Sofia Coppola's List Of Favorite Movies Includes A Vampire Cult Classic
Hailing from a family of gifted filmmakers and actors, there was no doubt that Sofia Coppola would be an interesting director from the very beginning, when her first film, "The Virgin Suicides," was released in 1999. The daughter of acclaimed filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, Sofia's entry to the world of motion pictures was through acting — playing a part that has largely been forgotten in her father's film, "The Godfather Part III. Creating a character on film is not unlike creating a movie, and later that decade, the director's chair would house her talents through one beguiling, spellbinding film after the next.
Recent retrospectives of "Lost in Translation," her moody and dreamy second feature from 2003, have placed the director within the lofty echelon her father occupied throughout his career. Her style and evocative aesthetic have harkened back to what made the films of the French New Wave of the 1960s so memorable. By crafting stories that tap into the disillusionment of the modern world, and even similar sensibilities in the past (2006's "Marie Antoinette," taking on Revolutionary-era France, and 2017's "The Beguiled," taking on the Civil War-era American South), Coppola's talents have captured what is paramount in the realm of independent filmmaking.
This is why her list of favorite movies is intriguing as it includes comedies, dramas, and even a certain influential vampire film from the 2000s.
Let the Right One In is one of Sofia Coppola's favorite films
The indie vampire movie "Let the Right One In" has become something of a cult classic in the years since its Swedish release in 2008. In a similar style to director Guillermo del Toro, director Tomas Alfredson combines intense and resonant drama with elements of romance and horror into an effect on the viewer that is both emotional and frightening. When asked by Gwyneth Paltrow (via Goop) to name her favorite movies, Coppola selected this film as one of five. The movie tells the story of a 12-year-old boy named Oskar (Kare Hedebrant) who befriends a mysterious girl named Eli (Lina Leandersson) with a disturbing secret. The film includes a pact between the young characters, which along with its dreamy atmosphere, recalls Coppola's "The Virgin Suicides."
At its core, "Let the Right One In" is a movie about alienation and the bonds of friendship in the most unexpected places. This is one of the central themes of "Lost in Translation" as Bob (Bill Murray) and Charlotte ( Scarlett Johansson) attempt to navigate an unfamiliar city before finding companionship with one another. Although Alfredson's film has several horrific moments, it is always poignant in the quiet and contemplative scenes between its primary characters as well. Coppola is a filmmaker that arranges her shots to speak to a viewer through visual appeal, and watching "Let the Right One In" recalls some of the best images from her career.