Alone on Display: Sofia Coppola's "I Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself"

 

The seeds of one of Sofia Coppola's most controversial and puzzling works were planted via a conversation she had with Jack White regarding the possibility of her directing a video for The White Stripes tremendous Bacharach and David cover of "I Just Don't Know What to do with Myself."  When asked by White how she envisioned the video Sofia responded with what he thought was an off the cuff remark of, "I don't know -- how about Kate Moss doing a pole dance?"  He was probably more than a little surprised when just a few weeks later he was sitting in a studio with Sofia watching Kate doing just this in a startling black and white video Sofia shot with cinematographer Lance Acord.  As Sofia recalled to Lynn Hirschberg in a 2003 New York Times interview, the idea for the video came about, "because I would like to see it. That's the way I work: I try to imagine what I would like to see.''

 

Like her feature films, "I Just Don't Know What to do With Myself" is simultaneously sexy and lonely.  Coppola films Moss with an obvious adoration, and Kate commands the screen the same way she has always controlled the camera, but she's shown in such stark isolation.  There is no audience, no other soul in sight...just the lights, the pole and Kate dancing for a ghost that only she knows.  The video is both empty and erotic and never less than dazzling.  Speaking of the short film Coppola mentioned, "’I know we’re making a sexy video, but it’s sort of brave not to show too much. We want it to be a little Fosse, but I also want it to have that weird Factory feel.”

 

"I Just Don't Know What to do With Myself" wouldn't be the first or last time pole dancing would feature in a Sofia Coppola film.  A famous moment set to Peaches "Fuck the Pain Away" highlights one of the funniest moments in Lost in Translation while one of the saddest moments in Somewhere features two dancers.  A recent preview of The Bling Ring shows Emma Watson on a stage as well. 

 

The White Stripes have sadly never released a compilation DVD of their many striking videos but "I Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself" can easily be seen on the internet for anyone who hasn't experienced it. 

 

-Jeremy Richey, 2013-

A Day at the Zoo: Sofia Coppola's "This Here Giraffe"

 

Two of the absolute defining features of Sofia Coppola's films are control and structure.  This isn't a fly by night artist cranking out one breezy film after another.  Along with Paul Thomas Anderson, Sofia Coppola is the most prepared and studied young American filmmaker working in modern cinema, which is one of several reasons why her charming video for The Flaming Lips "This Here Giraffe" stands distinctly apart in her filmography.   

 

Originally released by The Flaming Lips on their astonishing 1995 album Clouds Taste Metallic, "This Here Giraffe" is among Wayne Coyne and crew's most beloved singles.  The video, directed by Sofia well-after the release of Clouds Taste Metallic, is a freewheeling exercise in fun that could have been co-titled "The Flaming Lips go to the Zoo."  Starring The Lips and beloved Virgin Suicides actress Leslie Hayman, "This Here Giraffe" is the loosest and most freewheeling piece of filmmaking in Sofia Coppola's iconic canon. Improvised, unfocused and incredibly light, "This Here Giraffe" is both silly and endearing...it's the work of a great filmmaker simply enjoying herself behind the camera and it is such a pleasure to watch. 

 

Of course, despite its breeziness, this clearly is the work of Sofia Coppola.  Even in pure fun mode we can see some of her trademark elements shining through especially in the long suburban tracking shots that appear through the video that would not have been out of place at any point in The Virgin Suicides. 

 

Perhaps the thing that makes "This Here Giraffe" especially noteworthy is the appearance of the elusive Lisbon sister Leslie Hayman.  The Virgin Suicides remains the one feature-film credit for the sweet-faced and charismatic Hayman, a close friend of Coppola who modeled for her Milk Fed clothing line, so seeing her pop up throughout "This Here Giraffe" is quite special. 

 

"This Here Giraffe" is, of course, a minor work in Sofia Coppola's filmography but it was never meant to be more than that.  It's an incredibly engaging and warm short film that can be found on The Flaming Lips DVD Void for those interested. 

 

-Jeremy Richey, 2013-

For relaxing times, make it Suntory time: Another Sofia Coppola Playlist

 

Embedded over to the left...

From the pages of The Virgin Suicides: A New Generation's Companion to Film

 

Along with the mega-rare hardcover Virgin Suicides Japanese photo book from 2000 the most valuable collectable a fan of Sofia Coppola's first feature film can find is absolutely the promotional magazine A New Generation's Companion to Film.  This beautiful near fifty page zine is packed with interviews, color photos and behind the scenes shots from the film.  While it occasionally pops up on eBay copies are becoming more and more scarce so I thought I would share a few of my favorite quotes for fellow fans who perhaps don't have it in their collection.  Enjoy!

 

 

"The '70s were not any more or less interesting than any other decade.  The reason we're seeing a lot of movies and books about the '70s is because the generation that grew up during them is now coming of age.  When the '70s were actually happening, everyone felt terrible to be living in them.  We all felt dwarfed by the '60s.  It's only recently that people have begun to think of the '70s as anything other than the curse of aftermath."

-Jeffrey Eugenides-

"I didn't know I wanted to be a director until I read The Virgin Suicides and heard somebody was doing a movie of it but it sounded like they were doing it all wrong.  I felt protective of it, so I started to put down how I saw it and eventually had a script.  I guess when I did my short film, I realized that I knew more about it than I was aware, that maybe I could do it, and that it was so much fun.  Maybe because of who my dad is it was intimidating, so I think I sort of denied it to myself for a long time."
-Sofia Coppola-

 

"I felt closer in age to the kids than the parents-I know what that age is like, especially for the girls.  I did feel a little like a camp counselor at times, though.  It was interesting because a lot of them had never acted before, but Kirsten and a few other were so experienced and knowledgeable about filmmaking."
-Sofia Coppola-

 

 

"With The Virgin Suicides it was like summer camp because I had the other girls to hang out with...the week of rehearsals was really helpful.  It broke the ice and made it possible to shoot so much so fast...the best part is that I know what I want to do with my life.  I want to be a clothing designer and a director and a producer.  I want to do so much it's not even funny.  I feel really lucky that I know what I want.  I think I am a really old soul..."

-Kirsten Dunst-

"Kirsten is a very talented actress.  As she gets older, I think she'll be given the kinds of roles she an take care of.  Right now she only gets the roles that are out there for young kids, not so heavy.  I think that her role in Interview With the Vampire described the way she is...(she's an) old spirit, but she doesn't play it up.  She acts very young.  But she's got some amazing ethereal qualities to her."
-Josh Hartnett-

 

 

"I did a sort of common round of '70s research and then I did more regional research.  I looked at a lot of yearbooks, and actually a lot of photos from my own childhood were useful...for The Virgin Suicides it was a lot of sherbet colors.  But they weren't so much pale colors as light, because the girls aren't so much fragile as light...I trust Sofia's taste and I think she trusted mine, which was a load off my back since I had a lot of characters to dress...with some directors you need to teach them all about the clothes, but with Sofia, she just got it and she knew that I got it, so it was really easy."

-Costume Designer Nancy Steiner-

 

"The majority of the film is being scored by Air, a French band that Sofia loves...I really love playing with them.  the band is actually only two people-Nicolas Godin and J.B. Dunkel-but they hired two keyboardists, a bass player, and myself for their tour.  I feel really lucky to be able to record with them too...they've been asked to do soundtracks before but they've always said no.  I think they wanted to do their first with Sofia because it was her first movie too.  Their taste is similar, yet Air will add a dimension to the film that wouldn't be there otherwise...Those guys are really serious musicians and really serious listeners of music.  It'll be really interesting to see what they do with this film."

-Composer Brian Reitzel-

 

"In the book, the reader is never sure who the Lisbon girls really are.  They're like Cubist portraits viewed from multiple angles.  In the film, the Lisbon girls will appear more real, more finalized, because of the medium."

-Jeffrey Eugenides-

 

 

Operation Screenshot (Films of the 2010s) Sofia Coppola's SOMEWHERE (2010)