MovieChat Forums > New York Stories (1989) Discussion > Oh My God! Life Without Zoe....

Oh My God! Life Without Zoe....

posted 18 years ago by OneFilmLover
28 replies | jump to latest

WAS SO HORRIBLE!!!!

In every way possible its everything thats been wrong with Coppola since the 70s ended. I don't even know how to express how bad this was! Were we supposed to care about this spoiled brat daughter with no appealing qualities at all other than she lives ungodly well in one of the richest cities in teh world? It was just....ugh....it gave me pains. I mean of all of Coppola's work post 70s this was atrocious. It even made Giancarlo Giannini look bad.

Which is such a shame because the other two segments were magnificent. Scorsese's Life Lessons was just a thrill. Sure it was dark but it showed an aspect of New York the other two never dealt with, the dirty down in the streets world of New York (Life Without Zoe actually tried to make a bum hilarious and comic...why....because he's not disgustingly wealthy, shame on you Coppola). I mean he showed New York the way it was back then, you heard the sirens of the police and ambulances. But more importantly it showed a complex and real vision of artists and the people they are around. It felt like an artist at work, and he used the camera in ways that were just amazing and worked genius with the idea of a genius painter at work. Best of teh three.

Woody Allen's was pure Woody. I loved it.

Have there been any interviews where you hear Martin Scorsese and Woody Allen's opinions on the other films in the anthology film. Namely how bad Life Without Zoe was. Sorry if I sound harsh but it was just horrible to see a master made something so....bad. I could of done Without Zoe.

[–] OllieZ 18 years ago

I did not particulary like Coppola's segment either.

[–] Kinski_Twist 18 years ago

You're the first person I've read to share the exact same opinion as me.

I am still unable to express how insultingly bad it was. And that was before the tramp scene came!

I have only been insulted that much by very, very few scenes. I honestly couldn't believe that Coppolla got the girl to go back and give the tramps some candy and have the tramp reply in a ridiculous voice "that's why I love New York". Ugh.. disgusting. how could he be so ignorant and naive, representing a homeless person like that. "Oh I'm alright, someone just gave me some crappy unnourishing, unfilling candy. I love New York! Living on the streets is Great!". Coppolla needs to get back into the real world.

[–] WarpedRecord 18 years ago

I fully agree with all of you. Scorsese's piece was terrific, and Woody's piece was excellent, but these bookends needed a better center. This is the type of junk that would appear as a TV movie during the summer throwaway season.

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] quimbys 18 years ago

This girl's fantasy of living the privleged life in New York is just that: pure fantasy. When viewed that way, it's very interesting to see just what that fantasy is: a place where street bums make deals with little girls for chocolate, a place where kids are much wiser than parents, a place where money is no object, and most of the time the lack of parents is a double edged sword: on the one hand it's lonely to not have these interesting people in your life, but on the other hand you can do what you want and if you're clever you can have a very interesting life. In the fantasy, kids are listened to and treated as equals to their parents (or even superiors)and their parents are interesting artist/writer types. Art is valued and artists are the rule not the exception. There are interesting kids to meet and money is spent in interesting ways. She also tries to show how mature she can be when she has the responsibility to look out for herself on her impromptu date with Abu and offer him advice for his loneliness.

Remember this was obviously mostly written by a very young Sofia Coppola.

[–] Curb_My_Enthusiasm 18 years ago

She was 18. That's not too young.

[–] xandermacf 17 years ago

I can pretty much sit through most terrible films no matter how bad they are, yet this 30 min short was so so so unbearable it has taken me about 3 sittings to get to the end (if I buy a dvd I have to watch it all). But the fact that it was directed by FFC just insults me. How could a man who is responsible for the greatest film ever made direct something which actually resulted in my holding back vomit. Were we really supposed to sympathise with Zoe?? If she were my kid I would slap her then get her adopted. And the acting was sooooo bad, I hated her dad so much. Seriously, this is the most cringe inducing piece of garbage I have ever seen. I also hated that stupid kid Abu, and when they went to his party and one of girls said 'yeah, let's party'!!! It show the rubbish, bland side to New York when compared with the other two 'real' perspectives. Awful Awful cack.

[–] gw70648 17 years ago

She was 18 when it was filmed, but not neccesarily when it was written. It seems like it was written by a young child. Whether that means it was an old story that they dug up and made into a movie, or a script that was written from the perspective of a young writer emulated, it was not meant to be viewed as from the voice of an adult screenwriter.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] lucy_naribola 17 years ago

I thought it was nice too, I enjoyed it

Listen to the colour of your dreams

[–] khalilluva23 17 years ago

I Loved life without Zoe...i guess because my mom taped only that short film out of the 3 and i saw it when i was like 4. I thought it was so cool.

[–] beardouk 17 years ago

I think they were attempting to do it as a fairy tale - all that Arabian Knights stuff etc. - but it doesn't work.

[–] lovelula 17 years ago

i liked it. it was light-hearted, and it didn't take itself too seriously.
besides, there ARE kids in new york who live that sort of 'fantasy' lifestyle so it isn't completely unrealistic.

____________________
copper-boom!

[–] bitherwack 16 years ago

I can't figure out why, out of the hundreds of people who must have had some exposure or input on this film hadn't said, "For goodness sakes, this is supposed to be a feature film, not an ego massage.

[–] SnoopyStyle 16 years ago

I didn't like Life Without Zoe, but I hated Scorsese's Life Lessons more.

Watching Life Lessons gave me a headache.
Everybody's annoying and unlikeable.
I wouldn't spend a minute with these characters in real life.

Life Without Zoe was kinda interesting in a whimsical way.
But it kept rambling on and on, and I kept waiting for it to go somewhere.
Anywhere.

[–] jorgito2001 16 years ago

I'm watching the movie now and am having a hard time trying to finish the Zoe story...her "poor little rich girl" plight is sickening!

"Strike First, Strike Fast, Strike Hard!"

[–] tank921 16 years ago

Hilariously I'm also watching the film right now and finding it really difficult to get through this hideous short film. It seems to have gone into a sort of faux-noir spoof for kids with the robbery in the hotel. It's too freaking colourful!

Anyway, on the topic, it makes me think of Crimewave. The two films are kind of similar in several ways. They both took on the slap-stick-noir-crime-comedy look. They were also both written and directed by some big names in the movie industry. The Coen Brothers wrote Crimewave for Sam Raimi to direct. And they both stunk.

Anyway, the point is that I'm completely disgusted with this.

[–] tank921 16 years ago

One thing I will say, though, is that there were two vaguely amusing parts. First off at the costume party there's a kid dressed like Andy Warhol taking photographs, and secondly also at the party when a kid stands up and plays a rag-time piece on the clarinet. It seemed like a bit of a nod towards Woody Allen.

The point remains, though. I am disgusted by this film.

[–] cerealiscool 16 years ago

There's an infinite amount of things to hate about this film, but my favorite is when the girls get to the party--Abu is ready and waiting as Elvis, guitar and all. They sing the intro to blue suede shoes, and he exclaims "Welcome to the Party!" obviously out of his shell and ready to have some fun.

Yeah, I wanted to hurt the movie for that one.

Sub par work from all three directors, but this one was unbearable/ly funny.

[–] elmn8r 16 years ago

by far the weakest of the three

[–] Tatino 16 years ago

franceeeeeeees!

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] dosdanmalo 16 years ago

The OP was 1000% correct with his take on this one. I'm surprised Marty and Woody didn't refuse to allow the Coppolas to attach that flaming piece of garbage to what was otherwise a very unique and worthwhile film. Was Zoe supposed to be Sophia? I got the impression that this was just FFC allowing his spoiled kid to create her own little fantasy while attaching his (now tainted) name to it and soiling two terrific contributions from Scorsese and Allen in the process. The next year, Francis compounded his obvious tendency towards shameless nepotism by putting his daughter in the Godfather III and basically ruining it, though there were other problems in that film as well. FFC has definitely lost it. The other 2/3 of NYS is brilliant.

[–] tdl797 14 years ago

this was really bad. i have to convince myself that Sophia is responsible for everything and FFC put his name on it so it would get released.

i would really love to read any articles were any of the people involved talked about - either at the time or in hindsite. youd think that at least one journalist has done their homework and asked sophia about since shes put out her 3 well received feature films.

[–] Mark_Graisons_Moustache 13 years ago

Woody saved this movie. I got this via NetFlix only because I am watching every Woody movie in order. The first one was bland, not terrible, not great, and then Coppola's came, and I also turned it off halfway through and got back to it later cuz it was so bizarrely bad, but then Woody's was funny and good and redeemed it. I would recommend people just take "Oedipus Wrecks" as its own short film and ignore the other two, but ESPECIALLY Coppola's.

Coppola, is, I think, the classic example of simply using up all your creative energy too fast. He was not meant to continue making films in the 1980s. GF I and II are two of the greatest movies ever made. "The Conversation" and "Apocalypse Now" are classics, but then things get super shaky in the '80s and remain that way today. Sometimes I wake up at night screaming remembering that the man who made "The Godfather" also made the Robin Williams vehicle "Jack."

"I've flown this route before."
"When was that?"
"IT WAS ON THE WINGS OF A DEMON!"

[–] dosdanmalo 13 years ago

You couldn't get into Life Lessons, eh? I found it to be a wonderfully nuanced and very realistic look at the contradictory impulses associated with a true artist chasing his muse. The finished paintings are wonderful as well.

Alternating stints in Heaven and Hell: that's the lot of almost all great artists. The end of one cycle of inspirational torment fueled by the caprices of a beauty who is ultimately too dewy for him and the beginning of another was expertly handled with poignant, potent subtlety. He notices the exquisite features of the next young aspiring painter at his exhibition (great camera work here) and he can't resist, though he must know that this latest fling will almost certainly end like all the others, with nothing to show but more wondrous art born out of bottomless pain. Subconsciously or otherwise, he probably wouldn't have it any other way as his painting is his true mistress and a happy, enduring love affair would probably be the end of his ability to produce world class art. Ah, I could watch that loaded little film once a month...

I love Woody's contribution as well, though. That's what makes the Coppola crapstravaganza so frustrating...

[–] IceboxMovies 12 years ago

As was the case with Jack, I'm astonished Coppola directed this segment. It's horrendous. And boring. And offensive.

"What I don't understand is how we're going to stay alive this winter."

[–] Strazdamonas 10 years ago

some say that coppola lost its talent after Apocalypse Now. as a person who saw almost everything Coppola did by now, id rather say Apocalypse now was more of a fluke of good movie for him rather than a break point. His early movies werent great either.

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