But by then she was well positioned to occupy the rarefied worlds of alternative film, fashion and music, insulated from snarky criticism and the crassness of commercial demands. I don’t see the presence of these rarefied worlds — either in her biography or as depicted on the screen — as a shortcoming. Arguably, Ms. Coppola is exceptional as an artist because nobody among her contemporaries succeeds in preserving that pristine air the way she does, especially when used to embody an explicitly feminine worldview. There may be a rebelliousness in this stillness, and a romance — of taking up things and pondering them in your heart. But on the most basic level, what Ms. Hirschberg described as a strength is a tendency to abstain, to not do something — a tendency shared by many of Ms. Coppola’s protagonists.

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