As you all know, Sophia Coppola has a new film Somewhere in which the Chateau Marmont Hotel plays a starring role. An article by Mark Olsen in the Los Angeles Times gave us a glimpse at a very cool sensibility:

“Room 59 was used as Johnny Marco’s suite, and during the shoot (Stephen) Dorff (lead actor) stayed one floor up in Room 69, which had the same essential layout. Living there, he says, was like “dress rehearsal for a lot of the scenes,” he said. He also was in a position to keep the film real. “I was able to give some gossip to Sofia in the mornings,” Dorff said. “She always wanted to know what happened that night after we shot, and I would give her some stories and sometimes she’d really like them and we’d include some stuff.”

One of Dorff’s off-hours encounters led to the dialogue in a scene in which he runs into Benicio Del Toro (who appears uncredited) in an elevator. The presence of Del Toro, in particular, is also a wink to the long-denied bit of Chateau lore that he and a young Scarlett Johansson once had a liaison in one of the hotel’s elevators.

Another subtle nod to the hotel’s storied history has Dorff pulling out of the driveway and passing a car that has smashed into the low retaining wall on the opposite side of the street — a scene reminiscent of the crash and death of photographer Helmut Newton in 2004.

Find the LA Times article Here.

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SLIM DILTSEN is the Film Critic for FortunaDaily.com