OVP: Best Costume (2018)
The Nominees Were...
Mary Zophres, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Ruth Carter, Black Panther
Sandy Powell, The Favourite
Sandy Powell, Mary Poppins Returns
Alexandra Byrne, Mary Queen of Scots
My Thoughts: Queens, queens, queens. That's the theme once again in our Costume field, where we have a trio of movies featuring the looks of queens, both real & fictional. None of these films are getting their sole nomination, so there's no picture totally on its own here, but I will admit straight out that I was a little bit taken aback by how dull this lineup is on paper, going for tried-and-true topics, with four of the five being period pictures. The only one that wasn't is Black Panther, which, despite it being a superhero film (newer for Oscar), is literally a royal drama when you think about it for longer than ten seconds. Let's start there anyway, though, since we haven't gotten to the movie yet.
Black Panther's costume work is instantly the most recognizable & iconic of these groups, and not just because the movie made the most money & shaped pop culture the most ferociously. The beautiful use of color that Ruth Carter employs throughout, particularly reds and purples, are clearly inspired from real life, and indeed the Dora Milaje is modeled in part on the Maasai people of Kenya's look. Add in the gorgeous headdress of Angela Bassett's queen and pretty much everything that Michael B. Jordan is doing in the film (the movie also deserved a makeup designation for the scars on Jordan's torso), and you have a truly authentic, holistic approach to the outfits in the picture.
The only other film, for my money, that compares is The Favourite. Here we have a tricky task for Sandy Powell, who is perhaps the greatest costume designer working. Powell's job is not just to try and find the looks of Queen Anne's England, but also to twist it a bit, in an almost mannerist way, to feel like she's catching the occasional bouts of modernity in Lanthimos' tale...and on top of that she has three women with different personalities, both copying each other & standing apart from one another...and you also have to do that with a pretty consistent palette, mostly shades of white, blue, & black. That we get something so distinctive & unique is a true inspiration. Powell brings this court such distinction that even on its own, even in a field that we've seen hundreds of times onscreen, it very much looks like The Favourite to my eyes. Bonus points for Rachel Weisz's gender-neutral hunting garb, the year's single best look.
Everything else, I'll be real, is in the shadow of these two pictures. Mary Poppins Returns does a slightly modern take on the original Julie Andrews aesthetic (she gets a spiffy new hat, and her coat has been to the dry cleaners), but there's nothing more there. Powell's best looks are usually men, but only Ben Whishaw is able to play on that front (the best look in the film might be his kelly green sweater vest coupled with sister Emily Mortimer's olive green sweater), as Lin-Manuel Miranda is sporting the same look the whole film. I also feel like Meryl Streep's fortune teller outfit felt totally out-of-place within the film, even if the carrot red wig is the biggest eyesore of that character. Overall, it's fine, but it's Sandy Powell-you expect more.
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs definitely has a lot of costumes, and at least one that stands apart (Tim Blake Nelson's white cowboy look in the opening segment). The rest of the film isn't operating with much originality though. All of the costumes feel appropriate for the time, but considering the Coen Brothers are playing so ferociously with modern humor (and the fact that Nelson's look feels more like a Roy Rogers' movie cowboy than what a man might have actually worn in the Old West), I didn't leave all that enthralled. It's good work, and it works within the confines of the picture, but it's not character-building and it's not grand, and if you're going to compete for an Oscar you should be doing at least one of those two.
That applies for Mary Queen of Scots. When I said above that The Favourite does the impossible by standing apart in a long history of historical costumes, I was thinking specifically of Mary in terms of a movie that can't. There's some detailing here (Alexandra Byrne is no slouch), but nothing in this film distinguishes to me. Everything is all Elizabethan looks we've seen before from two of the cinema's most repeated monarchs, and neither Saoirse Ronan nor Margot Robbie have an outfit that recalls the film. There's some fun with them clearly trying to recreate looks from actual paintings of the queens, but that's more mimicry than originality, and in a year where two films were creating something so specific, I wanted more of that from Mary.
Other Precursor Contenders: The Costume Designers Guild separates its nominations into Contemporary, Fantasy, & Period. Contemporary is always neglected, so we'll start there: Crazy Rich Asians took the prize over A Star is Born, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, Ocean's Eight, Red Sparrow, and Widows. Period went with The Favourite over BlacKkKlansman, Bohemian Rhapsody, Mary Poppins Returns, and Mary Queen of Scots, while Sci-Fi/Fantasy chose Black Panther against A Wrinkle in Time, Aquaman, Avengers: Infinity War, and The Nutcracker and the Four Realms. The BAFTA's went with The Favourite as the winner, over The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Bohemian Rhapsody, Mary Poppins Returns, and Mary Queen of Scots. In terms of sixth, at the time I predicted Crazy Rich Asians, but upon retrospect (and knowing how well it'd do with Oscar)...it's gotta be Bohemian Rhapsody, right?
Films I Would Have Nominated: Contemporary costume design deserves its day, and it more-than-deserved it in 2018. While Oscar & BAFTA was phoning it in, A Simple Favor and Crazy Rich Asians was doing character-specific work that was totally immersive & made those pictures what they were.
Oscar's Choice: Ruth Carter took a nailbiter race over The Favourite to become the first black woman to win Best Costume Design.
My Choice: A genuinely tight race-Oscar had it right to debate between those two. I'm going to give the nod ever so slightly to The Favourite, though, which I think is a more difficult standout against the worthy Black Panther (both will make my ballot, for the record). Behind them we'll do Poppins, Buster, and Queen of Scots.
And now, of course, it's your turn. Are you saying Wakanda Forever with the Academy, or God Save the Queen with me? Why do you think that the Oscars struggles so much to honor truly spectacular modern design? And was Bohemian Rhapsody really in the running for yet another nomination here? Share your thoughts below!
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