SOUND & VISION
32
The Bling
FILM
REVIEW
Ring focuses on wayward youths who aspire to a taste of
THE BLING RING
the opulent
DIRECTED BY: SOFIA COPPOLA
of the rich
lifestyles
STARRING: KATIE CHANG, ISRAEL BROUSSARD, EMMA WATSON
and famous
CERT: 15 - RUNNING TIME: 90 MINS
such, comes
Based on actual events, this latest picture from Sofia Coppola offers pretty much what we’ve come to expect from the director, namely a highly stylised, sumptuously photographed, hip soundtracked comment on celebrity culture. What exactly it’s trying to say about it, however, is difficult to discern. Coppola’s previous films, such as Lost in Translation, Marie Antionette and Somewhere, have concerned themselves with the existential ennui which afflicts those who inhabit the rarefied heights of fame. The Bling Ring focuses instead on wayward youths who aspire to a taste of the opulent lifestyles of the rich and famous and, as such, comes off as a particularly (and, no doubt, deliberately) superficial and vacuous experience. The real life case that inspired the film is that of a group of Californian teens who burglarised the homes of celebrities, such as regular tabloid fodder Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan, helping themselves to luxury items. One of the most striking things about the film is just how easy the crimes were to perpetrate; a quick Google search would reveal the location of the stars’
mansions and which would be vacant when their owners were out of town. To describe the robberies as break-ins is probably putting it a little strongly as, more often than not, a door would
and, as off as a particularly (and, no doubt, deliberately) superficial and vacuous experience
be left unlocked and, due to cluelessness or complacency, alarm and security systems were inactive. One assumes taking candy from a baby would actually prove more challenging. It would be difficult to muster any sympathy for the victims at the best of times but, in the light of just how fair game they seemed to be, a disinterested shrug would seem an overreaction. In the case of Hilton, who appears as herself in the film and allowed the filmmakers to shoot in the very same house that was robbed, the culprits returned a number of times. Such was Hilton’s abundance