The Bling Ring is a film directed by Sofia Coppola (director of Lost in Translation) and is based on true events. It is a story that looks at the lives of five teenagers who are celebrity obsessed and egotistical to say the least. The story starts by looking at Marc (Israel Broussard), who having just moved to LA and started a new school, meets Rebecca (Katie Chang) who soon becomes his best friend; this is when the chaos begins. Rebecca starts to find out when celebrities are out of town and convinces Marc to find out using the Internet where these celebrities live. Once they have found out the group of five teenagers go and cause mayhem in these celebrity houses by taking all the clothing and accessories they can. Their aim is to become American TV’s idea of the perfect person and then going out to parties and bragging about what they have done, which in the end is their downfall.
The Bling Ring at times can be rather shocking as it shows you what some teenagers really can be like but Sofia Coppola is showing us that, because since the advances in technology, teenagers now know how to find things out on their own through the use of the Internet. This isn’t beneficial for younger generations because they can easily slip into doing the wrong thing. The Bling Ring is really what you might expect at first but once you begin to watch it, it starts to become quite entertaining because you get to see these wanna-be brats enjoying life while they still can.
Through the style of Sofia Coppola’s individual artistic flare she manages to put across a youthful quality which is helped massively by the music and young cast. From the scandalous and needless house burglary sequences, where an endless amount of draws are looked through, where more clothes, jewellery, shoes and many more accessories are found. Sofia Coppola manages to still create a true sense of realism in this absurd film. A film which undoubtedly has been helped by Emma Watson’s appearance being the big name draw but I believe Israel Broussard and Taissa Farmiga (who played Sam) are two names you should look out for in the future, during the film they had one particular scene together which really stuck in my mind.
Even though it isn’t one of the best of films I’ve ever seen and some people might be disappointed by it, I think Sofia Coppola has done extremely well to create a sense of realism in this film about five annoying American brats. The film may seem unrealistic but actually Sofia Coppola stuck very close to the real story of The Bling Ring. I expected The Bling Ring to be different to what it was, I expected it to be a bit more lighthearted but when I saw the amount of drug use I was a bit stunned. My advice would be to go and see The Bling Ring because even though it is a bit disappointing it still manages to capture your attention the whole way through.
15 Certificate
Review by LiveWire Film Critic, Bill Carroll (July ’13)
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This unkempt yet lavish film follows five egotistical, celebrity obsessed, LA youths who spread havoc from one celebrity home to the next. They take pleasure bathing in the riches of an American celebrity lifestyle, stealing anything they can find from clothing and accessories to paintings and a dog and then bragging about it to friends and going out partying in the stolen and,dare I say it, tacky clothing. The Bling Ring is a film based on true events, highlighting the shallowness and ignorance of celebrities such as Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan. Even though The Bling Ring is distasteful in many ways, director Sofia Coppola manages to raise awareness of the effects the media and technology can inflict on teenagers in her charmingly unique, poetic and stylistic ways.
American TV is a manifesto of celebrity idealism and perfection, inflicting false, Photoshopped versions of people in to the eyes of teens like Bling Ring leader Rebecca (Katie Chang). The internet is a map of celebrity whereabouts, unintentionally telling Marc (Israel Broussard) when a home of a celebrity is empty and handing over an address, postcode and even a mapped location. Combine the two and you give someone the equation to be what they desire, you have complete access to an empty home full of luxuries and extravagantly expensive items. Coppola (one of the few great female directors) seemingly uses the story of The Bling Ring to comment on the disastrous effects the media and technology can have upon the younger generations, she explains that the excessive use of the internet, Facebook and TV isn’t beneficial for anyone in a discrete, probably unintentional, manner.
The film manages to obtain a youth quality through the use of music and characteristics but also through the unique artistic flare Coppola brings. From the outrageously scandalous and excessive house burglary sequences, including endless drawers and rooms of clothing, jewellery, shoes and any other accessory, to the bold, bright and italic text, webcam and CCTV styled shots, archive footage of celebrities, to the on screen Facebook layout. Sofia manages to bring a sense of realism to this ridiculous film which is what makes it compelling. However, I don’t think the film would have anywhere near as much attention as it has if Emma Watson wasn’t involved. She’s advertised as the leading star of the film but doesn’t appear until nearly half way through, when she does appear it is with a very irritating yet convincing American accent and a spoilt and unappreciative American attitude. Even though she isn’t a leading character, the most memorable moments and pieces of dialogue are from her character Nicki.
Putting aside my disappointment in the acclaimed The Bling Ring, Sofia Coppola does deserve praise as she manages to convey realism and cautionary awareness to the story of five spoilt, annoying American teens. As unrealistic as the film seems, it did happen and is a very close account to the true events. It has a youth quality and a cinematic, artistic flare. Disappointing it was, but is still worth a watch as it challenges your opinions in a thoughtful and compelling way.
15 Certificate
Review by LiveWire Film Critic, Megan Al-Ghailani (July ’13)