'Lick the Star' – (Dir. Sofia Coppola)

‘Lick the Star’ is a 14 minute short film, shot on 16mm in black and white. Being the first film 'Sofia Coppola' has both written and directed, we start to see the clear minimal style reminiscent in her later works ‘Lost in Translation’ and ‘The Virgin Suicides’ emerging.

The story, based in a typical American high school, revolves around a group of 4 ‘popular’ girls and their leader ‘Chloe’, the ‘queen of 7^th grade’. Partially narrated and pictured from the point of view of the more passive ‘Kate’; the story unfolds about how the girls plan to slowly poison the boys at their school with Arsenic (rat poison).

‘Lick the Stars’, brief though it may be, has the power to bring up nightmarish childhood school memories, regardless of gender. It deals with the playground politics present during early teen hood and leaves you itching for the almighty hammer of justice to come crashing down.

Amidst the black and white imagery, sparse dialogue and the angry female grunge soundtrack, the tables begin to turn towards the end as the bully becomes the bullied, and with the films closing credits, don’t be surprised if a wave of satisfaction caresses your body from head to toe. Full of fickle characters you’d love to hate, with a bleak, grungy Americana backdrop; this is worth a watch if you’ve seen and enjoyed Coppola’s other work. If not, it’s a good place to start as it’s so short.

Soundtrack includes: The Amps, The Go-Gos and Kim Gordon.
Running time - 14 min
Year - 1998
Link: PT1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cn6W65Nq5FQ
PT2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2jjIyweXE4

Die Laughing Writer/Editor/Reviewer – Joe Greig