OVP: Best Costume (2020)
The Nominees Were...
Alexandra Byrne, Emma
Ann Roth, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Trish Summerville, Mank
Bina Daigeler, Mulan
Massimo Cantini Parrini, Pinocchio
My Thoughts: One could've hoped in a year where there were limited options, and most of the films that were released were on tight budgets that we could've gotten at least one nomination that was for contemporary design at the Oscars, but alas we are looking at yet another field from this branch that is totally bereft of contemporary design. This shouldn't be confused for being a year with no good designs (far from it), but it also feels particularly uninspired that Oscar was disproportionately into contemporary films for its Best Picture category and AMPAS couldn't at least pick one for its costume design.
After all, did we really need to give Pinocchio this citation? I was all about the work for Makeup, given that it feels like it's plucked the entire look out of a 19th Century picture book, but the costume design has been done before, and doesn't add anything new. Unlike makeup, there's no clever standout pieces, and what we get are the same torn-down Gepetto and red-hatted Pinocchio we always get. The film's aesthetic doesn't differentiate enough either. Each character's makeup feels unique, but the costumes are interchangeable, and while they have a weathered look to them, they don't differentiate side characters enough.
This is also the case for Ma Rainey. While we have some designs (pretty much everything that Ma Rainey wears) that standout from genius Ann Roth, the rest of the film isn't nearly as interesting. Maybe this is kind of the point? We're meant to realize that only Ma gets to be on top, and even then, she's perched on a throne that can't get too high, but the rest of the costumes feel less interesting, less character-specific (save for Boseman's shoes, which are a critical part of the plot). This win feels like it was honoring a legend a bit more than it was earned, and I just wasn't feeling it the way that Oscar was.
I was more into Emma when it came to costume design. For starters, it was the one movie that felt like it genuinely cared about the side characters. Look at the way that Emma always feels slightly absurd if impeccable in the lead, and how so many of the women try (unsuccessfully) to emulate her looks as the film goes on. This is the sort of costume detail that I adore. This is one of the only films in this lineup that feels like the men get to have any fun. Josh O'Connor's ridiculous high collar covering much of his face and Johnny Flynn's suede top hat that allows his golden curls to spill out...it's good stuff, and feels like the costume designers decided the looks after the casting department, always a win.
Mank doesn't forget its male protagonists as well (I love the ruffled-but-distinctive way they outfitted Tom Burke as Orson Welles), but this, like Ma Rainey, is a movie where one woman gets all of the best looks. Amanda Seyfried's part as Marion Davies is tricky. She has to play her as someone who might be all surface-level (or might not)...she's an actress where we can't quite tell when she's acting & when she's just doing what she needs to do to stay in Hearst's (and Hollywood's) orbit. She achieves this through a sophisticated, girlish glamour. The best look is obviously her sexy drum major outfit at the cocktail party, but Marion's furs and 1930's ball gowns feel plucked out of a different era.
Mulan fares better, for me, than recent incarnations like Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin partially because the costume designers are not indebted to the original film. Without a specific dress to recreate, we get more surprises here, and it feels less like they just went to Downtown Disney and outfitted a $200 million movie. The best look in the film is obviously Gong Li's villain, particularly her golden bird-of-prey tiara, the only costume design that feels like it's genuinely feeding the character, but everything looks great here even if the rest of the designs lack this look's iconic ingenuity.
Other Precursor Contenders: The Costume Designers Guild splits their categories into Period, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, & Contemporary, so we have 15 nominees for this precursor. Period film went with Ma Rainey atop Emma, Judas and the Black Messiah, Mank, and One Night in Miami, while Contemporary picked Promising Young Woman over Birds of Prey, Barb and Star go to Vista del Mar, Da 5 Bloods, and The Prom. Sci-Fi /Fantasy (I'm floored they were able to find five), picked Mulan (duh) atop Dolittle, Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey, Pinocchio, & Wonder Woman 1984. BAFTA also picked Ma Rainey atop Ammonite, The Dig, Emma, & Mank. In terms of sixth place, I actually predicted The Glorias for Best Costume for two reasons 1) this was the first Julie Taymor film not to randomly get an Oscar nomination and 2) it had Oscar goddess Sandy Powell doing the design work. I still think this was closer even if something like Judas or Chicago 7 make more sense.
Films I Would Have Nominated: I will not forget contemporary design when I do my ballot in a few weeks. Promising Young Woman is a cornucopia of character-specific designs, has one iconic look (that cotton candy nurse outfit), and makes the clothes a part of the actual plotting of the movie. Given they loved it elsewhere, this should've been an easy call with Oscar.
Oscar's Choice: Almost 25 years after her first Oscar for The English Patient, an 89-year-old Ann Roth got a second statue for Ma Rainey, over Emma and Mank (it's hard to tell which).
My Choice: I love Ann Roth (she'll win an OVP eventually), but my vote goes to Emma, which is beautiful, character-driven, & doesn't ignore its side characters. Behind it will be Mank, Mulan, Ma Rainey, and Pinocchio.
And now, of course, it's your turn. Are you sticking with Oscar over in the land of Ann, or would you prefer to have tea with Emma? What's it going to take to get a contemporary design nominated (or *gasp* a win) again? And am I insane for thinking The Glorias was in the running here? Share your thoughts below!
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