Monday, November 4, 1996
FILM:
"Film and Fashion" shows that the camera can take costuming far
beyond the runway.By Brandon Wilson
Daily Bruin Staff
In the last six years, the fashion world may not have become
more populist, but it certainly has become more visible. The 1990s
have brought a high profile to the once- exclusive world of haute
couture, thanks in part to various renderings done of the industry
like Robert Altman’s "Pret-a-Porter," documentaries like Douglas
Keeve’s portrait of designer Isaac Mizrahi "Unzipped" and the
proliferation of shows on cable about the latest in fashion.
But the connection between film and fashion goes back even
further than the 1990s, and the newest series playing in Melnitz
Hall proves it. Running through Dec. 5, "Film and Fashion" takes a
look at films that date from the 1920s to 1990 which feature
stellar costume design or that left a mark on the world of high
fashion. Curated by Professor Peter Wollen, vice chair of UCLA’s
department of film and television and head of its critical studies
track, the series got its start thanks to Altman’s failed foray
into fashion.
"I guess it was really bringing together two interests of mine,"
says Wollen. "I think what crystallized it was being asked to write
a piece about fashion and film for the London magazine Sight and
Sound following the release of Robert Altman’s film."
The article served as a catalyst for Wollen, leading him to
organize a film series at the National Film Theater in London, and
now in Los Angeles. The series kicked off last Saturday night with
two offerings from the 1980s: director Peter Greenaway’s "The Cook,
The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover" and Talking Heads frontman
David Byrne’s "True Stories." Both films prominently feature the
work of a designer at the forefront of the art form Â
Jean-Paul Gaultier in Greenaway’s film and Adelle Lutz in "True
Stories." These films, which are marked by the collaboration of a
visionary filmmaker with a visionary designer, were precisely what
Wollen initially had in mind when assembling the films for the
series.
"My first thought was to show films which had the work of
leading fashion designers in them, people who were known primarily
in the world of couture rather than cinema," says Wollen. "My
original list was slanted rather strongly in that direction, but a
number of the films I wanted to show weren’t available so I thought
I need to expand my criteria a bit. And so there are films included
which are classic film genres featuring fashion significantly, such
as the makeover genre, which gives you films like "Desperately
Seeking Susan" (screening tomorrow night with "Now Voyager"). And
there are films, particularly in this version of the series that
had an impact on the world of fashion, such as ‘Bonnie &
Clyde.’"
While fashion has increased its familiarity with a mass audience
through the advent of cable and shows like VH-1’s "FTV" (Fashion
Television), the series goes back 70 years with its earliest film
"Salome" (screening Sunday, Nov. 10), directed by Charles Bryant,
based on Oscar Wilde’s play and designed by Natacha Rambova. This
1923 silent film gives evidence that the line between film and
fashion is almost as old as film itself.
"They’ve been connected from very early on," says Wollen. Right
at the beginning of the century you begin to get films of runway
shows in the form of newsreels or short films which accompanied the
main program. And then those designs gradually worked their way
into the films themselves, either in the form of putting
specialized fashion numbers in the film, like in ‘The Women,’ or
else in hiring designers to do clothes for for films."
Among the evenings in the series is a double feature (Nov. 14)
of Jean-Luc Godard’s "Two or Three Things I Know About Her" (1967),
and Paul Schrader’s "American Gigolo" (1980), a film whose Armani
designs truly set the tone for the whole decade to come.
Also on hand are Jennie Livingston’s 1990 drag ball documentary
"Paris is Burning" (Nov. 23), Stanley Donen’s melding of a beatnik
Audrey Hepburn and the clothing of Givenchy in 1957’s "Funny Face"
(Dec. 1); and the series closes Dec. 5 with Luis Valdez’ "Zoot
Suit" and Julien Temple’s "Absolute Beginners."
With the series, Wollen hopes to highlight the synergy created
when designers and filmmakers collaborate, as well as point out the
differences between the two image-conscious fields.
"Cinema is a mass art form, ranging from the distinguished
independently or European-produced art films to the mass-market
Hollywood films. In that sense, Hollywood is more like the garment
industry than it is like the world of high fashion. Haute couture
is much more like the art film, and at times even like the
avant-garde film. It’s possible for the most accessible designers
to also be avant-garde, but that’s not really the case for
Hollywood filmmakers. So there is a close relation between the two
media, but there’s also real tension between them, and that’s one
of the things that comes through in the series."
FILM: "Film and Fashion" continues tomorrow night through Dec. 5
at the Melnitz Theater.
UCLA Film and Television Archive
"The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover," starring Helen
Mirren, takes the lingerie look to new heights.UCLA Film and
Television Archive
Venus Xtravaganza showcases early ’90s fashion in "Paris is
Burning."