Female Film Critics 24/375
Bigelow’s back, Zhao tackles Shakespeare, and More as the fall film festivals unveil their lineups. The fall film festival season kicks off on the Lido in Venice in less than a month, then rolls on from the mountains of Telluride to Toronto, and beyond. This year promises a strong showing from female directors across many lineups. Here are just a few of the exciting films to keep your eyes on!
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In casting Priscilla, filmmaker Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation, Marie Antoinette) chose diminutive 5’1” Cailee Spaeny to play the titular role; she’s visibly dwarfed by 6’5” Jacob Elordi as towering Elvis. Filmed for $20 million in 30 days in Toronto, the film hints that moody, controlling Elvis may have been sexually dysfunctional with a Madonna complex, although rumors were rampant that he had affairs with Ann-Margret, Nancy Sinatra, Connie Stevens, Rita Moreno and Linda Thompson – among others.
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Priscilla scrutinizes Priscilla’s and Elvis’ relationship. Solid but unexciting, writer/director Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla painstakingly anchors its story in Priscilla Beaulieu Presley’s relationship with Elvis. It begins with her high school days in 1959 Germany at the Air Force base where her stepfather and Elvis are stationed. Riding the roller coaster of their relationship, it concludes with her leaving Graceland in 1972.
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Women directors held their own at this year’s New York Film Festival, with impressive films in each of the fest’s coveted programs, from the Main Slate to Revivals. We’ll dip into each of these categories, singling out some of the lesser-known titles, in a women-focused overview of the fest. Starting off with the generally crowd-pleasing Main Slate, a number of women-directed features stood out (eight out of thirty-two, in fact).
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Writer-director Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla will screen as the Centerpiece selection for the 61st New York Film Festival, making its North American premiere Oct. 6 at Alice Tully Hall at the Lincoln Center. Adapted from Priscilla Presley’s best-selling 1985 memoir Elvis and Me, the biopic stars Cailee Spaeny as Priscilla and Jacob Elordi as Elvis. Priscilla is a culminating triumph for Sofia Coppola, a filmmaker with a singular gift for illuminating the interior lives of her characters,” said Dennis Lim, artistic director of the New York Film Festival.
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The New York Film Festival is set to return to the city with a packed schedule of international films. A little over one-fifth of the features this year are directed by women, with several standouts in the coveted Main Slate. Sofia Coppola’s highly anticipated Priscilla is one such feature, scheduled to be the festival’s “Centerpiece” screening. Many critics are eagerly situating Coppola’s film, which is based on Priscilla Presley’s memoir, Elvis and Me, as the femme-centric antidote to Baz Luhrmann’s bombastic rock ‘n’ roll biopic. All assumed comparisons aside, the subject matter is certainly well-suited to its director, given Coppola’s accomplished history of directing moody tales of alienated women.
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Oscar-winning writer-director Sofia Coppola is adapting Priscilla Presley’s best-selling 1985 memoir Elvis and Me into a feature film titled =Priscilla. The biopic will star Cailee Spaeny as Priscilla and Jacob Elordi as Elvis. In the 1980s, Presley’s book quickly became an international sensation as a chronicle of her passionate marriage to The King. She was just 14 years old when she caught the eye of Elvis, who was 24 at the time, during his military service in Germany. They married in 1967, and welcomed a daughter, Lisa Marie, before splitting up in 1972.
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Writer/director Sofia Coppola tackles recognizable, perplexing situations with observational skill. Through calm restraint that communicates volumes, she reveals complex characters who struggle with relationships. In her latest film, Laura slowly but surely begins to suspect that husband Dean is having an affair with his assistant. On the Rocks is quiet, restrained, and wonderful.
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Obsessed with the concept of monogamy/marital fidelity, writer/director Sofia Coppola conveys her smart, sophisticated, incisive observations about men, no doubt formed by the dynastic Coppola family and her first marriage to director Spike Jonze. On the Rocks revolves around a meddling father, his anxious daughter and a marriage that may or may not be falling apart.
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On the Rocks feels a bit like what you’d get if Woody Allen and Wes Anderson made a movie together — only with a lot more feminine energy, empathy, and understanding. Sofia Coppola’s dramedy tackles modern marriage, motherhood, career uncertainty, and parent/adult child relationships with a light touch and strong performances from a talented cast.
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