La Nouvelle Vague, or “New Wave,” was a cinematic movement that began in France during the late 1950s and early 1960s. It significantly impacted the world of cinema in a revolutionary way as it introduced innovative filmmaking techniques, narrative styles, and auteur-driven approaches to filmmaking. The concept of auteurship was central to the French New Wave and played a crucial role in defining the movement. In the Cahiers du Cinéma, André Bazin quotes Eric Rohmer (another new wave director) when Bazin defines auteurship in his article “La Politique Des Auteurs” as “that in art it is the auteurs, and not the works, that remain” (para.7). To simplify, Rohmer theorizes that a film’s director, not the writers, actors, or anyone else on set, is the film’s genuine creator. That is to say that the director’s individual style and their complete control over all elements of the production of the film is what gives it the filmmaker’s personal and unique stamp. During the 1960s, this movement caught the attention of a new generation of American filmmakers who sought to break away from the studio system’s conventions. Directors like Robert Altman and Martin Scorsese embraced the notion of auteurship, seeking greater creative control over their projects and infusing their films with distinctive personal styles. Through this concept many directors have made a name for themselves in the film world.
Sofia Coppola is an American director who comes from a family deeply rooted in the film industry, being the daughter of renowned filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola. While her familial ties may have opened doors, Sofia Coppola has carved her own path, earning acclaim for her unique voice and style in filmmaking. Coppola is widely recognized as an auteur in contemporary cinema, having established herself with a distinctive and personal approach to filmmaking, specifically through her movies Lost in Translation (2003), Marie Antoinette (2006), Somewhere (2010), and Priscilla (2023). Through her visual style, exploration of isolation and personal identity (specifically through the female leads of Marie Antoinette and Priscilla), and the character-centric narratives that are carefully balanced within her films, Coppola’s work represents a continuation of the New Wave’s legacy of innovation and artistic experimentation in cinema while adding a female perspective that is otherwise lacking in New Wave filmmaking.
Coppola is known for her visually striking and aesthetically pleasing compositions while using innovative storytelling techniques that often involve unconventional narrative structure and minimalist dialogue. This approach is a New Wave technique employed by directors such as Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut, who prioritize mood and atmosphere over plot-driven storytelling. In her most recent film Priscilla, the film begins with a full screen of plush pink petals with small feet taking delicate steps across before the camera cuts to a close-up shot of Priscilla’s face as she applies eye makeup. This shot emphasizes her femininity, and instead of whimsical music to match the aesthetic of the shot, Coppola chooses to play modern rock music as the background music. In this particular shot, we are seeing glimpses of Priscilla’s future with Elvis Presley and Coppola’s choice of rock music in this scene helps to underscore Priscilla’s sense of dislocation and the personal struggles she will face in her tumultuous relationship with the King of Rock and Roll. Music, specifically rock, plays a significant role in many of Coppola’s films, serving as a narrative device to evoke mood, atmosphere, and emotion to immerse viewers in the film’s world. This shot is vibrant and pleasing to look at while making you feel as though you are getting a sense of what the movie is about without actually giving anything away.
Marie Antoinette also uses a visually opulent and stylized aesthetic throughout the film. After Marie Antoinette is married, there is a scene where we see different shots of shoes, food, card games, and her variety of hairstyles that get bigger and bigger as the montage progresses. This scene is full of vibrant colors while modern rock music plays, once again adding to the excitement and contrasting with the feminine aesthetic while simultaneously showing us these overindulgences are her only excitements since coming to the French court. Rather than presenting a strictly traditional period piece, Coppola infuses the film with contemporary elements, including anachronistic music, costumes, and language. This stylistic choice serves to humanize the characters and make them more relatable to modern audiences while also highlighting the timeless themes of youth, privilege, and rebellion.
Coppola contrasts those vibrant, more feminine shots in her 2010 movie Somewhere, which is characterized by its minimalistic dialogue and instead relies on visual storytelling to convey meaning and emotion. The film often features long takes and slow pacing, emphasizing the quiet and contemplative moments in the life of Johnny, played by Stephen Dorff, a movie star living in the Chateau Marmont. Even her music is deliberate and sparing so that when it is present it is meant to enhance the emotional resonance of the scene. In the first 20 minutes of the film we are taken on a repetitive loop of his life of strippers, parties, and sex that uses close-ups and medium shots to focus on his expressions and body language. When Johnny has the strippers come to his room for the second time the song “1 Thing” by Amerie is playing and the camera cuts from the women back to him sitting on the bed in a medium shot that allows us to see him waist up and see the lack of interest written on his face. During this scene even though the music is playing it is not loud enough to drown out the noises of the women’s hands on the pole. Then for close to four minutes of the film we are watching him smoke a cigarette in silence with only the background noise playing for further emphasis of his contemplative moments while lost to the repetitive and seemingly meaningless lifestyles of the rich and famous. Coppola is deliberate in this pace to allow scenes to unfold at a measured rhythm. It contributes to the film’s meditative quality that invites viewers to immerse themselves in the contemplative atmosphere. Each film’s music choice is tailored to its unique narrative and thematic focus, enhancing the storytelling and emotional impact in distinct ways. The music itself plays on the New Waves approach to use music in unconventional ways that evoke mood and enhance the narrative.
Many New Wave films depicted characters who felt alienated from mainstream society or struggled to find their place within it. Films like Taxi Driver (1976) and Easy Rider (1969) are notable examples that explore these themes. Coppola is also known for her reoccurring themes of isolation, alienation, and personal identity within her films which help to define her as a cinematic auteur, further connecting her to the New Wave. Her characters often navigate complex emotions and internal struggles, such as the existential crises faced by Johnny in Somewhere. Even though Johnny is famous and surrounded by people every day he is disconnected from any kind of meaningful relationship. He continues to undergo a mundane repetitiveness that is normal to him, but as we watch the audience can tell he is not happy. Even with his daughter, there is a disconnect in their relationship that is present throughout the film, and it is only after she leaves to go to camp that he realizes that something in his life needs to change. Marie Antoinette and Priscilla also share themes of isolation and personal identity though these movies seem to be more parallel with one another compared to her other films. Both are about a young woman who gives up her old life to be with a man of power and, in the process, loses her autonomy and old identity while trying to figure out who they are supposed to be.
In her films Priscilla and Marie Antoinette, Coppola tells history from the woman’s perspective and shows what they were feeling, and the hardships they went through outside of what was told from their husband’s point of view. In Priscilla, the main character is played by Cailee Spaeny and starts the movie as a seemingly normal fourteen-year-old girl who is suddenly thrust into the spotlight after going to a party where Elvis Presley takes an interest in her. Coppola uses Priscilla’s appearance, the way she speaks, and repetitive shots of her in school to show how young and impressionable she truly is. Even before she moves to Graceland with Elvis we see her so caught up in him that she is mostly alone, wondering when he will call her again. There is little to no dialect after Elvis leaves Germany and we see years go by through the flipping of a calendar as she continues on living but remains stuck on Elvis and what he means to her. We get a few short phone calls and a brief visit to see him before she goes back to waiting for him to acknowledge her once again. When her parents allow her to move in with him she is now 17 and even though she is finally with him she is still alone. She is not allowed to leave Graceland nor is she allowed to invite any friends over. The only friends she really makes are the girlfriends or wives of Elvis’ friends and even then she only sees them when Elvis is home. We see her doing mundane tasks such as homework, reading a magazine with her dog in her arms, and seemingly wandering around lost with only her thoughts for company.
In contrast, Marie Antoinette, played by Kirsten Dunst, was always royalty and in the spotlight; however, her court in Austria was vastly different than the lavishness of the French court. At the beginning of the movie, as soon as she steps foot onto French soil, she is expected to both figuratively and literally strip away her Austrian identity and take on a French persona. She then is left to navigate the complexities of court life while also trying to build a relationship with her new husband. Throughout the first half of the film, she and her husband barely speak at all. They do not speak for their wedding or the party afterward. They sit in silence as they dine together each day, which is made worse by the fact that he will not consummate the marriage. Coppola’s use of silence in this film is powerful as it conveys the emotions and thoughts of her character, just as she does in Priscilla and in Somewhere. Marie is miserable with the knowledge that she cannot fulfill her duty to have an heir, and even as she finds a normal that works for her given her circumstances and makes friends, she is still alienated from the court. In each movie, Coppola focuses on the main characters who are emotionally distant and struggling with a sense of emptiness within their own lives and how this ultimately develops their character.
Like many New Wave filmmakers, Coppola emphasizes character development while prioritizing the internal worlds of her characters and delving into their emotions, relationships, and personal journeys. In Somewhere, Coppola puts a strong emphasis on the familial relationship (or lack thereof) between Johnny and his daughter, highlighting the impact of fame, privilege, and communication. He does not know how to talk to her nor does he really know how to be a father since he is gone most of the time. After he is forced to bring her to Italy with him he starts to do better until it is time for her to leave to go to camp. After returning to his life without her he begins to see how meaningless it really was and decides to change it. The movie ends with him driving off into the horizon until his car runs out of gas, and then he gets out and starts walking. Before the movie ends we get a close-up of his face set with a look of hope as he walks off into the sunset before it cuts to the credits. We don’t know if he is actually saying goodbye to his old life or not nor do we know if he will try harder in his relationship with his daughter, but we have hope just as he does in that moment that he will. This ending elicits a strong emotional response from viewers. By immersing the audience in Johnny’s world throughout the movie and inviting them to empathize with his struggles, this ending continues to foster a sense of connection and empathy that resonates with viewer long after the credits roll. Coppola created Johnny as morally ambiguous, a character that is not simply “good” or “bad” but rather exhibits a mixture of virtues and flaws that makes him more human and relatable, much like filmmakers during the American New Wave who sought to create more nuanced, realistic portrayals of individuals with depth and complexity.
Coppola’s films also tend to center around complex and multidimensional female characters. Her narratives unfold slowly, allowing audiences to observe the nuances of her characters’ experiences. In the endings of all three movies, especially Priscilla and Marie Antoinette, the ending isn’t really an ending but another beginning. At the end of Priscilla, after watching her mentally detach herself from Elvis and start to desire more, we see a significant shift from the teenager who would do anything for him to the woman she chooses to be. She goes to the hotel Elvis is in and after he is sexually aggressive towards her she tells him she is leaving him and walks away. It then cuts to her in a car driving off as Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You” plays. In this moment, she is finally choosing herself instead of trying to be who Elvis was trying to mold her to be, which is a moment of empowerment for her. Even though she still loves Elvis and maybe always will, she is leaving to explore what her life could be away from him. The song itself contributes to the film’s emotional and thematic ambiguity by evoking a complex mixture of enduring affection and separation that enhances the films exploration of love, loss, and personal growth. In this moment Coppola is emphasizing Priscilla’s development as a character and setting her up to begin her new life, a life away from Elvis and what she has known since she was a teenager.
Similarly, the ending of Marie Antoinette has her also leaving in a carriage from the life she knew during the French Revolution. Though she does not choose to leave her life of lavishness like Johnny or Priscilla, she is forced to leave, and during the end scene, she looks outside the carriage window and stares out to the palace lawn and states that she is simply saying goodbye to Versailles. No music plays during this scene, and all you hear is the clip-clop of the horses’ hooves as they ride away. The camera cuts back and forth between Marie and the King as they share a somber look with sad smiles before the camera cuts to the credits. We know historically that they will not have a happily ever after, but the movie’s ending gives the viewer hope that maybe it will work out for them. The absence of music or dialogue in the final scenes accentuates her emotional and social isolation, highlighting the chasm between her desires and her reality while also leaving her final moments open to interpretation even though we know what the characters don’t. Coppola uses a sense of melancholy as the departure signifies Maire’s evolution from a carefree and indulgent queen to a more reflective and somber figure who has to face the consequences of her and her husband’s actions and the changing political landscape. Throughout each movie, we see the main characters meander through life alienated, grappling with issues of identity, social expectations, and personal fulfillment, only to end up choosing themselves in some way and walking away from their old lives, leaving the viewer with hope that it will all work out for them. For all three films, Coppola uses ambiguous endings to create a sense of realism and authenticity that resonates with viewers.
Sofia Coppola’s auteurship is characterized by a careful balance of style and substance, often exploring the human condition with a particular focus on the experiences of women. The atmosphere that she creates with her films establishes the mood of her narrative and creates a balance through the use of visuals. This allows her to create complex feelings that contribute to the substance of her storytelling within each of her films and allows the viewer to empathize with her characters in a way that resonates long after the credits roll. Overall, Coppola’s filmmaking resonates with the spirit and ethos of the American New Wave through her stylistic choices and independent approach to storytelling. While her work has its unique characteristics, it is part of a broader tradition of American cinema that values innovation and artistic expression. Her films make her a notable and influential voice in contemporary cinema.
Works Cited
Bazin, André. “La Politique Des Auteurs.” La Politique Des Auteurs – André Bazin, www.newwavefilm.com/about/la-politique-des-auteurs-bazin.shtml. Accessed 4 Dec. 2023.