Sofia Coppola beguiles us

If for nothing else, director Sofia Coppola will be remembered for the opening shot of 2003’s Lost In Translation, a slow, steady clip of Scarlett Johansson, lying on her side and shot from behind, in pale peachy pink panties, which transfixed gazes (both male and female) galore. It was a dreamy promise that kept on delivering throughout the film, a quirky love story featuring an oddball pair (Johansson and Bill Murray, for whom Coppola specifically wrote the part of Bob Harris) whose coupling somehow made perfect sense. Nominated for four Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director, Coppola won for Best Original Screenplay.

Fans of the writer-director already knew her talents from her debut feature, The Virgin Suicides, another odd but captivating tale about five sisters and the boys who love them. As the daughter of Francis Ford Coppola, she certainly has the writing-directing DNA but unlike her father’s larger-than-life epic style, she works on a smaller, more intimate scale (even in her candy-colored biopic Marie Antoinette).

Next up is The Beguiled, set against the background of the Civil War starring Colin Farrell as a wounded Union soldier who causes trouble and then some when he takes refuge in an all-female seminary inhabited by Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst, and Elle Fanning. Being hailed by many as Coppola’s best film since Lost In Translation, this remake of the 1971 version, which starred Clint Eastwood, premiered at last month’s Cannes Film Festival. Coppola received the Best Director Award, only the second woman to do so in the festival’s 71- year history. Can her next Academy Award be far behind?