Classiq - An online journal that celebrates cinema, culture, style and storytelling.

7 October 2014

Craft for Craft: Fashion Houses Supporting the World Cinema

Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s The Red Shoes (1948) restoration demo

(the film was restored with the efforts of The Film Foundation)

I have previously written about and praised the efforts of Martin Scorsese’s Film Foundation of restoring and preserving the worldwide cinema heritage. Part of The Film Foundation is The World Cinema Project, which supports and encourages preservation efforts to save the worldwide patrimony of films, especially those countries lacking the financial and technical ability to do so, ensuring that they are preserved, seen and shared. It is a global cause, one that should call for the attention of many of those who could help carry it out.

There are people who tell me that they can’t watch classic films, because they have a problem with the poor quality of the print. To be blunt, I doubt the films they have tried to watch are in that bad a state, but I don’t exactly blame their being so reticent either, with all the high resolution images we are daily exposed to, from smart phones, to high definition TVs and digital movies in cinemas. Now, without wanting to sound more knowledgeable than I am, I can truly say that I myself have watched many movies (Jean Renoir’s La chienne, 1931, would be one of them) in desperate need of reconditioning. And the truth is that a good image helps get the message of the film through. And that’s why I think the work of all those involved in film preservation is so crucial not only in saving these cultural treasures from around the world, but also in showing them and making them available to a wider audience, especially young people.

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1 October 2014

Style in Film: Robin Wright in House of Cards

Minimalist, elegant, tailored, cool and collected. Robin Wright’s wardrobe in House of Cards, as Claire Underwood, is one of the standouts of the series. Robin’s performance (to which I would add that her being beautiful, self-assured and so graceful in her late forties is to be taken note of too) is another one. Thought up to act like an armour, protecting the character and not revealing too much, her clothes do exactly that, playing a major part in defining Claire Underwood.

Everything about Claire is impenetrable, controlled, ruthlessly pragmatic, precise, studied. She is a politician’s wife (Francis “Frank” Underwood played by Kevin Spacey) and runs a non-profit organization in Washington and she dresses accordingly. She must look good, but not out of place, feminine, but strong and pulled-together. Her clothes are very structured, following and flattering the body line, but not hugging it, showing the waist and legs, looking appealing in just the right way. And they come in the most classic, neutral colour palette: navy blue, grey, black and muted earth tones. That’s the colour dress code on Capitol Hill and what I found very interesting was Tom Broecker’s (the series’ costume designer in the first season) reasoning that “with the neutral palette you can see the faces more, and we wanted to have the feeling of a Caravaggio painting and those carved out faces”.

Robin Wright as Claire Underwood wearing a Zac Posen dress and Antonio Berardi belt and a YSL bag.

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Posted by classiq in Film costume | | 4 Comments

16 September 2014

Film Noir Style: Lana Turner in The Postman Always Rings Twice

Lana Turner, as Cora Smith, in one of her white outfits, a lovely keyhole dress with a narrow collar and a tie at the neckline and a pocket on just one side.

“Lana Turner already had platinum hair. She’d been that color. So we left it for the film. The white clothing was something that Carey (Wilson, the producer) and I thought of. At that time there was a great problem of getting a story with that much sex past the censors. We figured that dressing Lana in white somehow made everything she did seem less sensuous. It was also attractive as hell. And it somehow took a little of the stigma off of everything that she did,” said Tay Garnett, the director of the film The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946), in the book Lana: The Public and Private Lives of Miss Turner, by Joe Morella and Edward Z. Epstein.

Indeed, Lana Turner, as Cora Smith, wears white almost exclusively in the film. And white is indeed an unusual colour to be worn by a femme fatale. Choosing white may have had the purpose intended by director and producer – getting the film past the censors, but what matters is its great impact on the Cora Smith character and on the plot. Dressed in immaculate white (costumes by Irene), Cora is making you doubt her dark, murderous impulses. She doesn’t seem to be evil and she showcases such a wide range of emotions throughout the film, that she almost manages to get us on her side.

I think the element of white (I was stricken by it the very first time I watched the movie) and Lana’s interpretation, with her icy looks, whitering glances and undeterred determination – “I want to be somebody”, are two of the movie’s strongest points. Lana’s presence, glamour, beauty and style made her one of the top film stars in Hollywood from the 1940s through the early 1960s. In The Postman Always Rings Twice, she is focal point of every scene.

With a great plot, cinematography (Sidney Wagner) and musical score (George Bassman), beautiful interpretations from all actors (although Lana remains the highlight of the movie), the right femme fatale and right ending, The Postman Always Rings Twice is among my favourite noir films – you can read our review here. And it leaves a mark right from the beginning. Lana Turner’s entrance remains, to this day, one of the most memorable character introductions in the history of cinema. Continue reading →

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26 August 2014

Style in Film: Les félins

Jane Fonda is wearing a white waist-cinching dress by Pierre Balmain. It has knee-length full skirt, a plunging neckline and a bare back and sequinned appliqués. It reminds me of Elizabeth Taylor’s “The Cat” dress from Cat on A Hot Tin Roof, but this one is more provocative. It’s interesting that Alain Delon compares Jane to a cat at some point, and, of course, there is also the title of the film, Les félines.

René Clément’s classic thriller Les félins (1964) finds Alain Delon, as Marc, trapped in the toils of Barbara (Lola Albright) and Melinda (Jane Fonda). The sure handed direction, the cinematography, by Henri Decaë, the music, by Lalo Schifrin, the onscreen chemistry of the cast, the costumes, by Pierre Balmain, all render a great mise en scène. Alain Delon was at the height of his sullen beauty and sartorial elegance in the 1960s and even though I will not specifically talk about him in this blog post, his classic, understated style will quietly make its presence felt, complementing the beautiful wardrobes of the female characters.

Pierre Balmain was one of the designers who, along with Christian Dior and Jacques Fath, had mostly influenced the fashion of the ’50s, coined as the “New Look” by Harper’s Bazaar. But the sheath dress (below) was another signature style of his, and which, with its slender lines, I much prefer to the stiffened shapes of the New Look. Remember Brigitte Bardot’s beautiful red dress in And God Created Woman, designed by the same Pierre Balmain?

The little black cocktail dress worn by Lola Albright. Beautiful neck- and back-line.

The plot is placed in Monte Carlo and the chateau where much of the action takes place overlooks the Mediterranean Sea, so some casual-wear was to be expected too. Jeans and t-shirts, capri pants and simple sweaters, black one-piece swimsuits and dress shirts.

A pinstripe shirt dress, perfect for lounging in the sun. The elegant bag, unusual for carrying to the beach, is that much more interesting because of that.

Simplicity and elegance are the words de rigueur for the female wardrobes in the film. In his 1965 memoirs, Pierre Balmain said: “I have fought at rue François 1er to defend a conception of elegance which I perhaps flatter myself in believing is thoroughly French.”

As Melinda says, Alain Delon looks good in a grey suit.

The polka dots had become huge in the fifties, when Christian Dior and Jacques Fath had turned them into a couture detail by putting them on evening dresses, and the pattern was still going strong in the 1960s. Jane Fonda is wearing an entire array of polka dots, from headscarves – worn with simple sweaters and tweed pencil skirts – to skirts and dresses. Cheerful and playful, but undeniably classic.

photos: screen stills (Cité Films,
Compagnie Internationale de Productions Cinématographiques), except for 1, 4, 17, which were taken on the set of the film

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23 August 2014

River Phoenix and the Hollywood He Left Behind

River Phoenix would have been, in my opinion, among the best, if not the best, actors of his generation. In fact, I think he already was when he died tragically at the tender age of 23, in 1993. In his short career he impressed with his natural talent and it is hard not to imagine the actor he was becoming. He was nominated to the Academy Awards for his role in Running on Empty (1989) when he was only 19. From Stand by Me and Running on Empty, to I Love You to Death, Dogfight and My Own Private Idaho, he had an arresting presence in every role I’ve seen him in. There was something mysterious about him, something quiet yet powerful that easily caught your attention and often held the screen. His untimely death deprived us not only of a great actor, but of a future style role model too. He came to define the grunge generation, but he knew how to wear a tuxedo as well.

I believe he would have chosen his movies wisely, steering away from what was mainstream. “I’m so glad that it didn’t happen, because I don’t want to make music for the masses. I just want to make it for my friends and the people I play with” is what River was saying about Aleka’s Attic, the band he’d formed with sister, Rain, when it didn’t hit it big. I believe he would have applied the same philosophy to his filmography. Which would only have made us appreciate him more. In a Hollywood that has lost the real meaning of a movie star, he would have been one.

Today was his birthday.

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