Spencer: Dressing an Icon

by Cláudio Alves

Spencer is proving itself a divisive picture. Even among The Film Experience team, some hate it, and some love it. Still, reading through plenty of negative reviews, one can find some elements capable of surviving the criticism, joining the two factions of the discourse around Spencer. So far, the costumes seem to be earning quasi-unanimous praise. Two-time Academy Award winner Jacqueline Durran is a beloved artist, capable of facing the challenge of dressing an icon with obstinate virtuosity. Evoking the ghost of Princess Diana, or rather a stylistic impression of her, the designer has created one of the most ravishing wardrobes of the cinematic year, a masterpiece of sartorial indulgence that befits the movie's melodramatic verve…

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The modernity of Little Women's costumes

by Cláudio Alves

Last Sunday, the great Jacqueline Durran became a two-time Academy Award winner thanks to Little Women. As the umpteenth costume designer to tackle Louisa May Alcott's classic tale, Durran had the challenge of dressing these well-known characters in a bold reinterpretation. Eschewing the strict historical accuracy with which Collen Atwood tackled the subject in 1994, Jacqueline Durran evoked the fashions of the 1860s by infusing them with character-specific idiosyncrasies and a general sense of 21st-century modernity.

Her designs are not as bound to their filmmaker's contemporary styles as the Little Women of 1933 or 1949. However, there's no denying that the current iteration of the March sisters is filtered through the sensibilities of artists living in the 2010s… 

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Ranking this year's Oscar speeches

by Cláudio Alves

As we finish our Oscar celebrations and mourn the end of another Awards Season, let's explore this year's Academy Award speeches. Unlike past ceremonies, this one was poor in truly disastrous acceptance speeches. Perhaps people saw the mess of last year's Best Makeup winners and decided they would be prepared to step on stage and receive their little golden men with dignity and generosity towards the teams that got them to that dazzling podium. Whatever the reason, this was a good year for Oscar speeches and we honor them, from the most unmemorable to the god-tier achievements in public speaking.

We begin with the least impressive efforts of the night…

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What's next for our Oscar champions?

by Cláudio Alves

Another Awards Season is over and we have newly anointed champions of the Academy Awards to applaud and celebrate. As cinephiles, the best way we have of celebrating is surely to watch and appreciate these filmmakers' work. After all, it was their sterling achievements that conquered them their little golden men and our eternal devotion. With that in mind, let's investigate the prospects of the Oscar Class of 2019, many of which already have their next movies lined up, some already in post-production even.

First up, we have the night's greatest star - the one and only Bong Joon-ho…

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A Celebration of Jacqueline Durran

by Murtada Elfadl

Florence Pugh and Durran on the set of Little Women

Though not as well known as preeminent costume designers and Oscar-magnets Sandy Powell and Colleen Atwood, Jacqueline Durran has quietly been building a stellar reputation over a two decade career. She is best known for her collaborations with Mike Leigh and Joe Wright, though in the last few years she's expanded her repertoire of directors and costumed movies such as Macbeth, Beauty and the Beast and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

This year she worked with Sam Mendes in creating WW1 military garb in 1917 and with Greta Gerwig dressing the March sisters in Little Women. The latter marks her 7th Oscar nomination. She's won once before.   Let’s take a look back at some of the highlights of her career...

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