LEAD CAST: Israel Broussard, Katie Chang, Taissa
Farmiga, Claire Julien, Georgia Roack, Emma Watson, Leslie Mann DIRECTOR: Sofia Coppola SCREENWRITER: Sofia
Coppola PRODUCER: Roman Coppola, Sofia Coppola, Youree
Henley, Francis Ford Coppola EDITOR: Sarah
Flack MUSICAL DIRECTOR: Brian
Reitzell, Daniel Lopatin CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Christopher
Blauvelt, Harris Savides RUNNING TIME: 90 minutes DISTRIBUTOR: A24 LOCATION: US
Technical
assessment: 3
Moral
assessment: 2
MTRCB
rating: R 16
CINEMA
rating: V 18
Based on a true story as told in The Suspect Wore Louboutins, a Vanity Fair article published in 2009, The Bling Ring details the sorties of a
group of celebrity-fixated Los Angeles teens into celebrities’ homes. Nicki Moore (Emma Watson), Marc Hall
(Israel Broussard), Chloe Tayner (Claire Julien), and Sam Moore (Taissa
Farmiga), led by ring leader Rebecca Ahn (Katie Chang), use the internet to
track the whereabouts of Hollywood stars in order to break into their homes and
ransack the stars’ wardrobes for luxury brands—to wear, to sell, and to flaunt
in social media. Their daring
comes to an end as one of them is identified through CCTV recordings, making it
easy for the others to be fall into the hands of the law. How do these teens
react when found guilty?
Directed by
Sofia Coppola, this black comedy crime-drama exposes the dirty details of the real-life
obsession of the so-called Burglar Bunch through sepia-colored footage, making
it appear “documentary-ish”. It
helps, too, that three of the lead actors are newcomers and the rest have few
credits to their names—except Watson of the Harry Potter fame, who incidentally gives a sterling against-type
performance here. Watson, for the
longest time known as the brainy, no-nonsense Hermione in the J. K. Rowling
series, here plays a pathetic, shallow, if not altogether dumb, bling-crazy
fan.
The Bling Ring possesses value
from the sociological standpoint.
It offers a study of the young people’s mind and behavior: how far will
their celebrity-obsession push them to satisfy their craving for instant
gratification? Do they feel entitled to their idols’ riches because these idols
owe their fame and fortune to their fans’ adulation? It also tries to ask what
kind of people celebrities are who fill their houses to the rafters with pricey
baubles and then leave them unattended.
There is also a message for parents here, as the movie shows that the
kids who break into homes come from broken homes themselves. These young people are devoid of
conscience, steal on impulse, and then Tweet about their exploits for the whole
world to see. They rob the homes, do drugs, party wearing their stolen stuff at
the very places frequented by their victims, and then post snap shots of these
on Facebook. Do they do this
because they are monumentally dumb, or to attract police attention, be caught,
and become celebrities themselves?
And what about their friends who think their crimes are cool? The movie is also a statement on the
current culture: time was when the precious box under the bed contained our
parents’ love letters, beribboned and yellowing proofs of love. In The
Bling Ring, the precious box under the bed contains designer watches,
because what matters now is not who people are but what they have. Coppola deliberately holds judgment
here, preferring to simply call our attention to the way we are now, and
perhaps to make us think where we are going.
