Lick the Star is a 14 minute long black & white 16mm film. It was the first film written and directed by Sofia Coppola

Sofia Coppola

Sofia Carmina Coppola is an American screenwriter, film director, actress, and producer.In 2003 she received the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Lost in Translation, and became the third woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for Directing...

, daughter of Francis Ford Coppola

Francis Ford Coppola

Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...

.

The film is included as a bonus feature on the DVD

DVD

A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

 for the films HOP and Marie Antoinette, from the Film Movement collection.

Plot

The plot revolves around a clique of four girls who devise a plan to weaken the boys at their school with arsenic

Arsenic

Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As, atomic number 33 and relative atomic mass 74.92. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in conjunction with sulfur and metals, and also as a pure elemental crystal. It was first documented by Albertus Magnus in 1250.Arsenic is a metalloid...

. The plan is to slowly poison the boys through their lunches, inspired by the "queen bee" Chloe's obsession with the novel Flowers in the Attic

Flowers in the Attic

Flowers in the Attic is a 1979 novel by Virginia Andrews. It is the first book in the Dollanganger Series, and was followed by Petals on the Wind, If There Be Thorns, Seeds of Yesterday, and Garden of Shadows. The novel is written in the first person from the point of view of Cathy Dollanganger...

. As the plan progresses, a minor conversation discussing how important slavery

Slavery

Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...

 was starts a gossip ring that leads to Chloe's eventual downfall.

The young actresses in Coppola's film have no other screen credits to their names. Peter Bogdanovich

Peter Bogdanovich

Peter Bogdanovich is an American film historian, director, writer, actor, producer, and critic. He was part of the wave of "New Hollywood" directors, which included William Friedkin, Brian De Palma, George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, Michael Cimino, and Francis Ford Coppola...

 appears in a cameo

Cameo appearance

A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...

 as the Principal. The director of photography was Lance Acord

Lance Acord

Lance Acord, A.S.C. is an American cinematographer.Acord was born in Marin County, California. He attended Sir Francis Drake High School's School Within A School program and went on to study photography and filmmaking at the San Francisco Art Institute. He began his professional career with...

. Coppola's own eye appears in one dream-like shot.

The film's themes also appear in Coppola's later work, such as the feelings of isolation; in addition, the film begins with a car journey, just like her later films The Virgin Suicides

The Virgin Suicides (film)

The Virgin Suicides is a 1999 American drama film written and directed by Sofia Coppola, produced by her father Francis Ford Coppola, starring James Woods, Kathleen Turner, Kirsten Dunst, Josh Hartnett, and A.J...

, Lost in Translation

Lost in Translation (film)

Lost in Translation is a 2003 American film written and directed by Sofia Coppola; her second feature film after The Virgin Suicides and it stars Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson...

, and Somewhere

Somewhere (film)

Somewhere is a 2010 American drama film that was written and directed by Sofia Coppola. The film follows Johnny Marco, a newly famous actor, as he recuperates from a minor injury at the Chateau Marmont, a well-known Hollywood retreat. Despite money, fame and professional success, Marco is trapped...

.

Soundtrack

1. "Tipp City" – The Amps
   The Amps
   The Amps were an indie-rock band from Dayton, Ohio. Formed by Kim Deal in 1995 after The Breeders went on hiatus, they first began touring as "Tammy Ampersand and the Amps" but it was later shortened to "The Amps."Their album Pacer was released in 1995.Kim Deal originally intended to play all of...
   
   
2. "Top 40" – Free Kitten
   Free Kitten
   Free Kitten is a musical collaboration between Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon and Pussy Galore's Julie Cafritz. Originally performing under the name Kitten, they changed their name, after receiving threats of legal action by a heavy metal singer performing under that name...
   
   
3. "Bouwerie Boy" – Free Kitten
4. "This Town" – The Go-Go's
   The Go-Go's
   The Go-Go’s are an all-female American rock band formed in 1978. They made history as the first all-female band that both wrote their own songs and played their own instruments to top the Billboard album charts....
   
   
5. "Eat Cake" – Free Kitten
6. "Heidi Cakes" – Land of the Loops
   Land of the Loops
   Land of the Loops is the recording and performance name of Boston, Massachusetts-area musician Alan Sutherland. From the early 1990s till present, Land of the Loops has been creating sample- and loop-heavy indierock-influenced electronica...