Steve Martin Compares “LA Story” to “Shopgirl:” Both films are set in Los Angeles but Martin says they are two very different beasts. “‘LA Story’s’ a very different kind of film in that the city of LA in ‘LA Story’ is a character. It’s still a character in this movie but in a less specific way than ‘LA Story.’ In LA Story it’s mystical, magical. It speaks, it talks. Here, it’s a mood. It’s a strange thing, it’s a mood. I think of those vast shots of Mirabelle’s apartment where she’s got a $600 a month apartment yet an entire view of the city, which often happens in LA.”
Martin further explained “Shopgirl’s” setting, “…It’s really just about people living in LA in a Hollywood environment, in a rich environment, poor environment. The thing about LA, the big difference is it’s spread out. And yet you can get from Beverly Hills to Silverlake in 20 minutes and it might be 15 miles. It seems like it’s forever away, but it’s not. Sometimes driving in LA, it’s 6pm as the sun is going down, suddenly you’re elevated on a freeway. You’re not even expecting it. And there are these lights and mountains and sea. All you’re doing is just driving. You weren’t expecting it. So you can be suddenly overwhelmed with this good feeling as the sun is setting. So it’s really first a love story.”
