The Concept Behind The Movie Vanity Fair

07 January 2005

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There’s an incredible landscape in England to take advantage of. Mira is a connoisseur of photography and painting, and has a definite vision aesthetically

Nair adds, One thing I didn’t want to do was a stately period drama. Ours is a very fluid camera, and we did a lot of the scenes in one-take master shots. Because we were using Super 35, there was a greater elegance to it. In many period films, there are corpses sitting at tables and eating stiffly, whereas in this film there are children who laugh and run, there are things that smell That all your senses be engaged when you see my films that’s what’s important to me.

It was important to Thackeray as well, as Matthew Faulk and Mark Skeet note: What a world Thackeray creates! Vivid colors, smells, sights and sounds.

Jonathan Rhys Meyers says, Mira is seeing this world from the outside, in the same way Ang Lee did with America in The Ice Storm. But she’s also incredibly optimistic, with a fantastic eye, and knows how to tell a story, as you’ve seen in her earlier films. She knows people and she appreciates them flaws and all.

James Purefoy reflects, I’m not sure that I’ve ever worked with somebody who is this precise about what she wants to see in the frame. Mira is an intensely visual director; she brings a rigorous look to what’s in the frame and is very attentive to it. There are lots of Indian motifs in the film wallpaper, cultural references, furniture, fabrics and so on. It was fascinating to see what she picked out and highlighted.

Production designer Maria Djurkovic adds that Nair’s influence certainly informed the design of the film: There’s a particular sort of energy that comes with Mira’s approach which I think we all successfully tapped into doing something that’s not at all like a traditional period movie in terms of the look or the feel.

Djurkovic, also inspired by the colonial influence of the era, notes that the film spans the first quarter of the 19th century, a time when Britain had colonies all over the world. Influences and references that existed in Regency England often came from the colonies Indian, North African, Chinese. Brighton Pavilion was built then. Reflecting the colors and the vibrancy of all of those influences was something that we felt was very important to convey.

We used an energetic range of colors that are true to the period, not made-up. There are a lot of Oriental influences, in textiles and papers, and even in the choice of locations themselves. It’s a mixture of everything Chinese gongs, Moroccan lanterns and Indian fabrics that we’ve had shipped over. Everything’s in there it was great fun.

On the set, remembers Bob Hoskins, we would walk into a room and it would be like a painting extraordinary.

The strong color palette also inspired costume designer Beatrix Pasztor. It was as if we were telepathic; her work and my work were very compatible, says Djurkovic of their approach to the colors.

Pasztor says that the influence of India is evident throughout the film with the use of different fabrics and textures. We used these very strong Indian colors all the way through, including purples, oranges and patterns, while also mixing in the muted English style.

Romola Garai enjoyed playing scenes in the environment created around her: Every day on the set, I was so glad that everyone was so creatively ambitious with the look of the film. I think when you look at that period, it was an extravagant one because of Britain’s position in the world at that time. There was a lot of money floating around, and people were creative in the way that they dressed.

Jonathan Rhys Meyers notes, It was a great era for men. They were allowed to be dandified. I loved my [character’s] uniform

Make-up and hair designer Jenny Shircore confides, It was Mira’s enthusiasm that encouraged me to do this film. The bigger, bolder, brighter aspects of this film comes from her; if you’ve seen her other films, you’ll note how she you pushes in that direction, where I was very happy to go. We’ve stretched the period, played with it, and enjoyed it. You can’t ever lose sight of where you’re coming from and the particular rules laid down by the period, but we have taken the most interesting aspects of 1800 to 1830 and made use of them.

Pasztor also adhered to the period while still exploring creative possibilities: Thackeray described costumes very well, and in detail, in the novel, so I tried to build costumes from his guidelines while introducing new textures. The silhouettes and shapes were of the era, and we used wonderful ruffled seams that are all handmade. By hand, stitching and gathering on pieces of fabric, we have created beautiful decorations on the costumes.

We also looked at art books and paintings. Mira is an artist herself. We didn’t limit ourselves. Because I’m Hungarian, there was also a little bit of the Hungarian influence Jenny Shircore is brilliant; she creates incredible sculptures out of hair, higher and higher, wilder and wilder and so then I just said, ‘Why cover it?’ So Becky only wears small hats. Men always wear them in period films, but we put in only a few

Janette Day appreciated Pasztor’s approach to the film’s style: Where there would be gray, in this film there is green. She has tried to keep within the parameters of what people would look like but always has a different edge to it. She also layered, with all sorts of materials.

Hoskins experienced firsthand Pasztor and Shircore’s creativity: Beatrix achieved this amazing layered look. I think she was paid by how much clothing she could put on you! I’d have about fifteen waistcoats on and she would put neckties on me, and I suddenly had no neck left. I began to look like I was sinking inside this closet! But I liked the flamboyance of it all. Although, the wigs Sir Pitt had to put on it gets very hot under there.

Nair remarks, It’s a little gag for this fabulous unpretentious rogue whom Bob plays so well. When Matilda comes to visit, Sir Pitt puts on the rough wig that he hasn’t seen, or used, in months, and naturally it’s askew.

Pasztor admits that when actors came for fittings we would put one cravat, one waistcoat, and one coat on them, and they would think that this was the end of the fitting. However, I started layering the costumes for the women it was scarf and dress, plus blouse which I think makes the costumes and the characters richer. Most of the actors enjoyed the process as it helped them to define their characters. They put their own imagination into it.

Purefoy marvels, The costumes were made specifically for us all; my costumes have very high collars which were cut to the line of my sideburns. Now that’s tailoring for you! The way they highlighted various aspects of your body certainly made you behave differently as soon as you put the costumes on.

Rhys Ifans adds, I’d never been so informed by a costume before. It makes you stand differently, it makes you speak differently all very exciting. With people walking about, you’re immediately transported to that time.

Once you get the costume on, and the make-up on, there’s only one way you can be, offers Jim Broadbent. This becomes the only character you’ve got available!

Gabriel Byrne states, It’s the only film I’ve ever worked on where the grips have come up and said, ‘Those costumes are nice, aren’t they?’ That’s pretty rare…I’ve seen movies where the costumes swamp the story and it becomes a moving costume spectacle. But what’s really great about what Beatrix does is that she dresses each character as opposed to each actor. Even the material on the extras’ costumes is absolutely fascinating. There was so much ingenuity and originality from her department.

Purefoy adds, Beatrix did something that I’d never seen anybody do with a period film, which is to ramp up the costumes and make them much more theatrical. This is something the theatre has been doing for years, but it’s taken a while I think for the movies, especially English period movies, to latch onto. You can do something which has been accentuated and stylized and yet stay within the period, and I think that coupled with Mira’s passionate take on the material makes this movie different from any other period movie.

View the movie stills for Vanity Fair

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