Somewhere
“Somewhere (2010)”
Text By: Reuben Clay
Original Publication Date: May 12th, 2014
Somewhere feels like penance for Lost in Translation. While the two films share enough elements to draw a comparison (lonely actor looking for a connection, spends some time in a foreign country), they couldn't be more different aesthetically and thematically. WhereLost is dramatic, Somewhere is soft spoken. Where Lost is world weary, Somewhere is exploratory. Where Lost is broad, Somewhere is detailed. Where Lost is culturally insensitive, Somewhere pokes fun at an American entitlement and self-interest. Lost is drenched in smug nihilism yet still attempts to achieve transcendence. Somewhere is humble and happy to be grounded and of the moment.
I'm sure there are many who dislike or even hate this movie because next to nothing happens: most of the film's runtime is simply Stephen Dorff and Elle Fanning joking or playing cards or lounging by or in a pool. But I loved how contrary it was to the growing tendency to make every film epic, bigger, more revelatory. Somewhere isn't an epiphany film; it's the simple presentation of one man and his attempt to reconnect with a daughter. It's funny, it's sweet, it's sincere. The underwater scene where Fanning and Dorff just look at each other captures the tone of the film perfectly. They can’t speak to each other in literal or figurative terms, but there’s a tone of connection that the scene hits. I can feel how important they’re become to each other as they share these seemingly meaningless moments. Life is, after all, a string of mostly silly wastes of time spent, usually with other people, hoping to see into who they are and to let them into who you are.
Somewhere is neither beautifully nor expensively shot, lit, or costumed. The film almost feels stumbled upon, as if some enterprising relative decided to cut together a few home movies to show some friends and family. At this point in Coppola’s career, she had already proven her eye for visuals with Lost in Translation and Marie Antoinette. To make this film equally as stunning would have been a misstep, to draw attention away from the smallness of it, its quietude. It would distract from the tone of the film and the delicate interplay between Dorff and Fanning.
Which isn't to say that this film isn't beautiful, Coppola's eye for balance and framing, faces and minute details, is as on display as ever. However, the visuals perfectly reflect the content: not at all ostentatious or traditionally gorgeous. They are focused in on Dorff’s face, his confusion and his complacency, his frustration and his longing. They let Fanning explore the scene around her and let our eyes do the same; the camera resists telling us how to read each scene, just as it resists trapping Fanning.
Because Dorff and Fanning are so close to pitch perfect, a part of me almost wishes that we never saw another actor in the film (perhaps besides the hotel worker who sings them a song): their connection or lack thereof is enough to carry a much longer movie with even less dialogue than this one. But Somewhere doesn't need to be any longer. At a lean 97 minutes, Somewhere manages to hit one note perfectly, letting us hear it and feel it and understand it fully in a way we never could if it were simply part of a larger song.
-Reuben Clay, 2014
