Undressing Almodóvar
Spanish Director Pedro Almodóvar
has been making movies for over 30 years. Picking up 2 Oscars, 5 BAFTAS and
scores of nominations, Almodóvar is one of Europe's finest directors. His
movies amuse and provoke, with controversial themes and a distinct colourful
style.
Many ingredients go into making a successful Almodóvar movie. Shocking and venomous dialogue reveals
character, close ups express intimate moments of passion and music heightens
emotion and drama. But what part do clothes and fashion play? This is a
question that Almodóvar has asked throughout his career, addressing in many
significant and diverse methods.
Take his debut feature Pepi, Luci, Bom (1980) for example.
Here we see style on a budget, but glamour no less. Sophistication and clothing
separate the three characters who lend their names to the title and express
their disparate personalities and social diversity.
Bom wears Vivienne Westwood inspired DIY punk fashions, Luci a
middle class house wife wears expensive lace dresses, while Pepi falls
somewhere in between, preferring high street fashions. These characters find
their lives intertwined through circumstance and tragedy and Almodóvar has
employed fashion as a uniform, to present their separate lives, distinct styles
and social background.
Dark Habits (1983) continues Almodóvar's distinct use of fashion. Yolanda
(Cristina Sanchez Pascual) is a provocative night club singer, who joins a
covenant after her boyfriend dies of a heroin overdose. Even though she is in a
nunnery, Yolanda does not conform to their uniform and instead continues to
wear a bright red glittering ball gown. Previously Almodóvar utilised fashion
to express social status, but here psychology is apparent. Yolanda is her own
woman, non-conformist in attitude and style. Dark Habits is also of
great interest when looking at Almodóvar's use of fashion. A priest in the
covenant is obsessed with English costume designer and photographer Cecil
Beaton. Famous for his Oscar winning designs for My Fair Lady and his fashions
shoots for British Vogue, Beaton is an interesting obsession for a Priest and
Almodóvar knows this. The covenant has its rules and regulations and each of
the Nuns rebel in their own way (one is a cocaine addict, another a writer of erotic
fiction), but the Priest rebels through fashion. His obsession with Beaton is
his method off breaking free from the uniform and illustrates that clothing can
be expressive and powerful in revealing the true character behind occupation
and beliefs.
Almodóvar's fashion obsession was apparent in his break through
movie, the chilling thriller Matador (1986). Starring a young Antonio Banderas
as Angel, a trainee Matador who obsesses over his Maestro's girlfriend Eva.
Here a fashion show displays absurdity and is utilised for comedic effect. The
victimised Eva is a model and Almodóvar exposes the exuberant and indulgent
world of fashion. When a nameless model vomits over a colleague (after
explicitly shooting up heroin), the flamboyant designer at the helm (played by
Almodóvar himself), proclaims "Don't worry, it looks great on you".
Maybe not fashion expressed as a uniform, but definitely as a means to offer
relief from a movie that expresses sex and desire through a lack of romance or
passion.
After the success of Matador, Almodóvar had the budget to employ
the services of big name designers such as Jean Paul Gaultier, Karl Lagerfeld
and Giovanni Versace.
These collaborations are particularly intriguing when looking at
how Almodóvar employs style to express psychology and story. Lagerfeld and
Gaultier are auteurs in their own right, however in the world of fashion. On
one hand you have a director whose objective is to tell a story and convey
various provocative themes and on the other you have a fashion designer whose
objectives may not be to tell a story, but to make the actor look good with
garments designed by The House Of Chanel or The House Of Gaultier.
With Kika (1993) Jean Paul Gaultier worked with Pedro
Almodóvar on his first of three collaborations, partnering again with Bad
Education (2004) and The Skin I Live In (2011). For Kika,
Gaultier designed the costumes for the intimidating and boisterous Andrea
"Scarface" (Victoria Abril). Kika's themes include sex,
death and most prominently voyeurism. Gaultier clearly embraced the latter and
created a costume that not only explicitly conveys voyeurism, but removes the
character from the reality of the movie and heightens her to an other worldly
being, who spies on individuals and attempts to undercover the truth.
Andrea wears a dark green uniform with military undertones and a
large cumbersome, evocative camera on top of a helmet that tightly encases her
head. Within the context of the film she brazenly stands out, with the male
lead of the movie, Nicolas (Peter Coyote) proclaiming "I thought you were
a Martian". However this is the only reference to her obvious and unique
visual singularity. Almodóvar has ensured she is treated like a human through
the respect other characters show her, via dialogue and attitude, and the lack
of reaction they have to her appearance. Gaultier has countered this by making
her visually stunning.
But does this method progress the story or go against the grain of
the dark comedy of Kika? In balance the technique works. The audience is
in no doubt of the intrusive nature of Andrea. Just her being explicitly
conveys voyeurism and intrusion and effortlessly advances the character through
the movie, where she reveals the twist in the plot that exposes Nicolas' dark
secret.
Significantly the other costumes in Kika were supplied by
Giovanni Versace, another renowned fashion designer. Versace took a subtle
approach with less prominent designs, however Kika has one key scene
that is a major topic for debate. A rape occurs between the character of Kika
(Veronica Faroque) and an escaped convict and sex craved porn star Pablo
(Santiago Lajusticia). It is important to note both characters are wearing red,
a colour associated with danger, anger and lust. The rape scene itself is controversial. Lasting several minutes,
where Kika's protests and outrage turn to resolution as she accepts the sexual
assault. Here Versace's stylings clearly reflect the complex predicament and
the bright red clothing foreshadow the horrific ordeal Kika is put through.
Gaultier himself does embrace subtlety in his approach to The
Skin I Live In. Here plastic surgeon Robert Legard (Antonio Banderas)
performs sex reassignment surgery on a young man named Vincente, transforming
him into Lagard's attractive but deceased wife Vera Cruz (Eleanor Anaya).
The Skin I Live In is a change of pace and style for Almodóvar. A
psychological horror film at heart, the movie feels more placid visually, with
the bright colours of Kika and Pepi, Luci, Bom replaced with
delicate tones. Gaultier's approach is masterful, dressing Anaya in tight body
suits that explicitly present her feminine body (even though a hidden
masculinity lies underneath) and actually refer back to the movie's title. The
body suits have skin like tones alluding to nakedness and expressing the skin
that she now lives in is actually separate from herself. This presents a
complex psychology via a bold yet subtle uniform.
High Heels (1991) employs another well known fashion designer to dress
Victoria Abril, here playing the vulnerable character of Rebeca Giner. Karl
Lagerfeld (Head Designer and Creative Director for Chanel), takes a more
distinct approach, dressing Abril in glamorous and distinguishable Chanel
suits, accessorised by the iconic Chanel hand bag.
The story revolves around the news reader Rebeca, whose alluring
mother Becky del Paramo (Marisa Paredes) is a popular singer in South America.
She returns to Madrid to find Rebeca married to her former lover Manuel (Feodor
Atkine). Manuel is murdered and Rebeca dramatically confesses to the act while
reading his obituary live on air.
Here costume not only progress the story, but reveals character
traits and society, particularly when we are first exposed to Rebeca. As she
sits in the airport waiting for her mother, we clearly see the Chanel label on
Rebeca's hand bag. Moments later Becky del Paramo (dressed not in Chanel but in
Giorgio Armani) compliments her daughter's "Chanel Suit". Despite
just being introduced to the characters, clothing has presented them as
affluent individuals, expressing wealth through fashion labels and showcasing
prosperity like an expressive uniform for all to see.
Cynics could say the blatant Chanel references are advertisements
or product placement, however as Chanel is synonymous with fashion, it is
unlikely a Fashion House of such grandeur requires the films of Almodóvar for
promotion. Therefore in conclusion the clothing choices of Rebeca allow us to
make assumptions about how she perceives herself. Also the fact that the mother
wears Armani and the daughter Chanel, presents a conflict through opposing
styles. This conflict continues as mother and daughter fight over the
affections of Manuel and debate who is really responsible for his murder.
Throughout his career Almodóvar has employed fashion in various
degrees, with themes and character expressed through style. With Almodóvar's
new movie I'm So Excited due to hit the screens and being based around
an airline flight crew, it will be interesting to see what themes will be
conveyed and how he takes fashion, and a literal uniform in this instance, to
new heights.
Steven Fraser
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