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May Routh, the fashion illustrator turned renowned costume designer who brought iconic looks to such films as The Man Who Fell to Earth, My Favorite Year and Being There, has died. She was 87.
Routh died peacefully June 1 at her home in Los Angeles, set decorator and family spokesperson Bryony Foster told The Hollywood Reporter.
Routh also did several projects with director John Frankenheimer, starting with the acclaimed 1996 Civil War-set Andersonville and followed by another TNT miniseries, 1997’s George Wallace, starring Gary Sinise as the Alabama governor, and the big-screen action thrillers Ronin (1998) and Reindeer Games (2000).
Routh received Emmy nominations for her work on Andersonville and the 1991 CBS telefilm Lucy & Desi: Before the Laughter, starring Frances Fisher and Maurice Benard.
She earned her first screen credit as a costume designer on Nicolas Roeg‘s The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976), starring David Bowie as...
May Routh, the fashion illustrator turned renowned costume designer who brought iconic looks to such films as The Man Who Fell to Earth, My Favorite Year and Being There, has died. She was 87.
Routh died peacefully June 1 at her home in Los Angeles, set decorator and family spokesperson Bryony Foster told The Hollywood Reporter.
Routh also did several projects with director John Frankenheimer, starting with the acclaimed 1996 Civil War-set Andersonville and followed by another TNT miniseries, 1997’s George Wallace, starring Gary Sinise as the Alabama governor, and the big-screen action thrillers Ronin (1998) and Reindeer Games (2000).
Routh received Emmy nominations for her work on Andersonville and the 1991 CBS telefilm Lucy & Desi: Before the Laughter, starring Frances Fisher and Maurice Benard.
She earned her first screen credit as a costume designer on Nicolas Roeg‘s The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976), starring David Bowie as...
- 6/11/2022
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
For Sunday’s Oscars 2019 ceremony, producers had a difficult decision of which film industry people would make the cut and who would be left out of the “In Memoriam.” For the segment, Gustavo Dudamel and the L.A. Philharmonic performed music by Oscar winner John Williams.
Over 100 Academy members or film industry veterans died in the past 12 months. Visit our own Gold Derby memoriam galleries for the year of 2018 and the newly-started gallery for 2019.
SEEDirector Stanley Donen, dead at 94, was light on his feet and a movie musical heavyweight
Stanley Donen would have certainly been included, but he died on the weekend after the segment had been finalized (look for him on the 2020 show). Here is list of some of the people included in the Memoriam tribute for the ceremony (Academy members are indicated with ** by their names):
Susan Anspach (actor)
Bernardo Bertolucci (director)
Yvonne Blake (costume designer)**
Paul Bloch...
Over 100 Academy members or film industry veterans died in the past 12 months. Visit our own Gold Derby memoriam galleries for the year of 2018 and the newly-started gallery for 2019.
SEEDirector Stanley Donen, dead at 94, was light on his feet and a movie musical heavyweight
Stanley Donen would have certainly been included, but he died on the weekend after the segment had been finalized (look for him on the 2020 show). Here is list of some of the people included in the Memoriam tribute for the ceremony (Academy members are indicated with ** by their names):
Susan Anspach (actor)
Bernardo Bertolucci (director)
Yvonne Blake (costume designer)**
Paul Bloch...
- 2/25/2019
- by Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
While Academy Awards producers have strived for a much shorter ceremony this year, the annual “In Memoriam” segment will definitely remain. In fact this moment on Sunday’s 2019 event should be extra classy since Gustavo Dudamel and the L.A. Philharmonic will be performing as part of the tribute.
Over 100 Academy members or film industry veterans died in the past 12 months. But which ones will be featured in the short segment? There are generally outcries each year from family members upset about people being left out. Visit our own Gold Derby memoriam galleries for the year of 2018 and the newly-started gallery for 2019.
Virtually certain to be part of the montage are Oscar-winning directors Bernardo Bertolucci and Milos Forman, Oscar-nominated actors Carol Channing, Albert Finney and Burt Reynolds, director and actress Penny Marshall, executive producer and entertainment icon Stan Lee and many more.
SEEDana Carvey, Mike Myers, Queen Latifah, Barbra Streisand...
Over 100 Academy members or film industry veterans died in the past 12 months. But which ones will be featured in the short segment? There are generally outcries each year from family members upset about people being left out. Visit our own Gold Derby memoriam galleries for the year of 2018 and the newly-started gallery for 2019.
Virtually certain to be part of the montage are Oscar-winning directors Bernardo Bertolucci and Milos Forman, Oscar-nominated actors Carol Channing, Albert Finney and Burt Reynolds, director and actress Penny Marshall, executive producer and entertainment icon Stan Lee and many more.
SEEDana Carvey, Mike Myers, Queen Latifah, Barbra Streisand...
- 2/22/2019
- by Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
Yvonne Blake with some of her creations Photo: Pensar Audiovisual/Courtesy Gijon Film Festival
Oscar-winning British costume designer Yvonne Blake, has died in Madrid. She suffered a stroke in January. Manchester-born Blake, who lived in Spain, designed costumes including Christopher Reeve's original Superman outfit and worked on films including Jesus Christ Superstar, The Three Musketeers and, more recently, Goya's Ghosts.
She won an Academy Award for the costume design, alongside Antonio Castillo, for Franklin Schaffner's Nicholas and Alexandra.
In 2014, Blake won the Woman in Cinema award at Gijon Film Festival. Accepting the honour, she lamented the chauvinism that was still rife in the industry, saying: "In the 21st century there are still men who treat women as they did 50 years ago - as if they were vases." She added that "something was changing" because now we talk about the day that a woman is president.
In addition to her Oscar,...
Oscar-winning British costume designer Yvonne Blake, has died in Madrid. She suffered a stroke in January. Manchester-born Blake, who lived in Spain, designed costumes including Christopher Reeve's original Superman outfit and worked on films including Jesus Christ Superstar, The Three Musketeers and, more recently, Goya's Ghosts.
She won an Academy Award for the costume design, alongside Antonio Castillo, for Franklin Schaffner's Nicholas and Alexandra.
In 2014, Blake won the Woman in Cinema award at Gijon Film Festival. Accepting the honour, she lamented the chauvinism that was still rife in the industry, saying: "In the 21st century there are still men who treat women as they did 50 years ago - as if they were vases." She added that "something was changing" because now we talk about the day that a woman is president.
In addition to her Oscar,...
- 7/17/2018
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Madrid — Yvonne Blake, an Academy Award-winning costume designer and indefatigable recent president of the Spanish Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences, died Tuesday on Madrid having suffered a stroke this January. She was 78.
Manchester-born and a grant-winning student at its Regional College of Art & Design, Blake worked as an intern at costume house Berman’s, becoming an assistant costume designer on Hammer Studios’ underrated “Never Take Sweets from a Stranger,” released in 1960, its 1961 “The Shadow of My Cat” and George Cukor’s “My Fair Lady” (1964).
Also working on François Truffaut’s “Fahrenheit 451,” Blake talents were rapidly recognized: She had risen to the full status of costume designer by 1966.
Meeting her future husband, Spaniard Gil Carretero, on the set of Richard Quine’s Spain-shot “Gun Crazy,” Blake won an Oscar aged only 31 in 1972, along with Antonio Castillo, for her work on “Nicholas and Alexander,” which brought her back to Spain.
Manchester-born and a grant-winning student at its Regional College of Art & Design, Blake worked as an intern at costume house Berman’s, becoming an assistant costume designer on Hammer Studios’ underrated “Never Take Sweets from a Stranger,” released in 1960, its 1961 “The Shadow of My Cat” and George Cukor’s “My Fair Lady” (1964).
Also working on François Truffaut’s “Fahrenheit 451,” Blake talents were rapidly recognized: She had risen to the full status of costume designer by 1966.
Meeting her future husband, Spaniard Gil Carretero, on the set of Richard Quine’s Spain-shot “Gun Crazy,” Blake won an Oscar aged only 31 in 1972, along with Antonio Castillo, for her work on “Nicholas and Alexander,” which brought her back to Spain.
- 7/17/2018
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Yvonne Blake, the costume designer behind films including 1978’s Superman and 1973’s Jesus Christ Superstar, has died aged 78.
Blake, the British-born Spanish designer, died after suffering a stroke earlier this year, according to The Spanish Film Academy, where she was previously President.
Blake was elected president of the Spanish organization in July 2016, three months after her predecessor Antonio Resines resigned over irreconcilable differences with the board.
She designed the costumes for productions such as Fahrenheit 451 and won an Oscar for Best Costume Design for Franklin J. Shaffner’s period drama Nicholas and Alexandra. She has worked with directors including François Truffaut, Paul Verhoeven and Peter Bogdanovich as well as actors including Marlon Brando, Audrey Hepburn, Sean Connery, Michael Caine, Omar Shariff, Lawrence Olivier, Gene Hackman and Charlton Heston.
Current Spanish Film Academy President Mariano Barroso, said, “I witnessed her enormous generosity, her passion and her dedication, and at her...
Blake, the British-born Spanish designer, died after suffering a stroke earlier this year, according to The Spanish Film Academy, where she was previously President.
Blake was elected president of the Spanish organization in July 2016, three months after her predecessor Antonio Resines resigned over irreconcilable differences with the board.
She designed the costumes for productions such as Fahrenheit 451 and won an Oscar for Best Costume Design for Franklin J. Shaffner’s period drama Nicholas and Alexandra. She has worked with directors including François Truffaut, Paul Verhoeven and Peter Bogdanovich as well as actors including Marlon Brando, Audrey Hepburn, Sean Connery, Michael Caine, Omar Shariff, Lawrence Olivier, Gene Hackman and Charlton Heston.
Current Spanish Film Academy President Mariano Barroso, said, “I witnessed her enormous generosity, her passion and her dedication, and at her...
- 7/17/2018
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Yvonne Blake, designer of the iconic costumes for the 1978 box-office hit Superman, has died. She was 78.
Blake died Tuesday in Madrid, a spokesperson for the Spanish Film Academy told The Hollywood Reporter. She had been the academy's president since October 2016 but suffered a stroke in January.
She shared an Academy Award with Antonio Castillo for the three-hour-plus 1971 costume drama Nicholas and Alexandra, directed by Franklin J. Schaffner. "I suppose all one can say is that if it wasn't for the Russian Revolution, I wouldn't be here," Blake said when accepting her award.
Her work ...
Blake died Tuesday in Madrid, a spokesperson for the Spanish Film Academy told The Hollywood Reporter. She had been the academy's president since October 2016 but suffered a stroke in January.
She shared an Academy Award with Antonio Castillo for the three-hour-plus 1971 costume drama Nicholas and Alexandra, directed by Franklin J. Schaffner. "I suppose all one can say is that if it wasn't for the Russian Revolution, I wouldn't be here," Blake said when accepting her award.
Her work ...
- 7/17/2018
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Yvonne Blake, designer of the iconic costumes for the 1978 box-office hit Superman, has died. She was 78.
Blake died Tuesday in Madrid, a spokesperson for the Spanish Film Academy told The Hollywood Reporter. She had been the academy's president since October 2016 but suffered a stroke in January.
She shared an Academy Award with Antonio Castillo for the three-hour-plus 1971 costume drama Nicholas and Alexandra, directed by Franklin J. Schaffner. "I suppose all one can say is that if it wasn't for the Russian Revolution, I wouldn't be here," Blake said when accepting her award.
Her work ...
Blake died Tuesday in Madrid, a spokesperson for the Spanish Film Academy told The Hollywood Reporter. She had been the academy's president since October 2016 but suffered a stroke in January.
She shared an Academy Award with Antonio Castillo for the three-hour-plus 1971 costume drama Nicholas and Alexandra, directed by Franklin J. Schaffner. "I suppose all one can say is that if it wasn't for the Russian Revolution, I wouldn't be here," Blake said when accepting her award.
Her work ...
- 7/17/2018
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Mike Cecchini Apr 10, 2017
Henry Cavill wore the Christopher Reeve Superman costume in his first Man of Steel screen test. Here's a behind-the-scenes pic...
While fans remain divided about Man Of Steel and Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, it's difficult to fault Henry Cavill's Superman performance. Cavill is both sincere and tough in the role, and while it's arguable whether these movies have truly served the character all that well, there's little doubt that Warner Bros made the right choice for the man in the cape.
See related Better Call Saul season 3: new clip teases returning character Better Call Saul season 2 episode 10 review: Klick The subtle rise of good prequels
And from the looks of this photo recently revealed by director Zack Snyder, it wouldn't even matter which cape he was wearing. Snyder revealed this image on his Vero account, of the day Henry Cavill did his first Man of Steel screen test,...
Henry Cavill wore the Christopher Reeve Superman costume in his first Man of Steel screen test. Here's a behind-the-scenes pic...
While fans remain divided about Man Of Steel and Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, it's difficult to fault Henry Cavill's Superman performance. Cavill is both sincere and tough in the role, and while it's arguable whether these movies have truly served the character all that well, there's little doubt that Warner Bros made the right choice for the man in the cape.
See related Better Call Saul season 3: new clip teases returning character Better Call Saul season 2 episode 10 review: Klick The subtle rise of good prequels
And from the looks of this photo recently revealed by director Zack Snyder, it wouldn't even matter which cape he was wearing. Snyder revealed this image on his Vero account, of the day Henry Cavill did his first Man of Steel screen test,...
- 4/8/2017
- Den of Geek
Actor cites differences with board; Costume designer Yvonne Blake appointed as acting president until election can be held.
The actor Antonio Resines has resigned as president of the Spanish Film Academy.
He had been in the post since May 2015 after producer, distributor and exhibitor Enrique González Macho resigned during his second mandate at the head of the organisation.
Vice president Edmon Roch, producer of Capture The Flag, has also resigned.
Resines, who has shot the upcoming The Queen Of Spain with Fernando Trueba, described it as an “honour” to have held the position but also explained the reason for his departure in a statement released by the Academy: “This decision has been taken due to serious differences with part of the board of directors, differences that have made our task at the Spanish Film Academy presidency impossible.”
The board of directors is formed by two representatives of 14 different specialities in the Spanish film industry. Tensions escalated...
The actor Antonio Resines has resigned as president of the Spanish Film Academy.
He had been in the post since May 2015 after producer, distributor and exhibitor Enrique González Macho resigned during his second mandate at the head of the organisation.
Vice president Edmon Roch, producer of Capture The Flag, has also resigned.
Resines, who has shot the upcoming The Queen Of Spain with Fernando Trueba, described it as an “honour” to have held the position but also explained the reason for his departure in a statement released by the Academy: “This decision has been taken due to serious differences with part of the board of directors, differences that have made our task at the Spanish Film Academy presidency impossible.”
The board of directors is formed by two representatives of 14 different specialities in the Spanish film industry. Tensions escalated...
- 7/15/2016
- ScreenDaily
What you see here is the “muscle tunic” that was worn by Christopher Reeve in the classic 1978 film Superman: The Movie. This will be going up for auction later today, November 19th, at 5pm Pacific Time, with a starting bid of $50,000.
This particular tunic was worn by Reeve in the flight scenes. It features “two stitched holes on the sides, used to attach the flying harness. Four snaps at top are for attaching the cape.”
The costume will be auctioned by Nate D. Sanders Auctions, and interested bidders may participate in the auction online. The auction house released the following information on the costume:
"The lanky 6’4” Reeve refused to wear a muscle suit under the costume and trained with bodybuilder and Star Wars actor Dave 'Darth Vader' Prowse for several months to prepare for his role. Academy Award-winning costume designer Yvonne Blake designed the Superman costume, which was constructed by...
This particular tunic was worn by Reeve in the flight scenes. It features “two stitched holes on the sides, used to attach the flying harness. Four snaps at top are for attaching the cape.”
The costume will be auctioned by Nate D. Sanders Auctions, and interested bidders may participate in the auction online. The auction house released the following information on the costume:
"The lanky 6’4” Reeve refused to wear a muscle suit under the costume and trained with bodybuilder and Star Wars actor Dave 'Darth Vader' Prowse for several months to prepare for his role. Academy Award-winning costume designer Yvonne Blake designed the Superman costume, which was constructed by...
- 11/19/2015
- by Joey Paur
- GeekTyrant
'Nicholas and Alexandra': Movie starred Michael Jayston and Janet Suzman 'Nicholas and Alexandra' movie review: Opulent 1971 spectacle lacks emotional core Nicholas and Alexandra is surely one of the most sumptuous film productions ever made. The elaborate sets and costumes, Richard Rodney Bennett's lush musical score, and frequent David Lean collaborator Freddie Young's richly textured cinematography provide the perfect period atmosphere for this historical epic. Missing, however, is a screenplay that offers dialogue instead of speeches, and a directorial hand that brings out emotional truth instead of soapy melodrama. Nicholas and Alexandra begins when, after several unsuccessful attempts, Tsar Nicholas II (Michael Jayston) finally becomes the father of a boy. Shortly thereafter, he and his wife, the German-born Empress Alexandra (Janet Suzman), have their happiness crushed when they discover that their infant son is a hemophiliac. In addition to his familial turmoil, the Tsar must also deal with popular...
- 5/7/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Gijón Film Festival logo It's not very often you can say that Terry Gilliam was your warm-up act but it happened to me last night. Well, that's how I'm going to spin it when I'm 90. As part of the Fipresci critic's jury at Gijón Film Festival I was presented on stage at the opening ceremony along with my fellow jurors Spanish culture journalist Eduardo Guillot and Russian critic Victoria Smirnova, right after the former Python - the star of the evening - had received his Prize of Honour (Premio Honorífico) from the festival.
Gilliam, who turns 74 today, also received a rousing Spanish rendition of Happy Birthday. Accepting the award, he said he wanted to share it with director Richard Lester - also at the ceremony to present the Women in Cinema (Premio Mujeres de Cine) award to Costume Designer Yvonne Blake (The Three Musketeers, Superman, Casanova).
He said Lester's work had "inspired.
Gilliam, who turns 74 today, also received a rousing Spanish rendition of Happy Birthday. Accepting the award, he said he wanted to share it with director Richard Lester - also at the ceremony to present the Women in Cinema (Premio Mujeres de Cine) award to Costume Designer Yvonne Blake (The Three Musketeers, Superman, Casanova).
He said Lester's work had "inspired.
- 11/22/2014
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
It is with huge anticipation that we take an exclusive look at FilmCraft: Costume Design by Deborah Nadoolman Landis, arguably the most important person in the costume industry today.
As costume designer for Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Coming to America (1988), Burke and Hare (2010), and many other well known titles, in addition to former two-term president of the Cdg, academic scholar and now museum curator, Nadoolman Landis is ideally placed to write such a book. It reads to us like an update of her similarly titled ScreenCraft volume from 2003, but is not officially intended as such. This all new publication features a detailed introduction, plus interviews with some of the most famous names in movie costume.
Although Nadoolman Landis did not have long to put this project together, only six months from announcement to press, she has created an essential reference guide for students, aficionados, and really anyone with an...
As costume designer for Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Coming to America (1988), Burke and Hare (2010), and many other well known titles, in addition to former two-term president of the Cdg, academic scholar and now museum curator, Nadoolman Landis is ideally placed to write such a book. It reads to us like an update of her similarly titled ScreenCraft volume from 2003, but is not officially intended as such. This all new publication features a detailed introduction, plus interviews with some of the most famous names in movie costume.
Although Nadoolman Landis did not have long to put this project together, only six months from announcement to press, she has created an essential reference guide for students, aficionados, and really anyone with an...
- 6/25/2012
- by Chris Laverty
- Clothes on Film
Last Friday in Spain we saw the opening weekend release for “There Be Dragons”, the new film from acclaimed and twice Oscar-nominated filmmaker behind “The Mission” and “The Killing Fields”. Budgeted at $35 million, the co-production between Spain, U.S and Argentina the film proved to be a moderate success already before its release as it grossed an impressive 300 000 Euros in pre-sold tickets, although we have to take in consideration big part of these tickets were part of a charity campaign for Doctors Without Borders as well as other non benefit organizations, a clever marketing campaign no doubt benefited the film's tally. Starring Charlie Cox (Stardust, Casanova); Wes Bentley (American Beauty, Ghost Rider); Olga Kurylenko (Quantum of Solace, Max Payne); Derek Jacobi (Gladiator, La Brújula Dorada); Dougray Scott (Mission Impossible II, Ever After), Rodrigo Santoro (300, Che), Golshifteh Farahani (Body of Lies) and Geraldine Chaplin; this also has a first rate crew...
- 3/29/2011
- IONCINEMA.com
While the idea of ceasing the overall usage of adapting stories, classic or otherwise, into feature films is laughable, there are those stories that just should not be touched again. Whether they have been done so many times that it seems trivial to adapt onto the silver screen or an adaptation has come along that so definitely captures the essence of the story, there are those classic stories that should simply be left alone. Certainly, there are those stories that we will have left off this list, and some of you may think some of these classic stories deserve another go in the feature film realm. For now, and in honor of Robert Zemeckis’ adaptation of A Christmas Carol, we give you our 10 classic stories that should Not be adapted ever again.
10. Macbeth
Adapted Roughly 35 Times
MacBeth is perhaps one of the best Shakespeare stories and also one of the most difficult to adapt successfully,...
10. Macbeth
Adapted Roughly 35 Times
MacBeth is perhaps one of the best Shakespeare stories and also one of the most difficult to adapt successfully,...
- 11/3/2009
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Marcia Gay Harden is on a roll.
Boldly segueing from art to kitsch, she follows her serious, Oscar-winning turn in "Pollock" with an absolute blast of a performance as a pre-op male-to-female transsexual in Susan Seidelman's gender-bending farce "Gaudi Afternoon".
She's easily the best thing about this otherwise flaky comedy -- set against the whimsical backdrop of Antonio Gaudi's art nouveau architecture -- which starts off energetically but rapidly wears out its forcefully quirky welcome.
Given its Los Angeles debut at this year's Outfest Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, the as-yet-to-be-picked-up film will have a tough time breaking out of its niche confines in spite of a high-profile cast.
The always game Judy Davis, last seen on the small screen as Judy Garland, dresses down as Cassandra Reilly, a rather frumpy American translator working in Barcelona, Spain, where she's having trouble finding the right English words for her current literary assignment.
As if she isn't distracted enough already, along comes the enigmatic Frankie Stevens (Harden), fresh from San Francisco and striking an unmistakably '40s film noir femme fatale pose as she approaches Cassandra with an unusual job offer.
But what initially was pitched as a little translation work gets more convoluted by the minute, as Cassandra soon finds herself embroiled in a dysfunctional family drama involving Frankie's estranged spouse, Ben (Lili Taylor), their bratty daughter Delilah (Courtney Jines) and Ben's New Age-y girlfriend April (Juliette Lewis), just for starters.
With its colorful assortment of gay, bisexual and transgender characters, "Gaudi Afternoon", based on a 1990 novel of the same name by Barbara Wilson, is the kind of material that's desperately seeking Almodovar.
While Seidelman at first seems to have rediscovered that "Desperately Seeking Susan" spark, she ends up going all Spielberg, shifting awkwardly into a mawkishly sentimental third act.
By that point, even Harden can't save the show, though she comes mighty close. With her face virtually encased in pancake and her voice affecting a husky, uncertain breathiness, she's a comic bundle of sexual confusion. If you hadn't seen her before, you'd swear her role was played by a guy.
Chameleon Davis, meanwhile, whose performance here is very Anne Bancroft, is fine, too, though she is stifled by her essentially one-note character.
Also amusing is Lewis as the touchy-feely April Schauer (get it?), while Taylor is uncomfortably off as the butch Ben (formerly Bernadette).
But if the artificially offbeat film disappoints, at least its title delivers the goods. Taking full advantage of its location, "Gaudi Afternoon" serves as a handy Gaudi primer, setting numerous scenes against the striking, capricious structures that should have served as a blueprint for the picture's ramshackle design.
GAUDI AFTERNOON
Lolafilms
Director: Susan Seidelman
Screenwriters: James Myhre, Joaquin Oristrell
Based on the novel by: Barbara Wilson
Producer: Andres Vicente Gomez
Executive producer: Frida Torresblanco
Director of photography: Jose Maria Civit
Art director: Antxon Gomez
Editor: Deirdre Slevin
Costume designers: Yvonne Blake, Antonia Marques
Music: Bernardo Bonezzi
Color/stereo
Cast:
Cassandra Reilly: Judy Davis
Frankie Stevens: Marcia Gay Harden
Ben Harris: Lili Taylor
April Schauer: Juliette Lewis
Carmen: Maria Barranco
Hamilton Kincaid: Christopher Bowen
Delilah Stevens: Courtney Jines
Running time -- 93 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Boldly segueing from art to kitsch, she follows her serious, Oscar-winning turn in "Pollock" with an absolute blast of a performance as a pre-op male-to-female transsexual in Susan Seidelman's gender-bending farce "Gaudi Afternoon".
She's easily the best thing about this otherwise flaky comedy -- set against the whimsical backdrop of Antonio Gaudi's art nouveau architecture -- which starts off energetically but rapidly wears out its forcefully quirky welcome.
Given its Los Angeles debut at this year's Outfest Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, the as-yet-to-be-picked-up film will have a tough time breaking out of its niche confines in spite of a high-profile cast.
The always game Judy Davis, last seen on the small screen as Judy Garland, dresses down as Cassandra Reilly, a rather frumpy American translator working in Barcelona, Spain, where she's having trouble finding the right English words for her current literary assignment.
As if she isn't distracted enough already, along comes the enigmatic Frankie Stevens (Harden), fresh from San Francisco and striking an unmistakably '40s film noir femme fatale pose as she approaches Cassandra with an unusual job offer.
But what initially was pitched as a little translation work gets more convoluted by the minute, as Cassandra soon finds herself embroiled in a dysfunctional family drama involving Frankie's estranged spouse, Ben (Lili Taylor), their bratty daughter Delilah (Courtney Jines) and Ben's New Age-y girlfriend April (Juliette Lewis), just for starters.
With its colorful assortment of gay, bisexual and transgender characters, "Gaudi Afternoon", based on a 1990 novel of the same name by Barbara Wilson, is the kind of material that's desperately seeking Almodovar.
While Seidelman at first seems to have rediscovered that "Desperately Seeking Susan" spark, she ends up going all Spielberg, shifting awkwardly into a mawkishly sentimental third act.
By that point, even Harden can't save the show, though she comes mighty close. With her face virtually encased in pancake and her voice affecting a husky, uncertain breathiness, she's a comic bundle of sexual confusion. If you hadn't seen her before, you'd swear her role was played by a guy.
Chameleon Davis, meanwhile, whose performance here is very Anne Bancroft, is fine, too, though she is stifled by her essentially one-note character.
Also amusing is Lewis as the touchy-feely April Schauer (get it?), while Taylor is uncomfortably off as the butch Ben (formerly Bernadette).
But if the artificially offbeat film disappoints, at least its title delivers the goods. Taking full advantage of its location, "Gaudi Afternoon" serves as a handy Gaudi primer, setting numerous scenes against the striking, capricious structures that should have served as a blueprint for the picture's ramshackle design.
GAUDI AFTERNOON
Lolafilms
Director: Susan Seidelman
Screenwriters: James Myhre, Joaquin Oristrell
Based on the novel by: Barbara Wilson
Producer: Andres Vicente Gomez
Executive producer: Frida Torresblanco
Director of photography: Jose Maria Civit
Art director: Antxon Gomez
Editor: Deirdre Slevin
Costume designers: Yvonne Blake, Antonia Marques
Music: Bernardo Bonezzi
Color/stereo
Cast:
Cassandra Reilly: Judy Davis
Frankie Stevens: Marcia Gay Harden
Ben Harris: Lili Taylor
April Schauer: Juliette Lewis
Carmen: Maria Barranco
Hamilton Kincaid: Christopher Bowen
Delilah Stevens: Courtney Jines
Running time -- 93 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 7/25/2001
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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