Addicts 2007: Costume Design & Make Up

Costume Design

Atonement

Jacqueline Durran

From aristocratic Summer splendor to rigid, grim wartime attire, there is such tailored goodness to be had here. None more so than that green dress, which will surely go down in cinematic history as possibly the most gorgeous part of a very gorgeous film.

Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Alexandra Byrne

This will be The Golden Age's only positive nomination from me, which kind of sums up how the elements of the film seem to work so independently from each other. It is indeed a mess but the costumes -- bold, wacky, intricate, fun --help to pass the laborious running time.



La Vie En Rose

Marit Allen

Considering the presence and power of Cotillard's Piaf Allen crafts some curiously striking designs. Their ironic touch is that they often appear to be derived from uniform, and yet are used to showcase a figure that was anything but.

Lust, Caution
Lai Pan

Even the drabness in Lee's film is flaunted before us as an unattainable casual beauty, the fun art-deco creations that mark the showier moments lushly romanticised but schematic in their exposure, much like the host of deceptive characters that strut the Shanghai street.

Sweeney Todd
Colleen Atwood

Like Byrne, Atwood's creations have that off-the-wall element of fun behind them, the beach outfits Sweeney and Lovett wear an inspired re-work of old British seaside culture, and, as a fashion parade of identity crises so-to-speak, tremendously funny to behold.

Winner: Atonement

Runner Up: Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Sad To Exclude: The Assassination of Jesse James has such well-crafted costumes. The Golden Compass is one of those other fun picks. Kidman gets to wear some great (though I suspect uncomfortable) creations. And Juno gets it completely right, with quirky designs that don't draw too much attention to themselves.

Make Up

Bug

It's fair to say that things in Bug descend at least a tad too quickly but the descent itself is outlined heavily, and successfully, by the make up. The film is brave for leaving itself and its characters open to such intense close-up scrutiny, and so it's important to note that neither the gaunt declination of the characters, or the gore that comes with it, come across as risible distractions.




La Vie En Rose

It's very gimmicky, and I don't consider it a better make up job than other transformations such as Theron's in Monster (mainly because I value Cotillard's performance much more), but it is staggering at times how this girl is so authentic as a woman up to forty years her senior.

Planet Terror

This isn't just for the on-going bloodfest, or even an ode to Rose MacGowan's fantastic machine-gun leg. In fact, it's more for the general design of Planet Terror, and Cherry's meticulous facial cosmetics, which see her objectified like a model in a motorcycle magazine, and typify the movie as an oozing pocket of sex and danger.

Winner: Planet Terror

Sad To Exclude: Black Snake Moan is kind of like Bug, but more subtle and without the gore. Sweeney Todd's pale face and deep, mean, sleep-deprived eyes are more than effective. The ageless beauty of Michelle Pfeiffer is countered wickedly well in Stardust.