Film Review: THE BLING RING

The second and most recent of Sofia Coppola's films I've watched, The Bling Ring, presents the story of five Hollywood Hills teenagers who find thrill, excitement and belonging in stealing from the houses of big-name celebrities. These continuous burglaries brand the group with the film's title: The Bling Ring. Based off real events, Coppola reconstructs the tale with artistic flair, showing rather than telling.

Having no prior expectations or knowledge of this controversial event, I walked into The Bling Ring with intrigue and curiosity. However, after finishing the movie with an unease in my stomach and a bad taste in my mouth, I couldn't stop thinking of this film's subtle and impacting suggestions of gratuitous materialism and idolised infatuation. Instead of receiving a detailed documentary on the happenings of these Hollywood burglaries, Coppola instead presented a very ambiguous but nuanced depiction of this group of teenagers and the society they live in.

I found myself subsequently thinking about this film from a Modernist perspective and realising that despite the overt and at times suffocating 21st century edge to its direction, The Bling Ring highlights a mirroring of Early American modernity. From its fast-paced and almost Imagist portrayal to the darker moments of materialism and falsity, I felt like the film could be viewed as a social commentary on our growing technological fascination and the inevitable corruption that follows. A great example is the film's frequent inclusions of various red-carpet photos and videos of celebrities which flicker across the screen in quick succession. The small images are blown up to fit the big screen, pixelated and distorted as a result. Is this our lifestyle as "millenials"? An obsession with looking and watching other people through screens and lenses of other people's cameras? If so, it makes it possible for ordinary people to live vicariously through the lives of the rich and famous, in a candid and perverse way.

This is ultimately what the teenagers of The Bling Ring do. They esteem to have a piece of that celebrity lifestyle and can achieve a momentary satisfaction through stealing their things and being in their space. I found this to be portrayed particularly well in the character of Rebecca Ahn (Katie Chang). There is this one striking scene where she sits comfortably in front of Lindsay Lohan's vanity, squirting her perfume and staring at her reflection. Her expression is interesting, one of contentment, composure, and familiarity. Seen in isolation, the viewer could be convinced that that was just a girl at her mirror, using her perfume. In that position, Rebecca gets to be Lohan, if only for a moment. As mentioned earlier in the movie, Marc says that Lohan is Rebecca's favourite celebrity. Therefore, in that moment, Rebecca has finally reached full achievement. She has managed to reach the apex. Of course, once at the highest point, you must come down and the consequences for these teenagers sure come crashing down back to reality.

"I think we just wanted to be part of the lifestyle. The lifestyle that everybody kind of wants."

As I mentioned before, the film never fails to remind you of how current everything is. This really drums in the chaos as well as the modernity and the fleeting nature of their actions. The dialogue and the soundtrack both retain the viewer within the lives of these teens. The teenagers speak in heavy colloquialisms, and at times seem so dramatic to a point of seeming comical. But there is always that level-toned speaker and the poker-faced listener that makes you backtrack and realise that they were being serious. Additionally, the piercing guitar riffs and thumping-bass during the film's opening credits of Sleigh Bells' Crown on the Ground perfectly captures the tone of the film with a shallow, tinny melody that only reaches your ears in a strained fashion where metallic sounds override the vocals.

Often with sunglasses and Starbucks, the group emulate a distanced but ethereal quality. They begin to illustrate the very people they regularly take from. When they walk in slow-motion down the sunset boulevard all decorated in their new riches and yet looking straight forward, not acknowledging one another, I felt like this emphasised that idea of becoming a character, remaining stoic and looking good. 

I also found the character of Marc very interesting. His desire to be accepted by his peers and to be part of a social circle can almost be seen as a microcosm of what the other teenagers are doing to the celebrities. He aspires to be one of them and follows their actions, dresses the way they do. The Bling Ring does exactly the same but in a more literal way. In the end, the viewer can grasp a theme of needing to be accepted and needing to find meaning in one's life. Being from a more humble background, Marc sees the teens of Los Angeles as slightly untouchable. Therefore it provides more internal satisfaction when they accept him as part of the group. Conversely, the others, already being from wealthy backgrounds, need to go further to search for the same feeling of social acceptance. And thus the story unfolds.

What's more interesting is that even this isn't enough. Even robbing the houses of A-list celebrities and hoarding millions of dollars worth of clothes isn't validated until other people know and other people feel the envy they used to. The group post countless photos on social media and casually tell their friends at parties of the crimes they're committing. Against logistics of getting caught, they carry on doing this and tell as many people as they can. This not only makes their actions more real, but makes them appear more worthy. Now they have become something; finally they have enough. Except they never really do. It seems that despite the near-misses and bigger bounties, they are never quite satisfied simply because this idea of a perfect, full and expensive life does not exist.

Which is why the ending is so powerful to me. After all the criminal convictions and time in prison, Nicki Moore still wants more. She still wants something of a notable, celebritised life. So she sits on the couch of a television talk-show and stares straight down the camera lens asking whoever is watching to make sure that they follow her online. And cut to black.

The Bling Ring kind of reminded me of that quote in The Great Gatsby: "They were careless people... they smashed up  things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together and let other people clean up the mess they had made." Or perhaps this is unfair. Maybe like Tom and Daisy, the teenagers of The Bling Ring are simply "searching for something greater than what they already have."

(Images from imdb.com)