Photo Courtesy of Melodie McDaniel.
Sofia Coppola enters the stage. She is wearing a black cashmere jumper combined with black suit trousers. Her voice is calm and relaxed as she sits down to answer a few questions after the premiere of her latest film PRISCILLA, which will be released in cinemas on 4th of January and soon after on MUBI – a streaming platform where you can discover ambitious films by visionary filmmakers. From iconic directors to emerging auteurs. All carefully chosen by MUBI’s curators.
My anticipation of talking to Coppola was disproportionately high.
The director and screenwriter has touched me with her films. Back then, as a young teenager, at a time when there were still few female directors and few female perspectives were shown in film. When she casually mentions in conversation that it was always her goal to make art films for teenagers, she confirms the feeling I and many others have for her work. She made room in the film industry for female stories, underwritten with the Coppola aesthetic that makes those films so special. Virgin Suicides (1999), Lost in Translation (2003), Marie Antoinette (2006), all these films thrive on cinematic images. In Coppola’s films, still lifes are given just as much attention as fashion, music, the actors and the storyline. A Sofia Coppola film is a balanced interplay of components that work together like a chain. Just like in her latest film PRISCILLA, a nuanced portrayal of Elvis Presley’s wife from the perspective of Priscilla Presley herself, based on her memoirs, which she published in 1985.
Although Coppola says in an interview that she had to cut important scenes due to the length of the film and that it was ‘the hardest thing I ever had to do’, Coppola remains true to herself in her cinematography. Long shots challenge the audience to endure and empathise with the loneliness and isolation of a superstar’s wife. Although Coppola has to cut scenes for reasons of space, she gives lengthy scenes the space they deserve. She gives space to the female perspective of a wife from the sixties. Priscilla wanders alone through her luxurious villa, observes the employees in the house, looks at herself in the mirror. Coppola’s aesthetic and emotional sensitivity runs through Priscilla, as in all her other films. In this interview, she tells us more about her creative process during her filming of Priscilla and her thoughts.
Photo Courtesy of Sabrina Lantos.
SLEEK: In Marie Antoinette, there also was a young girl that marries a king, lives an isolated life in a golden cage. Is this a subject you are especially interested in?
Sofia Coppola: I was aware of the similarity to both stories. I asked myself if it’s maybe even too similar to Marie Antoinette, but this one felt new and different. I am interested in the topic of isolation, but in this story, Priscilla drives her own story where Marie Antoinette doesn’t. In the end, Priscilla leaves. I was impressed by her strength for a woman at that time in the Seventies for a woman do divorce a powerful man without any income of her own. It must have been really difficult. This is my mothers generation and it was exciting to find out more about the role of women at that time.
S: Why are you interested in the topic of isolation?
SC: I am fascinated by the image of a dream on the outside and a nightmare on the inside. The reality behind a beautiful façade that everyone struggles with from time to time. They then become universal stories for everyone, I hope. I am also interested in the concept of the ‘trophy wife’, a trapped woman, not because I have experienced it myself, but I have seen it many times.
S: You’ve been working very closely with Priscilla Presley during the preparations of the film. Did working on a biography hold you back in some way in your artistic freedom?
SC: It was indeed the first time I had to think not only about how to express myself, but also about the responsibility to tell her story as she saw fit. But I feel like she really gave me enough freedom to make my film. She respected my work and trusted me to tell the story with enough sensitivity. She told me her story, but she never came to the set – she really wanted me to make my film. But I felt the responsibility, and I was relieved when she saw the film and was so moved. In the end, she told me: this is what my life looked like.
S: How did you came up with the idea of working on a film about Priscilla’s life?
SC: I read her biography and was really moved by it. When I approached her, asking her making a film out of it, she was first hesitant. Because she is very protective of her own life story and that history. Also because her book came out decades ago. I was so happy when she then let me tell her story.
Photo Courtesy of Philippe Le Sourd.
S: The strength of the film is that you didn’t pass any judgement. Did you think about how to portray Elvis in this film aswell?
SC: The story of Elvis could have been darker. But it’s not Elvis’ story, it’s Priscilla’s. I wanted her to feel comfortable with this film. I also tried not to make him the villain, but show him through her eyes. How she saw him and remembers him.
S: This year there have been a few revelations about men in the music industry. Big age gaps between men and women, assaults, power dynamics – I see a few parallels between those cases and the film.
SC: I think when her book came out in the eighties, people dismissed the issue of the age difference between Elvis and Priscilla. They weren’t open to it. Today, people are much more aware of the power dynamics in romantic relationships. You know, for example, male musicians inviting young girls backstage. These stories are more recognised by audiences today than they were back then. I was struck by how the power dynamic affected their relationship and I can imagine how difficult it was for them to be in that situation.
S: Did you always wanted to make arthouse films for teenagers or is that something you see now, looking back at all of your films you did?
SC: I really wanted to do this from the start. As a young person, there weren’t a lot of quality-films made for young people. Mostly there were cheap comedy movies that weren’t very deep or beautiful to watch. I couldn’t relate to characters or aesthetics at all. I wanted to portray women treated with respect and consideration. That was something that motivated me to make films, because I wanted to see more films, I personally could connect to. I thought young people deserved some more thoughtful films.
S: Your films all have a very specific aesthetic. How is your thinking process when starting a new film?
SC: As I start to write the script, the first thing that comes to mind is: How does the set look like? What is the photography and the colour pallet? I am very visually driven – and then start to listen to music and built the whole atmosphere in my mind. That’s one early element. I come from photography, so that’s always an important element of my films. All in all I want to create an atmosphere that supports the emotion of the story.
Thank you so much for your time, Sofia Coppola!