Oscar Volley: ‘Cruella’ is the one to beat in Best Costume Design
Tuesday, February 1, 2022 at 2:30PM Continuing our Oscar Volley series at The Film Experience. Cláudio Alves and Glenn Dunks discuss Best Costume Design
Cláudio Alves: This is my favorite Oscar race! I studied Costume Design in college and still design for theater. However, that doesn't necessarily correlate to my appreciation of the Oscar category. That admiration stems instead from this branch's propensity for lone nominees, the recognition of films with little to no hope of breaking into other races. Sometimes, that lonely contender even wins, though it's been over a decade since that last happened – 2006's Marie Antoinette with costumes by Milena Canonero.
Truthfully, I could envision that occurring this year with Cruella. Beyond that Disney fashion show, one wonders if there'll be any surprise single-category nominees. Honestly, I'm having trouble coming up with a potential candidate unless it's Cyrano or House of Gucci drastically underperforms. What about you, Glenn?
Glenn Dunks Oh, I love the costume category, too, even if —like most Academy categories—the branch remains steadfastly pigheaded in what they determine to be Oscar worthy. The effect a single costume can have over an entire film is almost unrivalled by the other crafts. Costumes can inspire fashion trends, Halloween costumes, and often give the audience a greater insight into a character than dialogue alone can. In that regard, you have Spencer, which, misgivings about the movie aside, is a pretty brilliant example of using costume to tell us a lot about its characters. All restricting gowns and turtlenecks, unnatural and outdated cuts and colours, the way an outfit's design plays against those worn by people around Kristen Stewart's Princess Diana. Jacqueline Durran's work is probably my favourite of the year.
What will Jenny Beavan wear to the Oscars this year?
And then there's a movies like Cruella, which is just imagination run wild. Given the, shall we say, classless way Disney went about promoting the work of two-time Oscar winner Jenny Beavan, it would be sweet yet deserved revenge that she wins her third Oscar. One almost wants Beavan, who accepted her last Oscar in a leather biker jacket(!), to get up there and give Disney a serve on stage. It's maybe enough to make me cheer for it at the expense of superior work like that in Spencer, The Tragedy of Macbeth and The Green Knight which all served intricate, lived-in costume work that were truly at one with the cinematic world around them.
Cláudio, how do you think the costume branch is at finding the balance between how all of these exceptionally talented people come at this most singular of crafts?
THE GREEN KNIGHT’s costumes get Cláudio's vote for 'Best of the Year.'
Cláudio Alves: While I love the costume branch's relativize willingness to look beyond Best Picture contenders, they have their vices. Chief among them is the bias against contemporary-set narratives, often excluding such films from even being part of the conversation. Furthermore, the emphasis on perceived effort devalues sourced wardrobes, benefitting those productions with big enough budgets to build everything from scratch. Costume design isn't only about period and fantasy couture, glitzy creations labored over by vast teams. Spencer is an excellent example of how sourcing costumes from fashion houses and other such archives can be as attuned to visual dramaturgy as any array of bespoke fits.
The need to reward "most" instead of "best" is also aggravating in other ways, as is the branch's propensity for shallowness. Of course, costumes are all about surfaces, but there's no need to run away from depth when choosing which achievements to honor. Sorry for the digression but in 2018, to give you one example of this, it was dispiriting to see The Favourite and Mary, Queen of Scots nominated together as equal achievements. The former is a prime example of how to use anachronism and stylization to explore the past as well as class and power dynamics. The other, also using anachronism and stylization, goes down the route of undisciplined confusion and was surely nominated because royalty porn gets automatic consideration.
THE HARDER THEY FALL is stylish but its sartorial choices are too polished.
I'm happy to say that none of this year's contenders inspire similar ire in me. My face may have flashed disappointment when I saw Spider-Man: No Way Home was nominated for a CDG award, but there's no danger of that transpiring at the Oscars. The only vague possibilities that would inspire some ranting from me would be The Harder They Fall. The costumes have great style, but why does everything look so new and unworn? I'm curious to know if there's any work that you specifically don't want to see in this year's Best Costume Design lineup?
Glenn Dunks Please don't get me started on The Harder They Fall. But to answer your question, I'd say House of Gucci. For so much of its runtime it seems to forget the titular house of Gucci. How did a film about style end up so unstylish ?!?
On a different note altogether, I wonder if Spencer's costume guild miss fell more on the uncertainty of whether it's technically period or technically contemporary given that often hard-to-pin-down line?
Despite its title, HOUSE OF GUCCI has little interest in fashion.
Cláudio Alves: I've been mulling over those CDG results for the past few days. I went as far as counting all the times the guild and the Academy failed to overlap. So, here's a list of all films that got Oscar nods with no corresponding CDG citation. The results are telling:
- 2020: all Oscar nominees had CDG nominations
- 2019: Little Women (Jacqueline Durran)*, The Irishman (Sandy Powell & Christopher Peterson), Joker (Mark Bridges)
- 2018: The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (Mary Zophres)
- 2017: Phantom Thread (Mark Bridges)*, Darkest Hour (Jacqueline Durran), Victoria & Abdul (Consolata Boyle)
- 2016: Allied (Joanna Johnston)
- 2015: The Revenant (Jacqueline West)
- 2014: Mr. Turner (Jacqueline Durran)
- 2013: The Grandmaster (William Chang), The Invisible Woman (Michael O'Connor)
- 2012: all Oscar nominees had CDG nominations
- 2011: Anonymous (Lisy Christi)
- 2010: I Am Love (Antonella Cannarozzi)
- 2009: Bright Star (Janet Patterson
- 2008: Australia (Catherine Martin)
- 2007: Across the Universe (Albert Wolsky)
- 2006: all Oscar nominees had CDG nominations
- 2005: Mrs. Henderson Presents (Sandy Powell), Pride & Prejudice (Jacqueline Durran)
- 2004: Finding Neverland (Alexandra Byrne), Troy (Bob Ringwood)
- 2003: Girl with a Pearl Earring (Dien van Straalen), Master & Commander (Wendy Stites)
- 2002: Gangs of New York (Sandy Powell), The Hours (Ann Roth), The Pianist (Anna B. Sheppard)
- 2001: Moulin Rouge! (Catherine Martin & Angus Strathie)*, The Affair of the Necklace (Milena Canonero), Gosford Park (Jenny Beavan), The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Ngila Dickson & Richard Taylor)
- 2000: Gladiator (Janty Yates)*, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Tim Yip), 102 Dalmatians (Anthony Powell)
- 1999: Topsy-Turvy (Lindy Hemming)*, Anna and the King (Jenny Beavan), Titus (Milena Canonero)
- 1998: Shakespeare in Love (Sandy Powell)*, Elizabeth (Alexandra Byrne), Velvet Goldmine (Sandy Powell)
*indicates the film went on to win the Oscar
In other words, what does the guild have against Jacqueline Durran?
The costumes of SPENCER are a royal triumph!
Because of that alone, I feel safe predicting a Spencer nomination despite the snub. Also, to your question, I think those costumes are firmly in the period categorization. Some years ago, I did a play set in the early 2000s. It was an illuminating experience of how fashion changes and how authenticity requires a lot of research, even when you feel familiar and close to the past. Furthermore, if House of Gucci is period to the CDG, so is Spencer.
DUNE seems fated to dominate the ‘below the line’ categories.
Glenn Dunks I still expect Spencer to appear on Oscar nomination morning. So my predictions...
- Dune (CDG Fantasy nominee)
- Cruella
- West Side Story
- Nightmare Alley (all three being CDG period nominees)
...and - Spencer
Yours?
Cláudio Alves: I'm also betting on Spence, Cruella, and Dune which leaves two spots that could honestly go any which way. House of Gucci has the bonus of being nominally about fashion, though Cruella might get that boost, blocking Janty Yates's work. Cyrano feels like a classic Best Costume Design nominee, coming from a director whose period pieces have ALWAYS nabbed nominations in this category. Moreover, it's a splendorous achievement, transforming a 17th-century story into a Rococo dream, appealing to a sense of stylized abstraction while still acknowledging the weirdness of historical fashions. Massimo Cantini Parrini and Jacqueline Durran are masters of their craft and already Oscar nominees, which tends to help.
Durran designed Haley Bennett’s wardrobe for CYRANO, while Parrini did the rest.
I wonder if the decadent glamour of Luis Sequeira's work on Nightmare Alley is enough to stand out especially compared to Paul Tazewell's riot of color in West Side Story. Tazewell's work is wonderfully period and character-specific, without ever sacrificing a sense of theatrical spectacle. The industry's reluctance to acknowledge the excellence of his Harriet costumes a few years ago feels like a potential omen, though.
Kristy Cameron's The Power of the Dog costumes are masterpieces of nuanced storytelling. Notice the mismatched whites of Peter's clothing, how the bleached glow of those shoes feels like an affront to the cowboy's cosmos of dirtied creams and yellowed cotton. And I've seldom seen a more perfect summation of 1920s evening wear than the heavy column-like dress Rose wears to the dinner party. If The Power of the Dog dominates Oscar morning, I wouldn't be totally surprised if they call Cameron's name.
Can Mark Bridges score another nomination for a PTA movie?
Then we have the usual suspects – Mark Bridges, Milena Canonero, and Mary Zophres. Their work in Licorice Pizza, The French Dispatch, and The Tragedy of Macbeth, respectively, is exquisite. As for longshot possibilities, The Green Knight and Last Night in Soho would be shocking inclusions but not unprecedented ones. If I could guarantee a nod for a personal favorite, I'd choose Malgosia Turzanska's sustainable designs in The Green Knight.
My predictions:
- CRUELLA, Jenny Beavan (a lock and the frontrunner to win)
- SPENCER (The Academy loves Durran even when they don't love her films)
- DUNE (The industry is behind it in a near-unanimous fashion)
- CYRANO (Feels like a classic Best Costume Design contender)
- LICORICE PIZZA (a somewhat wild choice, but I like to predict dangerously)
It feels wrong to bet against West Side Story, House of Gucci, and Nightmare Alley, but there are only five spots. Someone has to be left out. Although knowing my track record with these things, I expect AMPAS to snub all the movies I predicted.
Alex Hassell in THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH, he of the snatched waist and fabulous sleeves.
Glenn Dunks: I think you covered a whole lot there so to end I'll just end on this note: Cruella may have had the gay fashion assistant, but Alex Hassell's Ross from The Tragedy of Macbeth and his over-the-top, oversized sleeve outfit was one of the most fabulously dressed characters of the year.
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Reader Comments (8)
Predictions: Dune, Cruella, Spencer, Cyrano, Nightmare Alley
My preference list: The Green Knight, Dune, Cruella, The Lost Daughter +1
Wish list: Cruella, Dune, Passing, The Tragedy of Macbeth, Zola
Prediction: Cruella, Dune, The Power of the Dog, The Tragedy of Macbeth, West Side Story
I agree with Glenn. Alex Hassell looked fabulous. Such a thin waist!
Of all the films released in 2021, no film is as deserving of not only a nomination but a win as The French Dispatch. Milena Canonero's designs are so character driven and fit the specific aesthetic of Anderson's vision. You can tell that she did her work because the designs reminded me so much of the clothing I would have seen in a French New Wave film. Her designs are closely coordinated with the sets and are both playful, yet somehow feel like real clothes.
i say
Cruella
Dune
House of Gucci
Nightmare Alley (Luis Sequeira is already an Oscar nominee for a Del Toro movie and in this movie has a wider scope to work with)
West side story
Great category to vote for West Side Story if you're an Academy voter. Just saying.
Milena Canonero is a genius and her collaboration with Wes Anderson is perfect, one more time. I can't believe she is going to be ignored for such a stellar job.
This is such a delicious category. Cruella should win on the basis of that garbage-truck dress alone.
I, too, would like to see Spencer here. Macbeth would be a lovely surprise but I don't think it's happening (this is one category where B&W definitely seems to hurt the most?).