Pajamas and Parties: Sofia Coppola releases Doc about Marc Jacobs
The first documentary in Sofia Coppola's career, "Mark through Sofia's Eyes," is dedicated to the influential fashion designer Marc Jacobs. The basis for the painting was several conversations, and he conducts one of them in his pajamas. The narrative is filled with shared memories of Sofia and Jacobs, as their friendship is more than 30 years old. The film contains hundreds of cultural references, and it is aimed at a humanitarian audience with at least a little knowledge of cinema, modern art and dance, and, of course, fashion. It premiered at the last Venice Film Festival. The release is being released in Russia this week.
Who are Sofia and Mark?
The winner of the Golden Lion, Oscar and Golden Globe, multiple winner of the Cannes Film Festival Sofia Coppola can rightfully be considered one of the most respected directors of the 21st century, and perhaps everyone who is at least a little interested in cinema watched her "Difficulties of Translation". All this does not prevent us from admitting that Sofia has slowed down in recent years, her last picture "Priscilla: Elvis and Me" with Jacob Elordi in the role of the King was received rather sluggishly by the public. It is not surprising that a representative of the cinematic dynasty decided to conduct an experiment and turn to the documentary form.
A shot from the movie "Mark through Sofia's eyes"
The hero of the film "Mark through Sofia's eyes" was Marc Jacobs, a couturier with a cult status and, more importantly, just a friend of Sofia. Not everyone knows about this, but she's not just a director: long before her successful debut with Suicide Virgins, Coppola was involved in fashion, created the MILKFED clothing brand, hosted shows in New York - and it was then that she met Marc Jacobs. And, by the way, I've worked with him more than once. They have a lot in common. Both come from very difficult families, talented, bright, intelligent, sensitive to beauty, devouring art with an insane appetite.
The latter circumstance in the film manifests itself mostly in the form of namedropping, which can make watching tedious for those who do not know Pina Bausch, Ryan Werner Fassbinder or Robert Therrien. And vice versa, it is very interesting for those who have these names in awe. Jacobs and Coppola abundantly mention the sources of their inspiration in their conversations, most often without bothering to explain anything, as it happens when they chat about their own and about their own. Occasionally, Coppola will insert at least some explanatory inserts into the picture, but she is clearly counting on the viewer, who will instantly complete the entire associative chain implied by the interlocutors after a second shot from "Daytime Beauty".
A shot from the movie "Mark through Sofia's eyes"
The only exceptions are Bob Fosse and Yves Saint Laurent, whom Jacobs mentions most often. Here, Coppola is happy to insert, in the first case, fragments of classic Fosse films, and in the second, a rare chronicle featuring Saint Laurent, both young and old. In other moments, it is better for the viewer to make notes in a notebook in order to figure out later what Sofia and Mark were talking about, who have known each other for too long and do not make discounts for neophytes.
How did "Mark through Sofia's eyes" turn out?
The composition of the film clearly shows how Coppola's directorial thought moved. First, Sofia came to Jacobs' studio to watch him prepare for the next big show in 2024. The calculation is clear: here we will have a long-term observation, like in the movie "The Greatest Couturier," but Jacobs himself will now sit in his office and give a big interview or several. And the movie is almost ready. That was not the case! The workaholic and control freak Jacobs painstakingly chooses materials for stockings and skirts in the frame, and building a film on this is not so much a risk to make an arthouse movie for not everyone, as it is not very interesting for Sofia herself. And she arranges new interviews, including inviting the ever-tense Jacobs to talk to her in his pajamas so that he could relax a little. He puts students in front of him who have questions for the master. Finally, she runs into the frame herself to enliven the conversation with shared memories and jokes.
A shot from the movie "Mark through Sofia's eyes"
These scenes end up being the most interesting in the movie. They contain a lot of warmth, nostalgia, and a sense of the creative madness in which the characters of this film stewed in the 1990s. Here Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain, Chloe Sevigny and Spike Jones, Takashi Murakami and Sonic Youth break into the fabric of the plot. All this is mounted as a funny video clip, in which you want to stay longer, but it doesn't work out.
Jacobs is incredibly private and does not intend to confess in front of the camera, even if Sofia or her brother Roman, one of the cameramen and producers of the film, is behind it. He will talk very sparingly about his childhood. Nothing about my personal life. Not a word about why he is undergoing psychotherapy. We spend an hour and a half with this man, and he talks almost incessantly, but he is so closed that in the end we only remember his admiration for Liza Minnelli or Elizabeth Taylor. And Jacobs himself remains unapproachable even in a bathrobe.
A shot from the movie "Mark through Sofia's eyes"
We manage to notice his perfectionism, but we don't get to know the people who suffered from it. We see Jacobs' extreme concentration at work, but he does not give Sofia the opportunity to build at least some kind of conflict on this. She tries to translate the interview into the format of friendly gatherings in the style of "While everyone is at home," but even here Jacobs slips away, so even the intimate memories of the hero have to be broadcast for him to the author of the film. It is clear that it is useless to put pressure on him. And Sofia Coppola, of course, knows about the sad fate of the aforementioned painting "The Greatest Couturier," which had been on the shelf for almost 20 years because the director turned out to be too bold and principled when shooting Saint Laurent.
"Mark through Sofia's eyes" is, of course, the result of a creative compromise. Nevertheless, it is very valuable, because it is not every day that the world's leading fashion designer shares with us his thoughts on art, talks about those whose work is especially dear to him, and allows him to look behind the scenes of the catwalk. By observing the details and accidental reservations, an attentive viewer can put together for himself a portrait of Marc Jacobs, such a successful and such a complex man who even keeps a friend of his youth at arm's length.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
