Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Gia Coppola's Palo Alto (2014)

Gia Coppola's Palo Alto is going to be ranked as one of the best representation of High School life along Amy Heckerling's Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) and Sofia Coppola's (her aunt!) The Virgin Suicides (1999)! Adapted from James Franco's book of short stories of the same name, it is the ultimate portrait of these angsty and privileged Californian kids. Palo Alto is honestly a hit or miss with everyone considering how Coppola only decides to scratch the surface of these misunderstood and misbehaved teens. But that is understandable as she tried to sew Franco's stories together to make a somewhat cohesive narrative out of these individual stories and characters. Even though I was swept away by the music by Dev Hynes of Blood Orange, I couldn't help but feel like every scene was just a part of a music video, thus, making Palo Alto like the ultimate hipster anthem video. Regardless, with its beautiful imagery provided by cinematographer Autumn Durald and the actors, I fell in love with Coppola's novice vision. As someone whose blood lines has impacted so heavily in the history of cinema, this baby Coppola has a lot to learn but Palo Alto is definitely a good start!