An Ode To An Imperfect Father

Courtesy - The Sunday Leader - By Sumaya Samarasinghe

A Ferrari takes a few laps on a desert road, a few too many some would say, but director Sofia Coppola doesn’t seem rushed to finish up her sequences
Somewhere won the Golden Lion at the 2010 Venice Film Festival and though it is, without any doubt, a wonderful film, such a huge honour seems a little over the top for this charming movie about a bored, bad boy actor Johnny Marco (played by Stephen Dorff, he seriously deserved some accolade for this performance) who lives in a suite of Chateau Marmont, a  luxury hotel used by Hollywood celebrities; and sees his life turned upside down and riddled with existential questions after the prolonged  stay of his adorable 11 year old daughter Cleo.
So when the film starts, Johnny is driving his Ferrari aimlessly, he gets down and stares into the sky. He drinks too much, smokes too much, has casual sex during which he falls asleep and subsequently gets insulting text messages from women with whom he has had one night stands and just cannot remember! He seems to have no clear defined personality and each of his movements are dictated by an army of managers, assistants and producers.

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Not a nice guy? That would be putting it mildly. But a good director is able to make us viewers believe what she (in this case Sofia Coppola) wants and in this case, it’s to make Johnny likable despite his lack of qualities.
Shortly after the Ferrari spin sequence, we see an inebriated Johnny with a group of equally drunk hangers on take a tumble down the stairs and he breaks his arm. His way of nursing himself back to health is to have twin, blonde pole dancers perform for him in his bedroom while he slowly falls asleep thanks to a cocktail of drinks and pills. When he wakes up his angel-like daughter Cleo is signing her name on his cast. His ex wife, who seems to bear no grudge, inquires about his broken arm and reminds him to bring Cleo home early.
It may seem a little strange that someone with Johnny’s lifestyle has equal parenting rights to a seemingly more stable mother, but as the film goes along, we will see that despite all the imperfections, Johnny is a wonderful father.
One of the most marking aspects of Somewhere is how calm the film is. Johnny is borderline passive; you never see him  raising his voice at annoying fans or jilted lovers and he hardly even seems to understand when sarcasm is used against him. He happily takes his daughter for her ice skating lessons and his relationship with his daughter does not ever seem jeopardized by the lifestyle he leads.
Cleo played with so much natural and ease by Elle Fanning (Dakota Fanning’s little sister) is a lovely little girl who practices her ballet moves in her father’s apartment and happily follows her dad wherever he needs to go. In some aspects, she mothers him by cooking pretty, nice looking meals which he devours, but also disapprovingly looks at Johnny when one of his one night stands turns up at the breakfast table wearing only a robe. It was really refreshing to see an 11 year old who looked and behaved her age and not like an over-sexed pre teen!
A few scenes in particular are very sweet. Johnny who was just wearing a towel goes for a quick romp with his front apartment neighbour. When he comes out Cleo is seated outside his door and inquires if he had gone to shower because something was wrong with his bathroom. Like any father would do, film star or not, he lies and says yes.
Cleo innocently and unconditionally loves her father and that extra time they spend together will change Johnny forever and make him realize that there is way more to life than driving a Ferrari in circles!
For some, the film will fall flat. Do we have to care about a self absorbed, rich and bored actor who decides to change his empty lifestyle after spending time with his daughter?
Perhaps not, because sadly not everyone has the luxury to be able to walk away from a life they wish to leave and re-invent themselves.
But  too often we seek perfection in the ones we love when actually something or someone very wrong could be the right thing; thumbs up to Stephen Dorff who had not been so good in a very long time.
Somewhere does remain a really good and non aggressive piece of work, shot smoothly and beautifully directed by Sofia Coppola . I personally feel that the film was not outstanding enough to receive a Golden Lion because it is not on par with for example Satyajit Ray’s 1957 The Unvanquished (Aparajito) or Louis Malle’s 1980 Atlantic City, which was a tie with John Cassavetes’s fantastic Gloria.
However it is rare today to find a film with depth and emotion, Somewhere has both, and it would be a shame to miss it.