Japanese cinema and the Best Costume Design Oscar

by Cláudio Alves

The Academy has always had a certain difficulty in recognizing excellence from films made in any language other than English. When it comes to Asian cinema, that is especially true. Parasite's recent grand victory may be a sign that times are a-changing, but there are still branches of AMPAS that remain quite closed-off and insular.

Thankfully that hasn't been the case with thee design branches. For a long time they were the only place where you could hope to find any sort of honor given to the works of masters like Akira Kurosawa and Kenji Mizoguchi. Japanese cinema, in particular, has found success in the Costume Design category. Overall, five pictures from Japan have been nominated for the prize and two have won. Since all those films are currently available online, most of them streaming on the Criterion Channel, it's a good time to take a look at this peculiarity of Oscar history…

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We had so much fun on "Down with Love"

Costume Designer Daniel Orlandi concludes his guest-blogging day with our favourite of his pictures. You should follow him on Instagram for more fun set photos & costume sketches....

by Daniel Orlandi

The Doris Day / Rock Hudson sex comedy romps were among the first movies I saw as a kid. I was so enamored of the look. So when I read the script to Down with Love (2003), I had to do it. I owe a lot to Producer Paddy Cullen for helping me get the job. She slipped me that script early and got me in to meet the director and producers first.

There was one problem, though...

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Films that made me want to be a costume designer

Costume Designer Daniel Orlandi Guest Blog Day. Here's Daniel...

Growing up in New Jersey I started to sneak into Manhattan at a very young age to see Broadway shows which made me want to be a set designer. Bu it was at the movies where I fell in love with costumes. My parents both loved movies and they took me with them as it was cheaper than getting a sitter. I can watch a film as an adult and think “Oh wow that's what the film was about. Suzie Wong was a prostitute!” Movies theaters were also my Saturday afternoon activity. Mom would drop me off and pick me up after she ran her errands.

I loved the Doris Day and Rock Hudson films and all their imitations. The film where I first really noticed costume design was The Art Of Love (1965). I saw it so many times as it was the second feature Saturday afternoon for so many other films...

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The Best Day on the Set of "Saving Mr Banks"

Costume Designer Daniel Orlandi is guest-blogging all day!

by Daniel Orlandi

I had been preparing for the high-pressure two days of shooting at DisneyLand for several months. There were about 800 extras including 250 kids that had to be costumed and the research had been surprising. People used to actually dress up for a day in the park back in 1962. We had everyone in colorful 1960s California finery. When dressing extras I like to give everyone a character — so no souvenirs or T shirts!  We found a website where people posted their old personal photos of Disneyland. That was invaluable.

We also had to dress the park employees. Recreating Disney’s 1960s walk-around characters proved even more challenging...

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Adrian, God of Glamour

by Cláudio Alves

Born Adrian Adolph Greenberg, the designer best known as Adrian was one of the most influential costumers in Hollywood history. After working in his family business of millinery, Adrian went on to study costume design in New York and Paris and later found work dressing the starlets of Broadway. His talents soon took him to Hollywood, where he found a home from the mid-1920s to the 1940s, designing the costumes for many an MGM classic. Throughout his tenure in Tinsel Town, Adrian perfected the on and offscreen looks of such great divas as Greta Garbo, Norma Shearer, Myrna Loy, Jean Harlow, Vivien Leigh, Ingrid Bergman, Lana Turner, Judy Garland, Hedy Lamarr, and others. Among them, his most essential collaborator and muse was the one and only Joan Crawford…

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