Director Sofia Coppola is gearing up for the release of her next film, Priscilla. A strange biopic of the time Priscilla Beaulieu spent with the rockstar Elvis Presley — from their first meeting when she was just 14 through to their eventual divorce — it tapped into themes the director has been leaning into since she first started making films in the late 90s. Looking back, it seems many of those themes — girlhood, complex adolescence, the way men infiltrate and twist feminine spaces — are apparent in the movies she has shared are her favourites.
Over the years, Sofia has made multiple mentions of the films she admires to publications across the board, contributing lists to Sight & Sound’s lauded Best Films of All Time poll, Rotten Tomatoes and Goop. Not only have we compiled all of those for you, we’ve even done some digging and found some fleeting mentions of her faves from interviews too.
From vampire coming-of-age films to 60s romantic melodramas, here are 17 of Sofia Coppola’s favourite movies.
The Heartbreak Kid (1972)
This rom-com directed by Elaine May follows a man named Lenny becoming increasingly disillusioned by his recent marriage to a woman he deems ditzy and louche. As a result, he starts dating another woman in secret.
The Last Picture Show (1971)
Two best friends — one dating a beauty queen, the other engaging in an affair with the football coach’s wife — gaze out with trepidation towards their futures in a small Texas town, wondering where they might take them.
Lost in America (1985)
Beat up by the humdrum, capitalist existence of corporate America, a husband and wife in their 30s set off on a journey across the States in a Winnebago, discovering their more free-spirited side.
Purple Rain (1984)
Prince’s Academy Award-winning musical follows a rockstar navigating the trials and tribulations of life in the spotlight, and the unresolved trauma of his childhood.
The Piano (1993)
Jane Campion’s breakout feature tells the story of a mute pianist and her daughter arriving in New Zealand from Scotland, the pianist having been sold to a wealthy man for marriage. But she soon finds her desires shifting towards his acquaintance instead.
Sixteen Candles (1984)
John Hughes’ first venture into the realm of teenhood catalysed a long string of similarly-themed films. Here, his protagonist is a girl whose parents forget about her 16th birthday.
La Notte (1961)
Set in Milan, this Italian classic closely follows Lidia, a distraught woman who walks out on her ignorant husband’s glamorous book launch, wandering the city and wondering how her life has gotten to this point. Her husband, meanwhile, has his eye on other people.
Rumble Fish (1983)
The only film on this list by Sofia’s father, the somewhat famous and critically-acclaimed Francis Ford Coppola, Rumble Fish is about a thug in a small American town struggling to get out of his legendary older brother’s shadow. Then, all of a sudden, said brother arrives back in town, sending him into a state of disarray.
Tootsie (1983)
An unemployed actor struggling for new work decides to disguise himself as a woman in order to win a role in a daytime TV soap opera set in a hospital. But when he starts shooting, he soon realises he’s falling in love with a female co-star.
Bugsy Malone (1976)
A young Jodie Foster stars in this New York musical performed entirely by children, about two rival gangs at odds with each other, and a nice guy stuck in the middle.
Lolita (1962)
Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of the deeply controversial novel by Vladimir Nabokov follows Humbert Humbert, a hebephilic lecturer grooming a 14-year-old girl named Sue Lyon.
In the Mood for Love (2000)
Wong Kar-wai’s masterpiece is set mostly in a Hong Kong apartment block, and deals with issues of infidelity and infatuation. A journalist whose wife works away starts to fall for a married woman living in the same complex. They bond over the realisation their respective partners may be cheating on them with each other.
Let the Right One In (2008)
Tomas Alfredson’s adaptation of the Swedish novel is set in a Stockholm suburb in the early 80s. Oskar, a mostly friendless boy, meets a mysterious child called Eli in the night. They bond, but soon Oskar realises his new acquaintance may be a vampire.
Darling (1965)
Julie Christie stars in this film about the trappings of 60s mod London as Diana, a popular socialite that everyone wants a piece of. She’s the object of affection for big media moguls — a publicist and a news anchor who’s cheating on his wife with her — but when the toxicity of her lifestyle catches up with her, she soon realises she might not be able to fully escape it.
Breathless (1960)
Widely considered Jean-Luc Godard’s greatest work, this film follows a petty criminal named Michel who, one day, in a mild altercation that gets out of hand, murders a police officer. In an effort to save himself, he flees to Italy, and asks his new beau Patricia to join him.
A Place in the Sun (1951)
This Elizabeth Taylor-starring love story won six Oscars, and is widely considered one of the greatest movies of all time. It follows a poor man who gets a job with his wealthy uncle, and in turn develops a complicated relationship with two different beautiful women.
Seven Samurai (1954)
Kurosawa’s moral masterpiece focuses on a samurai leader enlisted to protect a town from invasion. After gathering a group of fellow samurais as back up, an invasion begins.