The two movies Lana Del Rey is “obsessed” with
The genuinely iconic singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey has established herself as one of the most popular musicians of the 21st century with a sound that explores the very nature of themes such as depression, glamour and the tragedy that often lies in romantic endeavours. Quite simply, Del Rey is a true one-of-a-kind who fully deserves her stature in the entertainment limelight.
It could also be said that the music and artistry of Del Rey possess a kind of cinematic quality, and many of her songs contain pop cultural references to the American artworks and events of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. In that light, Del Rey crafts a world of her own in the same manner that some of the best cinematic works do so well.
Del Rey is no stranger to cinema and once named the two movies that she is “obsessed” with during a feature with Screen Check. “I really have two favourite movies of all time,” she stated. “Definitely The Godfather Part I and II. I’m obsessed with them both, not just because of the storyline and the actors but also the settings. I love the sets for both movies; they’re very luxurious and gorgeous, and yeah, they just have the most epic acting of all time.”
The first two Godfather films, released respectively in 1972 and 1974, details the rise of Michael Corleone (played by Al Pacino), a young member of an Italian-American crime family, to power, taking over from his father Don Vito (Marlon Brando). The second film also sees Robert De Niro play a young Vito Corleone as he journeys from Sicily to America.
Del Rey also noted her “biggest movie star crush”, admitting: “I love Michael Pitt. He’s in Boardwalk Empire. I liked it when he was depicting a Kurt Cobain role, and I saw this movie called Last Days. I think Michael Pitt is beautiful. He has beautiful eyes.”
Michael Pitt is best known for his roles in Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Dreamers from 2003, Michael Haneke’s 2007 film Funny Games and, as Lana Del Rey mentions, Gus Van Sant’s Last Days and the HBO series Boardwalk Empire. Last Days is loosely based on the life of Kurt Cobain, and Pitt does a fabulous job of depicting his inner turmoil.
But it’s Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather films that hold the closest place in Del Rey’s heart. Perhaps her own music, which creates an entire Americana mythology of its own, was inspired by the true iconic status that the legendary movies possess.
