Sofia Coppola

Celebrate the life and work of iconic filmmaker, Sofia Coppola.     Raised inside filmmaking’s strange machinery, Sofia Coppola appeared in The Godfather films and grew up surrounded by cinema, yet her work rejects Hollywood bombast.    From The Virgin Suicides through Lost in Translation, Marie Antoinette and Priscilla, Coppola’s films explore youth, alienation, fathers and daughters, beauty and loss—each in a visually curated style that is unmistakably her own.     This illustrated and comprehensive guide to Sofia Coppola includes: - A film-by-film exploration of Coppola’s complete directorial career. - The personal and artistic influences shaping her distinctive aesthetic. - Key recurring themes and visual motifs across her films. - Insight into her personal life following her evolution from ‘Francis Ford Coppola’s daughter’ to auteur. Is destiny inherited, or is it claimed?  Calm, precise and ‘super opinionated’, she has crafted a body of work that is instantly recognizable.    Written by industry expert Ian Nathan, this is the essential guide for film lovers seeking to understand—and celebrate—Sofia Coppola’s enduring influence.

Ian Nathan, who lives and works in London, is one of the UK’s best-known film writers. He is the author of nine previous books, including Alien Vault, the best-selling history of Ridley Scott’s masterpiece, Terminator Vault, Tarantino, Tim Burton, The Coen Brothers and Anything You Can Imagine: Peter Jackson and the Making of Middle-earth. He is the former editor and executive editor of Empire, the world’s biggest movie magazine, where he remains a contributing editor. He also regularly contributes to The Times, The Independent, The Mail on Sunday, Cahiers Du Cinema and the Discovering Film documentary series on Sky Arts. 

INTRODUCTION 23 FAMILY TIES 24 The formative years, Life Without Zoë (1989), Lick the Star (1998) THE LOST GIRLS 40 The Virgin Suicides (1999) THEY MEET, THEY BREAK UP 58 Lost in Translation (2003) LET HER EAT CAKE 75 Marie Antoinette (2006) HOTEL CALIFORNIA 76 Somewhere (2010) STEALING BEAUTY 92 The Bling Ring (2013) SOME ENCHANTED EVENINGS 108 A Very Murray Christmas (2015) and other pursuits AN UNCIVIL WAR 124 The Beguiled (2017) GENERATION PERPLEXED 139 THE ODD COUPLE 140 On the Rocks (2020) LONESOME TONIGHT 156 Priscilla (2023) SOURCES 172