The Bling Ring : when the target is to get famous and rich

Publié par Marie sur 28 Juin 2013, 16:53pm

Catégories : #Sofia Coppola, #drama, #Emma Watson, #Katie Chang, #Israel Broussard

The Bling Ring : when the target is to get famous and rich

After Lost in Translation, Virgin Suicides and Somewhere, Sofia Coppola is back with The Bling-Ring. She gives us her vision of the "L.A lifestyle", including celebrity, superficality and the impact of the brands on teenagers.

SYNOPSIS: Inspired by actual events, a group of fame-obsessed teenagers use the internet to track celebrities' whereabouts in order to rob their homes.

We are used to always watch the same themes in each Coppola's movies: the boredom, emptiness, inanity. Bling-Ring is not an exception: Coppola shows us more than ever how our society is somehow absurd. She uses teenagers to denounce the superficiality in Los Angeles, and how kids are attracted by the celebrity and the money.

Coppola has explained that the idea of the movie came when she was reading an article from Vanity Fair intituled "Bling Ring", which was about robberies in celebrity houses. She is herself Francis Ford Coppola's daughter (a very well-known director) so she knows the milieu of celebrity very well.

During the movie, you watch teenagers stealing clothes and jewellery in houses, tracking the stars, analyzing their outfits. At first, it can seem interesting but quickly, it starts beeing boring because all you see is clothes, fashion things. Nothing is behind that, no judgement, no comment. If you are not a fashion addict, all those brands will sting your eyes.

The film lacks substance, even if there is a form of critic behind all of this fashion parade. Coppola also uses irony to criticize the style life in Los Angeles. For example, Nikki's mom is using some kind of yoga education to raise her children, in a spiritual way but she is so obssessed with this way of life that she forgets the essential: giving her children limits.

I would not say that the actors are great: they are good. But the real star is not Emma Watson, it is Katie Chang, who is really convincing in her role of a manipulative leader who screams that she is innocent when everything falls on her back.

I have to admit that I was disappointed because I was expected a real critic about the unhealthy obsession for the celebrity but Sofia Coppola only gives us a objective vision of the facts, it looks more like a documentary.

Bling Ring is similar to Coppola's other films; on the moment, it is interesting but when it is over, nothing remains. It's like a ghost: it doesn't have anything tangible.