Sofia Coppola on the inspiration of Frederick Wiseman: “I love his documentaries”
As the daughter of two filmmakers, it was inevitable that Sofia Coppola was going to follow in the family business and make her name in cinema, with the ever-expanding dynasty continuing to add new members to its collection on a generational basis.
After her infamous performance in The Godfather Part III made it clear that she wasn’t cut out for being an on-camera performer, she proved to be a natural behind it. Although her mother Eleanor was a documentarian – most famously helming the seminal Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse about her husband Francis’ nightmarish production – Sofia has remained strictly in the narrative realm.
It’s worked wonders, to be fair, with Coppola winning a ‘Best Original Screenplay’ Academy Award for Lost in Translation, the sole ‘Best Picture’ nominee of an eclectic and acclaimed filmography that also includes The Virgin Suicides, Mary Antoinette, The Bling Ring, and Priscilla.
That doesn’t mean she doesn’t appreciate the art of the documentary, though, and when sharing her preferences in that regard with Le Cinema Club, the Oscar winner plumped for one of the most important and influential names of all time. Pressed on the greatest films she’s ever seen, 1980’s Model made the cut as she explained her adoration of the man behind it.
“Fred Wiseman; I love his documentaries! I love that they take their time and are not story driven, you spend time in these other worlds,” she explained. “I also love The Store by him – set at Neiman Marcus in Dallas in the 80’s – and High School and Aspen.”
Model shines a light on Zoli Management, an exclusive agency located in Manhattan, with the company’s offices inundated with would-be catwalk strutters. Instead of simply turning them away, Zoli offers them advice on how to sell themselves to prospective clients, while the select few chosen to work with the outfit end up enjoying the glitz and glamour of photoshoots, television commercials, magazine advertisements, exclusive parties, and mingling with the rich and famous.
The Store, High School, and Aspen follow similar structures, which were indicative of Wiseman’s naturalistic style. He’d spend a number of weeks shooting on location with little in the way of preparation, which allowed him to find the rhythm and narrative thrust during production as he constantly edited the footage he was capturing to craft it into something resembling a three-act feature.
On the surface, setting up shop in various establishments and letting them go about their daily business doesn’t possess the potential for much excitement, but as one of the most skilled documentarians in cinema history, Wiseman knew exactly how to apply the requisite creative and artistic licence to the slice-of-life scenarios he captured to create something fresh, distinct, and ultimately riveting.