OVP: Best Costume (2005)
The Nominees Were...
Gabriella Pescucci, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Colleen Atwood, Memoirs of a Geisha
Sandy Powell, Mrs. Henderson Presents
Jacqueline Durran, Pride & Prejudice
Arianne Phillips, Walk the Line
Colleen Atwood, Memoirs of a Geisha
Sandy Powell, Mrs. Henderson Presents
Jacqueline Durran, Pride & Prejudice
Arianne Phillips, Walk the Line
My Thoughts: I promised we'd keep up with the two-a-week schedule, so we're getting back-to-back OVP ballots this week as we head into Best Costume Design for 2005. One of the stranger things in revisiting this year is that, generally, Oscar didn't do a bad job in putting together reputable lineups-most of the best films of the year at least got a nomination in one of the categories, even if it wasn't always in the right categories or quantities. Costume, though, is a hodgepodge-this is a category that stretches from legendary costume work to pretty boring to the downright ugly.
We'll start, therefore, in the middle by showing right away what my Bronze is: Mrs. Henderson Presents. Sandy Powell never phones it in, and the movie's costumes are certainly the best part of the show. The giant numbers, overflowing with colorful sequins and feathers (the best being those fantastic turquoise ostrich fans), are delicious. The movie spends more time on what's on-stage than off (there doesn't seem to be enough creativity happening when it comes to some of the more traditional period work, which is weird for Powell, who does menswear better than virtually any other designer today), but this has enough to lend to it that it's easy to see why Oscar was smitten, and I don't think it was just because it was coming from their favorite modern designer.
Pride & Prejudice, though, takes that "mundane" and makes it extraordinary and timeless. For a tale that's been told countless times, Durran still finds a way to make Lizzie Bennet and Mr. Darcy hers. I loved the way that the Bennet sisters' dresses all have a similar shape & idea (sisters are, by-and-large, going to cultivate similar tastes by virtue of the same status & mother shopping for them), while giving specific details to their personalities. Durran has long used Keira Knightley as a muse (Knightley's a good-luck charm for many in this category), and she in particular gets a great cascade of similar, but classic dresses. Combined with even Matthew Macfadyen upping the gentlemanly sex appeal game that Colin Firth started with Durran's open-collar emergence from the moors, and you have a truly classic costuming collection.
I didn't feel the same way about Walk the Line, however. Here it feels like we're getting less period detail than we got in Powell or Durran's work. Yes, it makes sense to put Joaquin Phoenix all in black, but there's not enough touches to give it the feel of a suit from the 1960's, but instead something you could find off-the-rack in 2005. The same could be said for Reese Witherspoon, who is admittedly wearing looks worn by the real-life June Carter Cash, but while they're beautiful, they don't have the detailing that would signal "1960's." In some ways this feels persnickety, but we were about to embark on the golden age costuming of this era with Mad Men, and it's hard to look at both and not feel wanting with Walk the Line.
At least there's some ingenuity in the work of Walk the Line-the same cannot be said for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Here we have looks that feel plucked out of the 1970's film, and not in the best way. We don't have enough iconography around these characters-Matt TV and Charlie Bucket are wearing clothes that they could've shown up on the set with, and these feel very much like looks you would pull together for Halloween. The nomination probably happened for Johnny Depp's Mad Hatter-by-way-of-Hugh Hefner burgundy suit jacket-and-top hat, but this isn't ingenious so much as it's one idea. This nomination feels a bit cheap to me, and like Oscar saw "Tim Burton" and figured the costumes must be up-to-snuff.
The final nomination was also a gut check citation the second it was announced, though here it warranted the confidence. Memoirs of a Geisha has a lot of problems with the actual execution of the bestseller, but the costume work is not one of them. We have gorgeous looks, frequently intended to not just eye pop, but also to match the surroundings of the film, making costume and set design almost merge. Look at the way that Zhang Ziyi's floral kimono adds to the color scheme of a garden sequence or how Gong Li's fur stole adds a dangerous elegance to her portrayal. The costumes make the movie-it's kind of the whole point, and Atwood finds ways to meld color in a way that makes this movie perhaps her best work.
We'll start, therefore, in the middle by showing right away what my Bronze is: Mrs. Henderson Presents. Sandy Powell never phones it in, and the movie's costumes are certainly the best part of the show. The giant numbers, overflowing with colorful sequins and feathers (the best being those fantastic turquoise ostrich fans), are delicious. The movie spends more time on what's on-stage than off (there doesn't seem to be enough creativity happening when it comes to some of the more traditional period work, which is weird for Powell, who does menswear better than virtually any other designer today), but this has enough to lend to it that it's easy to see why Oscar was smitten, and I don't think it was just because it was coming from their favorite modern designer.
Pride & Prejudice, though, takes that "mundane" and makes it extraordinary and timeless. For a tale that's been told countless times, Durran still finds a way to make Lizzie Bennet and Mr. Darcy hers. I loved the way that the Bennet sisters' dresses all have a similar shape & idea (sisters are, by-and-large, going to cultivate similar tastes by virtue of the same status & mother shopping for them), while giving specific details to their personalities. Durran has long used Keira Knightley as a muse (Knightley's a good-luck charm for many in this category), and she in particular gets a great cascade of similar, but classic dresses. Combined with even Matthew Macfadyen upping the gentlemanly sex appeal game that Colin Firth started with Durran's open-collar emergence from the moors, and you have a truly classic costuming collection.
I didn't feel the same way about Walk the Line, however. Here it feels like we're getting less period detail than we got in Powell or Durran's work. Yes, it makes sense to put Joaquin Phoenix all in black, but there's not enough touches to give it the feel of a suit from the 1960's, but instead something you could find off-the-rack in 2005. The same could be said for Reese Witherspoon, who is admittedly wearing looks worn by the real-life June Carter Cash, but while they're beautiful, they don't have the detailing that would signal "1960's." In some ways this feels persnickety, but we were about to embark on the golden age costuming of this era with Mad Men, and it's hard to look at both and not feel wanting with Walk the Line.
At least there's some ingenuity in the work of Walk the Line-the same cannot be said for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Here we have looks that feel plucked out of the 1970's film, and not in the best way. We don't have enough iconography around these characters-Matt TV and Charlie Bucket are wearing clothes that they could've shown up on the set with, and these feel very much like looks you would pull together for Halloween. The nomination probably happened for Johnny Depp's Mad Hatter-by-way-of-Hugh Hefner burgundy suit jacket-and-top hat, but this isn't ingenious so much as it's one idea. This nomination feels a bit cheap to me, and like Oscar saw "Tim Burton" and figured the costumes must be up-to-snuff.
The final nomination was also a gut check citation the second it was announced, though here it warranted the confidence. Memoirs of a Geisha has a lot of problems with the actual execution of the bestseller, but the costume work is not one of them. We have gorgeous looks, frequently intended to not just eye pop, but also to match the surroundings of the film, making costume and set design almost merge. Look at the way that Zhang Ziyi's floral kimono adds to the color scheme of a garden sequence or how Gong Li's fur stole adds a dangerous elegance to her portrayal. The costumes make the movie-it's kind of the whole point, and Atwood finds ways to meld color in a way that makes this movie perhaps her best work.
Other Precursor Contenders: The Costume Designers Guild is one of the only guilds to separate their nominees into not one or two categories, but three: contemporary, period, and fantasy. The Period Films made up most of our nominations with Oscar, and that's true here. We have Memoirs besting Walk the Line, as well as Capote, Good Night, and Good Luck, and Rent (remember the big-screen adaptation of Rent?), while Fantasy only had four films, as Batman Begins, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith all went for Chronicles of Narnia (my bet for who was in sixth). Contemporary went with five films that had no shot at an Oscar nomination: Transamerica beat Hustle & Flow, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Shopgirl, and Syriana. The BAFTA Awards were much closer to Oscar, giving the trophy to Geisha and only skipping Walk the Line to keep in Chronicles of Narnia.
Films I Would Have Nominated: I'd probably add three new names to this list and keep my Top 2. Two of my favorite films of the year were The New World and Brokeback Mountain, and both deserved to be cited here. Each film does a good job of creating not only iconic looks that meld with the picture, but they feel like actual clothes these people have in their closets that they put on-that's hard to do, and I think they missed because costuming isn't the first element you think of with either of these films. My fifth nomination would have been for a movie that I hear zilch discussion of today, The White Countess. This was the final Merchant-Ivory film, and it's a bit dull (this is hardly A Room with a View), but the costume work, particularly the way it melds with Natasha Richardson's lead character, is exquisite.
Oscar's Choice: There was no beating Memoirs of a Geisha-Pride & Prejudice surely would've won this trophy in virtually any other year.
My Choice: And I'm going to echo Oscar here-Geisha is an all-timer in this category, which is a pity as Pride & Prejudice would've made a very worthy winner. Follow that with Mrs. Henderson, Walk the Line, and Charlie.
And now, of course, it's your turn. Does anyone want to go against Memoirs of a Geisha, or are we all kind of in agreement this is a home run? What is your favorite Colleen Atwood film? And why do you think Narnia couldn't get the nomination it seemed headed for here? Share your thoughts below!
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