"Troy" was not great [one of my fave designers though, Bob Ringwood. He
designed "Dune". But maybe he was having a bad day on "Troy"] Still
there's a
consistency to the look.
The movie I love to hate the costumes in is
"Bram Stoker's Dracula"
Dreadful...doubly dreadful! Some lov-er-ly bustles gowns....in 1898????
[they emblazon that date in 20 foot numbers on the screen at the
beginning] The
men are all over the place...sometimes in one costume. Dracula 1st
looks like a
Chinese opera singer in drag, then once in London, he looks like Leon
Russell, Then he rises out of his coffin in a Gustav Klimt
robe....and that Kabuki
costume Lucy is supposed to get married in....
It was all over the place. There was no logic or center to the very concept
of the costumes. I don't get it. A big fat F for the designer. She gets an F
instead of F- because she can design a beautiful gown.
Then there's "Vanity Fair"...that one gets the minus. Yuk!
Of course historical accuracy rarely works for film or theatre. Design
elements have to enhance the concept of the show. Even "Dangerous
Liaisons" has
some aspects that were tweaked to make otherwise accurate costumes look
"better". The only film [films...it's really two] I've seen where
accuracy really
worked is "Little Dorrit"
I thought "Dangerous Liasons" was one of the better costume movies -
always excep[ting my personal bete noir Mr Malcovich, who was quoted
as saying that he was wearing his costumes as if it was a pair of
jeans, and it looked like it. Has the man never heard of "acting" as
if you are a French nobleman of the 18th century?
Suzi
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