DRESSES (2007).
Indeed, the film saw Coppola's continued obsession with the older Lucas and the Tragic Trilogy, with solving the problems and planning the marriages of other people and with not exploring her own themes in her film art gently mocked in the form of the obsession of Katherine Heigl's implicitly Coppola linked Jane Nichols with her older and implicitly Lucas linked boss, George-played by Edward Burns-with planning the weddings of other people, and with not developing her relationship with the younger Kevin Doyle-played by James Marsden. Thus, by having Nichols drop the older George, stop planning other weddings, and marry Doyle instead, Fletcher made it clear that she felt that Coppola should drop Lucas and head off in her own direction. This was a conviction that was implicitly and mostly repeated by Coppola's friend Cassavetes the same year in her allegorical and Coppola addressing film, BROKEN ENGLISH (2007) and by Julie Bertuccelli in her allegorical film, THE TREE (2010). Gently satirical and thought provoking support indeed, which no doubt inspired Coppola when she returned to implicitly bring her Lucas Trilogy full Ozian circle in collaboration with Beggs, Coppola, Coppola Roman, Flack and Roos in her next allegorical, CGI free and Ozian themed docufeature film, SOMEWHERE (2010).
'What's wrong?'
Indeed, Coppola immediately implied that she was bringing her Lucas Trilogy full circle in SOMEWHERE. For the opening prologue saw lost, lonely, frustrated, bored, implicitly Tin Man linked and recently divorced film star, Johnny Marco-played by Stephen Dorff, who evoked Moreby in DOMINO and Harris in LOST IN TRANSLATION-driving a fittingly Forceful four times around a short circular race track in a wicked black Ferrari before stopping, stepping out of his car and staring off somewhere. Significantly, this circular racing that got Marco nowhere recalled another rocketing racer driving round and round on a small track in the allegorical Lucas student short film, 1:42:08 (1966), completed the year Lucas graduated from USC Film School. The fact that after a short opening titles sequence the action switched to a nighttime streetscape outside the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles reaffirmed the implicit Lucas addressing intent of the film, recalling the French locations in MARIE ANTOINETTE in a way that neatly linked the two films together.
Indeed, the POV soon switched to Marco with his right arm around a young woman who resembled Portman and some friends passing a painting straight out of Versailles on a landing as they walked down a staircase to the ground floor of the Chateau Marmont, openly linking SOMEWHERE to MARIE ANTOINETTE to again implicitly affirm that the implicit Lucas roasting intent of the latter film continued in the former. The sight of Marco suddenly tripping and falling down the stairs reaffirmed his implicit link to Lucas, reminding us that the Lucas attempt to succeed with the STAR WARS Millenial Trilogy with the younger Portman was equally disastrous. The sight and sound of Marco recovering from his injury in his bed in his lonely room at the Chateau Marmont and watching blonde twin sisters, Bambi and Cindy-played by Kristina and Karissa Shannon, respectively-performing burlesque pole dances for him also affirmed his implicit link to Lucas.
For Bambi and Cindy not only evoked the two failed STAR WARS Trilogies, but also evoked the Afro holo-dancers that Robert Duvall's THX 1138 watched on holo-tv in his equally lonely and solitary subterranean apartment in THX 1138. Of course, this allusion to THX 1138 reminded us that the labyrinthine existence of Marco in the hallways and rooms of the Chateau Marmont evoked the equally labyrinthine existence of Harris in the hallways and rooms of the Park Hyatt Tokyo in LOST IN TRANSLATION, reaffirming that Coppola was addressing Lucas again and bringing her Lucas Trilogy full circle. Indeed, the sight and sound of Marco being driven around L.A. to film related duties, pondering irritating texts on his phone and his strained phone calls with his ex- and implicitly L.A. linked wife, Layla-played by Lala Sloatman-evoked the sight and sound of Harris being driven around Tokyo to photo sessions for Suntory whisky, pondering irritating faxes from his wife, Lydia-her name evoking intrepid TV reporter Lydia Perl in THE VIRGIN SUICIDES, and voiced by Steiner-and his strained phone conversations with her in LOST IN TRANSLATION, affirming the implicit link of the two characters. The resemblance of SOMEWHERE to LOST IN TRANSLATION reminded us that the resemblance of STAR WARS EPISODE VI: RETURN OF THE JEDI to STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE had disappointed audiences, reaffirming the implication that Lucas was being addressed SOMEWHERE.
Of course, the name of Johnny Marco also recalled Ford's implicitly Coppola sr. and Scarecrow linked Han Solo in the STAR WARS Classic Trilogy and Paul Le Mat's implicitly Great Oz and John Milius linked John Milner in AMERICAN GRAFFITI. This link to AMERICAN GRAFFITI was reaffirmed by Marco's occasional excursions outside the Chateau Marmont driving around with his Dorothy and Zoe evoking daughter, Cleo-played by Elle Fanning-for they recalled the Ozian journeys driving down the yellow lined road that Carol-played by Mackenzie Phillips-with Milner in his Yellow Brick Road coloured '32 Deuce Coupe in AMERICAN GRAFFITI. Of course, Marco's film long obsession with beautiful Hollywood blondes-literally in this case, including a beautiful blonde in a Mercedes played by Angela Vindvall-also recalled the obsession of the Cowardly Curt Henderson-played by Richard Dreyfuss-with the mysterious and implicitly Glinda linked blonde in her '56 white T-bird-played by Suzanne Somers-in AMERICAN GRAFFITI as much as the obsession of the teenage nerds with the equally beautiful and mysterious blonde Lisbon sisters of THE VIRGIN SUICIDES.
In addition, the sight of Marco fleeing his dead end hotel labyrinth world and his failed relationship with Cleo-a failure to connect with Cleo that evoked the failure of Harris to connect with Charlotte or Lydia in LOST IN TRANSLATION and the failure of Lucas to connect with audiences with both Ozian themed STAR WARS Tragic Trilogies-and driving out of L.A. into the arid countryside in the end in his rocketing black Ferrari-its licence 5ZUO782 evoking the Lucas fondness for Ozian themed film art and linking the film to the fateful month and year of the TZ disaster when everything began to go wrong for Lucas in lieu of an actor linked by a film role to 1982-evoked the similar beginning of the allegorical and implicitly Lucas addressing Spielberg film, DUEL (1971), reaffirming the implicit Lucas roasting intent of the film. Of course, the stretch of semi-desert road that Marco was seen striding irresolutely off to somewhere or nowhere after abandoning his wicked black Ferrari not only brought the film full circle, but also recalled the similar Paradise Road at the end of AMERICAN GRAFFITI, a final link to that film openly affirmed by the inclusion in the closing titles of Bryan Ferry's cover of 'Smoke Gets in Your Eyes' (1974), the love theme of AMERICAN GRAFFITI. Thus, and in the end, Coppola gently but firmly and implicitly chided Lucas for abandoning the artistry of AMERICAN GRAFFITI and THX 1138 for the commercialism of the two double trouble STAR WARS trilogies and reminded him that it was not too late to make one of the small art films he had been threatening to make since the success of STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE-particularly a better art film like SOMEWHERE.
Curiously, Stan 'the Man' Lee and Marvel Studios were implicitly inspired by DOMINO to attempt but fail to transform Domino into Dominatrix in the implicit form of ex-Russian assassin, Tokyo fashion model and SHIELD secret agent Natasha 'Black Widow' Romanoff-created by Lee, Don Rico and Don Heck for Marvel Comics, and played by an unwary Johansson, swallowed up alas by the blockbuster beast-and had her fight alongside the implicitly Jason Reitman linked Tony 'Iron Man' Stark-played by Robert Downey jr.-the implicitly Diablo Cody linked Pepper Potts-played by Gwyneth Paltrow-the implicitly Clement Virgo linked James 'War Machine' Rhodes-played by Don Cheadle-and the implicitly Spike Lee linked SHIELD Director Nicholas J. 'Nick' Fury-played by Samuel L. Jackson-against the implicitly Sir Scott linked Evildoer Ivan 'Black Tsar' Vanko-played by Rourke-in the allegorical and CGI enhanced super satirical Jon Favreau film, IRON MAN 2 (2010). Indeed, the film's allusions to DOMINO, LOST IN TRANSLATION and MARIE ANTOINETTE and the appearance of Rourke-who played Moseby in DOMINO-as Black Tsar implicitly affirmed that Coppola was being satirized in the film. More allusions to LOST IN TRANSLATION and MARIE ANTOINETTE in the allegorical Sarah Polley film, TAKE THIS WALTZ (2011), implied that Polley was sympathetically addressing Coppola in the form of Margot-played by Michelle Williams-and urging her not to give up on Lucas in that film.
As for Lucas and Anthony Hemingway, they implied that they did not share her assessment of Lucas and the STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy, petulantly and implicitly roasting her and Coppola sr. in the allegorical and CGI enhanced film, RED TAILS (2012). Significantly, that same year Sir Scott implicitly warned Coppola in the implicit form of Doctor Elizabeth 'Ellie' Shaw-played by Noomi Rapace-to stick to her indie film art and avoid the alienated and CGI enhanced blockbuster beast lest she give birth to an alienated and CGI enhanced blockbuster beast like Shaw-a beast that almost killed her-in his gleefully nightmarish and ironically CGI enhanced Scott Free film, PROMETHEUS (2012). Thus, Coppola was no doubt grimly amused and pleased that the implicitly Coppola linked Natasha 'Black Widow' Romanoff-played again by Johansson-beat the implicitly Sir Scott linked Clint 'Hawkeye' Barton-played by Jeremy Renner-so badly he woke him up from the Evil spell placed on him by the implicitly Spielberg linked Loki-played by Tom Hiddleston-towards the end of the allegorical, CGI enhanced and Loki battling Joss Whedon super satirical film, MARVEL'S THE AVENGERS (2012).
As for Coppola, she soon returned to implicitly bash Reitman when she returned to the Temple Theatre with Battat, Beggs, Coppola, Coppola Roman, Dunst-as herself-Flack, Reitzell, Roos and costume designer Stacey Battat, production designer Anne Ross, the musicians of Phoenix and director of photography Harris Savides-all appearing out of SOMEWHERE-with the allegorical and CGI free docufeature film, THE BLING RING (2013), inspired by the allegorical article, 'The Suspects Wore Louboutins' (VANITY FAIR March 2010), by Nancy Jo Sales, who was reimagined in the film as intrepid VF reporter, Kate-played by Annie Fitzgerald.
'Yo, home skillet, what's going on?'
Indeed, naïve, insecure, and incipiently transsexual teen celebrity wannabe, Marc Hall-played by Israel Broussard-and his film industry linked father-played by Marc Coppola-were implicitly linked to Reitman and his film artist father, Ivan Reitman, throughout the film. Coppola affirmed this implicit link to Reitman by implicitly linking his fellow equally insecure but more manipulative teen celebrity wannabe, Rebecca Ahn-played by Katie Chang-to Cody, screenwriter of the allegorical Reitman films, JUNO (2007), and YOUNG ADULT (2011)-the latter of which was a film that implicitly bashed notoriously iconoclastic Mississauga film scholar, Gary W. Wright. In fact, the resemblance and implicit link of Chloe-yet another Hollywood blonde, and played by Claire Julien-to the implicitly Wright linked Mavis Gary-played by Charlize Theron-in YOUNG ADULT reaffirmed the implicit Reitman roasting intent of the film. In addition, the fact that the name of Nicki-played by Emma Watson-evoked Nick Naylor-played by Aaron Eckhart-in the allegorical Reitman film, THANK YOU FOR SMOKING (2005), also affirmed the implicit Reitman addressing intent of THE BLING RING. Of course, the fact that the Dorothy evoking orphan, Sam-played by Taissa Farmiga-was the daughter of Vera Farmiga, who played Alex in the allegorical Reitman film, UP IN THE AIR (2009), reaffirmed the implicit interest of Coppola in young Reitman and his film art.
In addition, Chloe's name evoked not just mean girl Chloe in LICK THE STAR but also Amanda Seyfried's implicitly Sarah Polley linked GTA escort Chloe in the allegorical Atom Egoyan film, CHLOE (2009), reaffirming Coppola's implicit interest in GTA film art, film artists and film 'scholars'. Last but not least, the choice of the allegorical Deadmaus tune, 'FML' (2009), on the fittingly lost and confused soundtrack openly affirmed Coppola's interest in the GTA and its artists. Thus, by having Rebecca lead Marc, Chloe, Nicki and Sam astray on a film star targeting car and home robbery spree in the Hollywood Hills that evoked the shopping spree to the tune of Bow Wow Wow's 1982 cover of the allegorical and exuberantly lascivious Strangelove tune, 'I Want Candy' (1965), of Marie Antoinette and her aristocratic pals in MARIE ANTOINETTE-a link affirmed by the appearance of Dunst in their favourite celebratory nightclub-so that the hilariously harebrained celebrity wannabees-who foolishly posted pix of their exploits on the internet-could vicariously share in the fortune and glory of their favourite stars-most of whom lived lives as empty and meaningless as their own- only to wind up in the everyday nowhere horror of prison, Coppola implied that Diablo and Reitman-and perhaps even Wright-were not just dumb and talentless wannabees, but on the road to nowhere, as well.
Curiously, while joining SOMEWHERE in lacking an actor who openly linked the film to 1982 via an appearance in a film in that twilit and disastrous year, the film's implicit link to the disastrous year of 1982 was reaffirmed by the names of three of the main film stars and celebrities that were robbed by the Bling Ring. For Orlando Bloom, Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan all had names that could be almost, or fully, turned into anagrams for Landis. A link to twilit disaster reinforced by the digifilm news coverage of the Bling Ring by TMZ.com, a 'T-Z' coverage of their thefts and arrests that ironically gave the Bling Ring the fifteen minutes of fame they all craved. The curious fact that Rachel Lee, the real life Ring Bling leader who inspired the character of Ahn, had a name that evoked Myca Le, one of the children killed in the TZ disaster, and Sean Young's Rachael Tyrell in BLADE RUNNER, also reaffirmed the implicit links of the Bling Ring to 1982. Rachel also had a stepfather named Phil whose name evoked Philip K. Dick, who not only wrote the allegorical and implicitly Walt Disney bashing novel, Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? (1968), that inspired BLADE RUNNER, but also died in March of 1982, in yet more links of the Bling Ring to the twilit and disastrous year of 1982.
Curiously, the Sales companion volume, The Bling Ring (2013), also revealed how fitting Coppola's choice of film was. For the tragicomic tome pointed out that Alexis Neiers and Tess Taylor, two of the real life Bling Ringers, had a bit part in a lesbian love scene in the allegorical Robert Bennett film, FRAT PARTY (2009), a 'film' that was another implicit allegorical meditation on the relationship of Coppola and Lucas. At any rate, Coppola was also implicitly given another super satirical roast in the form of Natasha 'Black Widow' Romanoff-played again by Johansson-when she rejoined the implicitly Jackson linked Fury to fight alongside the implicitly Clint Eastwood linked Steve 'Captain America' Rogers-played by Chris Evans-against the perfidious forces of HYDRA in the allegorical and CGI enhanced Anthony and Joe Russo film, CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER (2014).
However, the high quality of THE BLING RING and the other film art of Coppola was clearly as appreciated by Nancy Meyers as it was by Harvey, Scott and Sullivan, for Meyers implicitly toasted Coppola and her film art in her sympathetic and LOST IN TRANSLATION evoking allegorical docufeature film, THE INTERN (2015)-a somehow fitting support given that Meyers, like Coppola, had recently addressed Lucas and his new STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy in her own allegorical Lucas Trilogy composed of SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE (2003), THE HOLIDAY (2006) and IT'S COMPLICATED (2009).
'You do inspire, Jules'.
Indeed, the MARIE ANTOINETTE evoking Antoinette dress that Anne Hathaway's Coppola resembling and implicitly linked Jules Ostin-with her Lux Lisbon evoking name-was seen contemplating at her internet fashion firm with its Antoinette and Lick The Star evoking name, About the Fit, early in the film affirmed the implicit interest in Coppola in THE INTERN. The relationship that developed between Ostin and the implicitly Coppola sr. linked retiree intern, Ben Whittaker-played by Robert De Niro-evoked that between Charlotte and Harris in LOST IN TRANSLATION and also implied that THE INTERN was symbolically meditating on the passing of the allegorical film torch from Coppola sr. to Coppola at American Zoetrope. The fact that the film ended with Ostin deciding not to hire a promising San Francisco based CEO she was reluctantly persuaded to hire to help her head About the Fit reaffirmed the implicit Coppola addressing intent of THE INTERN, for San Francisco had been the physical, philosophical, intellectual, artistic, creative, emotional and spiritual home of American Zoetrope since the late Sixties.
For his part, Whedon had the implicitly Coppola linked Natasha 'Black Widow' Romanoff-played again by Johansson-team up again with the rest of the dissembling Avengers for more CGI enhanced superheroic satire in the allegorical film, THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON (2015). For their part, the Russo Brothers also implicitly linked Coppola to Black Widow-played again by Johansson-and ironically had her fight with a group of mostly and implicitly Canadian film artist and film 'scholar' linked superheroes led by the implicitly Reitman linked Iron Man-played again by Downey jr.-and joined by the implicitly Gardevil linked Peter 'Spider-Man' Parker-played by Tom Holland-against a group of implicitly American film artist linked superheroes led by the implicitly Eastwood linked Steve 'Captain America' Rogers-played by Evans-in their allegorical and CGI enhanced super satirical film, CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (2016). Curiously, DC Comics and Warner Brothers also implicitly decided that Coppola was worthy of a super satirical roast that year in the implicit form of Diana 'Wonder Woman' Prince-inspired by the character created for DC by Doctor William M. Marston in the despairing depths of World War Two, and played by Gal Gadot-who teamed up with the implicitly Gardevil linked Bruce 'Batman' Wayne-played by Ben Affleck-and the implicitly Reitman linked Clark/Kal-El 'Superman' Kent-played by Henry Cavill-to save the world in the allegorical and CGI enhanced Zack Snyder film, BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE (2016).
As for Coppola, she implicitly and furiously responded to at least two film artists when she returned to explore the horror of everyday life with a vengeance with Beggs, Coppola, Coppola Roman, Dunst, Fanning, Flack, Phoenix, Roos and Ross with the similar but CGI free allegorical docufeature film, THE BEGUILED (2017), inspired by the allegorical Thomas Cullinan novel, The Beguiled (1966), and by the allegorical Don Siegel film, THE BEGUILED (1971).
'Bon appetit.'
For the sight and sound of Oona Lawrence's implicitly Bigelow linked Amelia 'Amy' Dabney coming across Colin Farrell's wounded Union Army Corporal John Patrick McBurney while out exploring and foraging in a dark, spooky, steamy and sultry Civil War forest in Virginia at the beginning of the film evoked the sight of Gatlin Griffith's young Henry 'Hank' Wheeler being approached by Josh Brolin's escaped and injured convict Frank Chambers at the beginning of the allegorical Reitman film, LABOR DAY (2013). Indeed, Amy's pet frog, Henry, shared the first name of Henry Wheeler, affirming an implicit Reitman addressing intent in THE BEGUILED. Seeing Amy help Cpl. McBurney back to her nearby school, Miss Farnsworth's Seminary For Young Ladies, so that Nicole Kidman's Miss Farnsworth could tend to his injuries reaffirmed the implicit Reitman addressing intent of the film, evoking a character named Mrs. Farnsworth-played by Marceline Hugot-seen briefly in a drugstore at the end of LABOR DAY.
Curiously, however, Miss Farnsworth's Seminary For Young Ladies also evoked Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children run by Eva Green's eccentric, pipe smoking, shapeshifting and implicitly Milla Jovovich linked Miss Alma Peregrine in the allegorical Burton film, MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN (2016). Indeed, the Georgia born and raised Amy's resemblance to the implicitly Coppola linked Fiona-played by Georgia Pemberton-in MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN implicitly affirmed Coppola's interest in that film. In addition, a 'Burton' hidden within the names of Cpl. John Patrick McBurney reaffirmed the implicit interest in Burton in the film.
Thus, given the implicit interest in Burton and Reitman in the film, and the fact that, after first having the lower half of his left leg amputated by Miss Farnsworth, Cpl. McBurney died a painful death at his last supper as a result of eating poisonous mushrooms gathered by Amy due in part to his rape of the twilit young teacher, Miss Edwina Morrow-played by Dunst-Coppola implied that she hated both LABOR DAY and MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN and was furiously and symbolically killing off both film artists, in the end. And righteously furious was the word, given that Cpl. McBurney died the first on screen death in a Coppola film, an agonizing death that was the ultimate manifestation of the horror of everyday life. At any rate, some film art related point was implicitly being made in THE BEGUILED, for the name of the Farnsworth school linked another Coppola film to 1982 via actor/stuntman Richard Farnsworth and his role as gentleman train robber Bill Miner in the allegorical Phillip Borsos film, THE GREY FOX (1982).
Curiously, that same year Rupert Sanders implicitly warned Coppola not to allow herself to become a ghostly and intelligent human cog trapped in the blockbuster CGI enhanced machine like the implicitly Coppola linked Major Mira Killian-played by Johansson-in the allegorical and CGI enhanced film, GHOST IN THE SHELL (2017), an implication affirmed by the film's allusions to LOST IN TRANSLATION and THE BLING RING. A timely warning, for DC and Warner Brothers implicitly roasted Coppola again in the implicit form of Diana 'Wonder Woman' Prince-played again by Gadot-and had her fight the possibly Stan 'the Man' Lee linked Sir Patrick Morgan-played by David Thewlis-and his implicitly Jack 'King' Kirby linked partner-in-Evil, General Ludendorff-played by Danny Huston-with the aid of the implicitly Lucas linked Steve Trevor-played by Chris Pine-in the allegorical and CGI enhanced super satirical Patty Jenkins film, WONDER WOMAN (2017). Indeed, the presence of Huston as Ludendorff affirmed the implicit Coppola satirizing intent of the film, as Huston played Austrian Emperor Joseph, brother of sweet Marie, in MARIE ANTOINETTE. The resemblance of WONDER WOMAN to the allegorical and CGI enhanced Joe Johnston super satirical film, CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER (2017), reaffirmed the implication that the film was responding to Marvel.
Later that same year, DC and Warners also returned the implicitly Coppola linked Diana 'Wonder Woman' Prince-played again by Gadot-to the Temple Theatre to save the world again alongside the implicitly Gardevil linked Bruce 'Batman' Wayne-played again by Affleck-the implicitly Reitman linked Clark/Kal-El 'Superman' Kent-played again by Cavill-the implicitly Jay Baruchel linked Barry 'the Flash' Allen-played by Ezra Miller-and the implicitly Luc Besson linked Arthur 'Aquaman' Curry-played by Jason Momoa-as a member of the super satirical Justice League in the allegorical and CGI enhanced Zack Snyder film, JUSTICE LEAGUE (2017). The following year, Marvel Studios struck back by petulantly and implicitly linking Coppola in the form of Natasha 'Black Widow' Romanoff-strangely played again by Johansson-again to their super group alongside the implicitly Reitman and Wright linked Stark and Parker-played again by Downey jr. and Holland, respectively-in a titanic struggle against the implicitly Eisner linked Thanos-played by Brolin-in the allegorical and CGI enhanced super satirical Russo Brothers film, AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR (2018).
Gary Ross also no doubt implicitly linked Coppola to one of the implicitly female film artist linked mischief makers-possibly Hathaway's Daphne Kruger-of the all female gang in his allegorical film, OCEAN'S 8 (2018), given the implication that the male protagonists of the OCEAN films were linked to male film artists. However, the laugh was on Disney, Marvel Studios and Ross, as better overall than their super satires was the scintillatingly allusive and elusive and insistently feminine and male film artist roasting film art of Coppola, and on a path that proved that in good hands was the family business after a lifelong internship with Mama, Papa, Grandpa, Auntie, Beggs, Roos and Tavoularis-and even poor ol' 'Uncle' George-and one that still was somewhere in translation.
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Weber, Queen Of Fashion, p. 37.
Cullinan, Thomas. The Beguiled. New York: Penguin Books,
Coppola, Sofia. Marie Antoinette. New York: Rizzoli International Publications, Inc., 2006.
Cowie, Peter. Coppola: a biography. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1990.
Jasmin, Paul. Lost Angeles. Steidl, Germany: Edition 7L, 2004.
Moorcock, Michael. The Fortress Of The Pearl. New York:
Ace Books, 1989.
Punke, Michael. The Revenant. New York: Picador, 2015.
Sales, Nancy Jo. The Bling Ring. New York: itbooks, 2013.
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Weber, Caroline. Queen Of Fashion: what Marie Antoinette wore to the Revolution. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2006.


Downing Street From the Inside. The media spinners at 10 Downing Street have produced an "exclusive insight" into the working life of Mr Blair. It is probably positive from a PR perspective to show the hectic role of the PM and the personal sides of Mr Blair. Not least to meet the charm of Mr Cameron, which seems to have caught the public opinion. But it is always interesting to get an insight, though edited, into what top politics today demand. In this short film, one thing that is quite clear is the demand on political leaders to be able to adapt swiftly to sudden events and changed conditions.