pandaemonaeum (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
pandaemonaeum) wrote2009-11-29 11:06 am
pandaemonaeum) wrote2009-11-29 11:06 am
"Angel"
OMG.
A 1950s-style melodrama about a late Victorian writer.
There was a plot, mostly about the writer living in a complete fantasy land. The way she thought her poorly-researched populist fiction was high literature, and surrounded herself with sycophants who thought the same, burning fan letters which criticised her, reminded me so much of certain modern authors (*cough*Laurell*K*Hamilton*cough*) was quite interesting. It was quite a brave film, in that the heroine isn't very likeable, and ends up fairly pitiful. The way that reality keeps intruding on her fantasy, and the lies she tells herself to keep her fantasy in place, made the film quite an interestingly observed piece.
The costumes though. OMG the costumes! The corset she wears in the hotel, I'm sure it's in the Jill Salen book, was mouth-watering. And the red dress... well you all know I have a severe weakness for red dresses! And the 'mad' outfit at the end with the feather boas and the big hat - fantastic.
The favourites, I'll take both please :D
Oh, and the set decoration was amazing. I want Paradise House, especially her scarlet bedroom :D
The director seemed to get that the clothes and the sets could help tell the story, something which is lost in a lot of films these days. The last ones I saw that did it this well were Merchant Ivory, and 'The Age of Innocence' (but you kind of expect it from Scorcese, really.)
This isn't a film for everyone, but if you have ever despaired of convincing a friend that life isn't really *like* the romantic novels she reads, it's for you.
A 1950s-style melodrama about a late Victorian writer.
There was a plot, mostly about the writer living in a complete fantasy land. The way she thought her poorly-researched populist fiction was high literature, and surrounded herself with sycophants who thought the same, burning fan letters which criticised her, reminded me so much of certain modern authors (*cough*Laurell*K*Hamilton*cough*) was quite interesting. It was quite a brave film, in that the heroine isn't very likeable, and ends up fairly pitiful. The way that reality keeps intruding on her fantasy, and the lies she tells herself to keep her fantasy in place, made the film quite an interestingly observed piece.
The costumes though. OMG the costumes! The corset she wears in the hotel, I'm sure it's in the Jill Salen book, was mouth-watering. And the red dress... well you all know I have a severe weakness for red dresses! And the 'mad' outfit at the end with the feather boas and the big hat - fantastic.
The favourites, I'll take both please :D
Oh, and the set decoration was amazing. I want Paradise House, especially her scarlet bedroom :D
The director seemed to get that the clothes and the sets could help tell the story, something which is lost in a lot of films these days. The last ones I saw that did it this well were Merchant Ivory, and 'The Age of Innocence' (but you kind of expect it from Scorcese, really.)
This isn't a film for everyone, but if you have ever despaired of convincing a friend that life isn't really *like* the romantic novels she reads, it's for you.
no subject