costume snobbing

[anotheranon]

I've resigned myself to the fact that "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" is going to have very little to do with the actual Elizabeth Tudor's actual "golden age" in the late 16th century.

I've also accepted that the director, Shekhar Kapur, is aiming for larger than life rather than any semblance to historical reality in both plot and visuals.

Really, I get all that. I'm going to see it eventually for the acting, because a triple header of Blanchett-Rush-Owen can't be passed up.

But when Shakur says:

"I more or less like the spirit of the historical look," Kapur says from Los Angeles. "The spirit -- not the actuality of that. Because the actuality can be quite boring."[emphasis mine]

I have to ask - what is he smoking???

I mean, has he EVER looked at any of the umpteen portraits of the real Elizabeth I? By even the most modern Vegas showgirl standards, these clothes are NOT boring - full of veils and ruffs and velvets and crusted with pearls - this is boring??

Mr. Kapur, don't quit your day job :P

Comments

[ellid.livejournal.com]

The one we should go after is the costume designer. Janet Arnold's book on Elizabeth's clothing has been out for what, ten years? There is zero excuse for costumes that are straight out of A Midsummer's Night's Dream.

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

I'm reluctant to bust on the costume designer because I've learned from many discussions and "field notes" on one of my historic costume email lists that the designers don't often have as much control over the look/feel as you'd think. There are often issues of what is most flattering to the actors, what is available, and what the producers/director will spring for.

In this case, it seems like the director's vision is directly in opposition to historical reality. Which, while I think it makes for a less interesting film, is entirely his perogative.

What I take umbrage at is calling the clothes we know court ladies and the Queen wore then as "boring" - it gives the impression that he's never even seen a portrait of the woman!

[wcg.livejournal.com]

I've seen this film referred to as textile porn.

[gillshalos.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure Kapur was there at the night the movie "Elizabeth" opened in Toronto, when I went to see it with my husband (Michael) and a fellow Elizabethan costumer. We were so horrified we were practically howling at the screen during the movie and Michael spent the movie trying to suppress us. Needless to say, we *shredded* it as we exited the cinema. The fellow who I think was Kapur heard us and looked like he was ready to kill us when he heard what we were saying. He particularly didn't appreciate our nickname "Elizablech" - he had been drifting around the lobby listening to what people were saying about the film as they left.

Anyway, I am *so* with you - he has been smoking way too much crack, or else has started believing his own bollywood films if he thinks that any Elizabethan history or clothing is boring. There are a few bits that might look a bit odd to the modern viewer, but I would never dream of calling them boring unless the only thing he looked at were parliamentary records, and even they have interesting bits!

All I can say is, he needs his bloody head examined and he better not try and pass off some fantasy mish-mash as historical fact again. Humpf.

[flummoxicated.livejournal.com]

That comment I don't get, I can only guess that he has only given a passing glance to portraits of EI.

Just pretend that the movie is based on the Elizabeth of an alternate universe.

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

I guess it is, sorta - no doubt the costumes will be beautiful, but to my informally-trained eye the anachronisms will stand out.

[semmie17.livejournal.com]

From the costume-clueless:

I'd love to see a list of what was actually done incorrectly, based on historical records. I catch things in medieval movies, but don't know enough about Elizabethan textiles and clothing to make a judgement.

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen this one yet, but I can volunteer what I noticed in the "Elizabeth":

Too much undress - men didn't run around in unbuttoned doublets at court; adult women always wore their hair up in a coif or other kind of headdress. I remember big bouffant dresses when Elizabeth (Blanchett) is dancing outdoors with her ladies, and Tudor styles were very controlled and geometric. Also, I'm pretty sure that stretch panne velvet didn't exist then :P