Wednesday, October 8, 1997
‘Square’ Dance
FILM: Historical research, literary savvy and very uncomfortable
costumes are all part of the directorial choreography of Henry
James’ ‘Washington Square.’
By Stephanie Sheh
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
In the past few years, Hollywood has resurrected Jane Austen.
With "Washington Square" opening this Friday and "Wings of the
Dove" early next month, the new (or rather, old) author of choice
is Henry James.
But recreating the historical world of a classic does not come
as easily as a turn of the screw.
"It’s always difficult to answer the expectations of the people
who read this novel," admits director Agnieszka Holland. "You have
to make it personal in some way. At some point I have to believe
that it’s myself who wrote it … It makes me richer to deal with
such a deep and complex piece of literature."
Part of Holland’s challenge in bringing "Washington Square" to
the screen involved finding the appropriate leading lady. Numerous
actresses were interested in playing the insecure and shy Catherine
Sloper.
The coveted part went to Jennifer Jason Leigh, who is known for
her strong and angry roles.
"Jennifer has this incredible capacity of changing," explains
Holland, who always wanted to work with Leigh. "She’s not this star
actress. She’s not always the same. She’s the kind of chameleon.
She really becomes the character in some way."
"I didn’t know Jennifer personally before, and when I met her I
was surprised how different she is from anything that I’ve seen of
her," Holland continues. "I felt it would be a very fascinating
journey to do it together and to let her show this part of her
personality which is, I think, the real truth of her, and which is
so incredibly generous and shy."
Catherine’s lack of confidence stems largely from her father’s
demeaning attitude.
"A lot of the way Catherine sees herself is the way she is
mirrored by others," Leigh explains. "Her father makes her feel
like she has no beauty, like she has no grace, has no wit, has no
intelligence. But when she falls in love, she suddenly blooms. She
feels beautiful."
However, Leigh’s working relationship with actor Albert Finney,
who played her father, did not mirror their characters’
relationship. Leigh, in fact, is a long time admirer of his
work.
"I was 6 years old and I think I’d just seen ‘Tom Jones,’" Leigh
explains of Finney’s Academy Award-winning film. "We were in Paris
and we were going up the elevator of the hotel we were at and there
he was. There was Tom Jones in the elevator and for me, he was just
he most handsome man on the planet. And he patted my head and said,
‘What a beautiful child.’ And I was just so in love."
Leigh worked extremely hard to make Catherine and Dr. Sloper’s
relationship believable. It helped that Catherine’s character was
more similar to Leigh’s character than the angrier roles she
typically plays.
"I really understand Catherine’s shyness because I’m shy," Leigh
says. "I really understand her awkwardness, her feeling of being so
inarticulate. It’s hard for her to express herself … I’m very
quiet and removed in life. I can disappear very easily in a room
full of people."
Acting actually serves as a way for Leigh to get over her
shyness.
"It’s a way to come out of yourself and communicate something,
but without saying, ‘This is me,’" Leigh says. "It’s a way to be
very free and un-self-conscious, whereas in everyday kind of life
I’m very self-conscious. Every sentence that I’m saying, I’m
thinking, ‘Ugh! No! Bad!’ You know? So acting is a way to really
get beyond all of that."
In addition to bringing Catherine to life on the screen,
Holland, Leigh and the rest of the cast and crew had to recreate
the past. This took enormous amounts of research, elaborate sets
and costuming. Leigh found it especially difficult to squeeze into
old fashioned corsets during the shooting.
"It was incredibly uncomfortable. (Back then) women’s lungs
would be punctured by their ribs because of where the corset
laced," Leigh explains. "The tightest part of the corset is at your
floating rib which makes it also very difficult to breathe. It
pushes all your internal organs down."
"The first day of rehearsal I was laced very very tight so I
wanted to start right away," Leigh continues. "You know, right at
my floating rib was 19 inches in a corset. After a couple of hours
I said, ‘I think we should rehearse, but I’d like to lay down. But
we can keep going everything is fine. I’ll just do the rest of it
laying down.’ Then after another half hour I said, ‘I’m just going
to go vomit and I’ll be right back. Everything’s fine.’"
A friend of Leigh’s knew Helena Bonham Carter, who conveyed some
words of wisdom regarding the art of corset-wearing. Carter
suggested that Leigh wear it for 15 minutes at a time during the
first week, then gradually work her way up increasing 15 minutes
each week.
Finally, by the third week of shooting, co-star Maggie Smith,
who plays Aunt Lavinia, told Leigh to wear the corset at her
natural waist line. After the adjustment, things were a lot more
comfortable.
Catherine is supposed to be a very plain looking and even
unattractive girl. Along with donning waist-clenching corsets,
Leigh wore very little makeup, something most Hollywood actresses
are not familiar with.
However, Leigh was more concerned with presenting her character
accurately than looking beautiful.
"I had to fight with her to push her to wear some makeup because
she wanted to become completely makeup-less," Holland reveals. "She
read everything about the period. I think she was better prepared
than myself."
Leigh wanted to be historically accurate.
"No one wore makeup in that period," Leigh said. "Makeup wasn’t
worn by women because it made women look like prostitutes.
"There are all of these books actually that I read that taught
women how to cheat makeup. How to cover a blemish so that it could
not be detected," Leigh continues. "But they all emphasize that if
it can be detected, you musn’t wear it."
For Holland, Catherine’s beauty was not her physicality.
"I think the beauty of the character is that she stays what she
was in the beginning except that she knows who she is and she
accepts the truth about herself and of other people," Holland says.
"It’s about integrity. It’s about opening to people and being
faithful to yourself."
FILM: "Washington Square" opens Friday.
(Above) Wealthy heiress Catherine Sloper (Jennifer Jason Leigh)
is tempestuously courted by the smooth Morris Townsend (Ben
Chaplin).
(Above right) Catherine is the victim of her father’s (Albert
Finney) callous remarks.
(Right) Catherine’s sympathetic Aunt Lavinia (Maggie Smith)
comforts her niece.Hollywood Pictures Company
Maggie Smith stars as Catherine’s (Leigh, right) sympathetic
Aunt Lavinia who satisfies her neice that admirer Morris Townsend
(Chaplin) loves her for herself alone – not her money.