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Tale of Tales- That's Disrespectful to the Flea
0 Playsin 7 hours
Join us for this movie that neither of us really knew much about! It’s an interesting fantasy, fairy tale, horror, fable? The characters make lots of questionable life choices and also lots of fabulous costume choices. There are sea monsters, witches, ogres, fleas, acrobats, and a lot of blood. What more could we ask for? Oh, and John C Reilly.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3278330/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_in_0_q_tale%2520of%2520tales
Music: Cassette Deck by Basketcase
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to 'Hot Set' Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
I'm Melinda. I'm Ariel. This is Hot Set, the movie podcast about costume design.
Balancing Insights and Emotional Commentary
00:00:22
Speaker
Hello and welcome back to this podcast where we talk about costumes and sometimes we have really classy things to say and sometimes we have really run-of-the-mill layman's comments and ah those are more emotionally driven and I feel like this might be ah some of that for me today.
Introduction to 'Tale of Tales'
00:00:42
Speaker
for this this episode where we're talking about tale of tales. um Quick jumping into the summary IMDb. From the bitter quest of the queen of long trellis to two mysterious sisters who provoke the passion of the king do the king of high hills obsessed with a giant flea.
00:00:59
Speaker
These tales are inspired by the fairy tales by Jean-Baptiste Basil. Oh boy. Hello. ok Hey friend. We're here. We're here. We did it. We we watched this this film um directed by Matteo Garron.
00:01:15
Speaker
And again, sorry for mispronunciations.
Director and Costume Designer Acknowledgments
00:01:18
Speaker
And um the costumes were done by Massimo Cantini Parini, which is...
00:01:27
Speaker
The most Italian name I've heard in a while. Most. And um I was looking through his CV and I recognize a couple names. He did Ferrari in 2023.
00:01:43
Speaker
Some newer things that i have not seen because I'm boring and watch things on repeat that make me happy, aside from the things that we're watching for this podcast. He also did Cyrano 2021 starring Peter Dinklage. which did not that.
00:01:56
Speaker
from twenty twenty one starring peter dinkagege which i did not see that Yeah, I didn't see that one either. so there are some things that I recognize, but he has a lot, a lot of projects listed.
00:02:07
Speaker
lot, which is very, very cool. Seems like a premier designer of Italy, yeah i would say. working. And it's nice to be back in a movie where there's more than one costume wardrobe person listed.
00:02:22
Speaker
This time we've got one, two, three, four, I think eight people. Okay. hey All right. Some names. Some yes of folks. some as Some roles that were performed. That's very exciting.
00:02:35
Speaker
um We have an assistant costume designer Dyer Ager, costume cutter tailor, costume maker, which could mean anything, costume breakdown technician, seamstresses, and another
Costume Design: Crafting vs. Renting
00:02:49
Speaker
costume assistant. So, yeah.
00:02:51
Speaker
Man. not It's not that many people listed for for what's happening. So again, mystery. Yeah. How much was rented, how much was crafted. because Right. It looks very tight design-wise. It looked like a lot of things potentially were made for this.
00:03:09
Speaker
And if it was this amount of people who were directly putting hands on things, then maybe it's rented items that were then added to. And like...
00:03:21
Speaker
brought into the design that way.
Fantasy Horror Genre and Visual Coherence
00:03:23
Speaker
yeah um this Or if not, there's a lot of people whose names we don't have. Yeah. And i I feel like I'm still stuck on the skin in this movie because oh that they're the special effects, makeup, and like prosthetics. and Yeah. like The makeup department is it's quite a few folks.
00:03:44
Speaker
and it's They were working this movie. were working. they were working like This movie looks incredible. It is yeah a fantasy horror movie. which it it really holds to that because there's horror elements of every kind. There's a little bit of gore. There's um violence of many natures.
00:04:06
Speaker
Yeah. It didn't, I kept expecting it to go somewhere more like commercially horror film that it didn't go. Like it felt like it was a very, um,
00:04:19
Speaker
a very deliberate like hand
Initial Reactions and Visual Impressions
00:04:21
Speaker
with the horror. Like it never went crazy the way some movies do it like in the end, like no big, like a blood bath finale or something. None of that. yeah This was much more like Grimm's fairy tales. It was more like an old sensibility of like cautionary tales. And yeah,
00:04:40
Speaker
There's this theme throughout the three main stories of obsession over something and kind of like the what you have to pay for that obsession. Yep.
00:04:50
Speaker
And like blood it a big, big theme. And like that present throughout. Yeah.
00:05:02
Speaker
I don't know. It's it's always funny like talking about a movie where I've just watched it for the first time for the podcast. And so was like five minutes off of watching it before like clocking in. And so it like hasn't had enough time to kind of like percolate and land. So it's very like, boy, howdy, didn't that happen? Yeah.
00:05:24
Speaker
Happened right in front of my eyes. Yeah. um But let's, let's, let's start with a first impression. How, how was your experience of watching this movie? um i was ah very taken with the visuals of the movie, ah the costumes, naturally, um the production design, the makeup and special effects, as you've said, like, yeah,
00:05:54
Speaker
all the interiors and exterior locations were really interesting and really like beautiful to look at.
Intellectual Engagement and Fairy Tale Structure
00:06:02
Speaker
And i thought that the plot was, um was interesting and was like from stories that I don't really know. So I didn't necessarily know where everything was going. Although with fairy tales, you can make certain assumptions about, you know, how things are going to turn out for people, but in like broad strokes,
00:06:22
Speaker
um I didn't find myself like emotionally connecting with the movie, really. So it was sort of more of an intellectual experience than emotional experience. And for me, like great movies that I love, I always have like an emotional experience watching them. So I found myself...
00:06:44
Speaker
Looking at it more just as like, oh, what's that thing that's really cool? I wonder about that. And not like getting wrapped up in the story. But I think that was the same for me, where I just like wasn't super deeply emotionally connected. and the emotions were like, ah, like reactive. So it obviously affected me, but it wasn't like, I'm just like sucked into this world and
Costume Design: Indulgence and Symbolism
00:07:10
Speaker
all of those things. And so it was like, it felt like when you encounter certain fairy tales where it's like, I'm watching something for the,
00:07:20
Speaker
the warning for the for the end of the story. And so what was nice is that because everything was so beautiful, it heightened the fairy tale nature of it all. So like all of the costumes are, are I put in my notes like kind of indulgent.
00:07:38
Speaker
Like there's ah like a, I mean, indulgent is a very dramatic word, but it's like, there're There's like a lushness to a lot of the costumes because a lot of the characters we're following are royalty. Not all of them. We do see ah very, very stark difference between the moneyed people and the ones who are not.
00:08:01
Speaker
But there's just like a a richness to a lot of the costumes and it really heightens how how this does not feel real. well While being like historical and stuff, but it doesn't feel like a world that we know because, you know, there's like sea serpents and giant hearts being eaten and people being made pregnant overnight and, you know, all these things. Ogres. Ogres. Jews.
00:08:30
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, witches. I guess maybe just technically one. One witch. One witch. I mean, she had a big presence. She really did. She made herself canoon. Just like Mr. Vincent Cassell, who just never a regular guy. He's always going for the big characters. Good for you, sir.
00:08:53
Speaker
Because he does them so well. But it's always like, oh, Vincent Cassell's in here. Uh-oh. Yeah. That's how I feel about Toby Jones. and Toby Jones will make himself be known. oh yeah. And Toby Jones, what are you up to?
00:09:08
Speaker
It's never good. Yeah. Never. Nope. Just like, what are you up to, sir? And yeah, so there were a lot of complex characters and a lot of... um Yeah, just so sorry for your editing because my this is going to be so brainless.
00:09:26
Speaker
Okay, so the first chunk of the movie, there are three stories and I could have looked up what they are called and so I will look them up right now. The first one I did one of i know the Salma Hayek one is called The Enchanted Dough and I did not really understand that title in reference to the stuff that I saw on the screen.
00:09:51
Speaker
Yeah, I'm not sure what how that connects. don't know.
00:09:58
Speaker
which has no dough but has enchantment is lots of enchantment stars. Salma Hayek and John C. Reilly is a king and a queen who can't have, haven't had children yet.
00:10:10
Speaker
And Salma Hayek is pretty, pretty focused on this. And so she meets a necromancer who has heavily ADR lines, um who suggests that if she eats a sea serpent's heart cooked by a virgin, that she will immediately become pregnant. But yeah the The cost for that will be someone will die.
00:10:30
Speaker
And she's like, who cares? Give me that thing. Right. which she like The way that she frames it is like she thinks it's going to be her. like she thinks that she's going to die in childbirth or yeah right after or something. And ah she's wrong about that.
00:10:46
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. So in this beautifully, like the cinematography of this scene is so beautiful where John C. Reilly as the king puts on this kind of like Jules Verne diving. Yeah.
00:11:00
Speaker
That was fascinating to me. I think it was most especially fascinating to me because there was no air hose. None. it was just like free breathing in there. And also like,
00:11:11
Speaker
the The shape of it, it looked like a doublet. It did. The dead chest yeah plate had this like doublet quality to it that was hilarious given like the time period and the fact that like i mean metal diving suits ah did not exist in
Stylized Approach and Plot Dynamics
00:11:29
Speaker
the 1600s, we can confidently say.
00:11:32
Speaker
So this is very 17th century. And so there's britches. There's like very structured bodices. There are ruffs. There are like lace some collars. The like droopy long pumpkin pants. like Pumpkin pants.
00:11:54
Speaker
This is like for for people that need like a historical touchstone. This is like... After Shakespeare. and But not that long after. it's We're like 20 years past. When Shakespeare was doing his stuff. So it's like.
00:12:10
Speaker
There are things that would be. Kind of familiar shape wise to the costumes. But we've moved on fashion wise. To like a little bit of a different situation. But like there are some things. That we would still recognize from like. If you've seen like Shakespeare productions. yeah So these are. yeah Very much that.
00:12:27
Speaker
That. age and yeah very european and um like a lot of the costumes are really really beautiful there's like a pair britches that are slashed britches giant cartridge pleats which thank you for the positioning because this gentleman stood right in front of the camera so you could really get a load of that as he's like cutting the heart out of the sea serpent and um But yeah, that that scene was so striking because it showed how much like deliberation. Well, obviously any film that you get, there's going to be deliberation because it's a piece of art that people are working together to make.
00:13:05
Speaker
But sometimes it's more stylized than at other times. And this is very stylized because this hunting the sea dragon serpent scene is all in blues and like or muted oranges, which read more as like bronze or copper. Right.
00:13:22
Speaker
And like even the sea serpent is a very, very, very muted like color that yeah falls into that. key And it's just beautiful.
00:13:33
Speaker
and So like to have blood just like explode after the king stabs the serpent To kill it and like have this like crimson just like take over this kind of like magical serene setting is very startling. And I think that they use color in this movie to really great effect in like costumes and elsewhere. so it's like red is a big color that like you follow throughout each kingdom. Yeah. And um blues I think are also.
00:14:08
Speaker
And lots and lots of gold. Lots and lots of gold. So much. And then green every once in a while. And you're kind of like relieved when you see some of the green. It's like, oh, there's a little bit over there. nice little bit to rest my eyes on.
00:14:23
Speaker
But um yeah, the first story has the queen gives birth and this like virgin cook gives birth on the same day. And they both have children who are absolutely identical. Like the queen parents can't tell them apart. Nope. and they're like albino children. And the queen hates this and continuously tries to kill one of the boys, the one who is not her son.
00:14:45
Speaker
And, um but they are tied together because basically they were both created by the same magic. And so um it all like follows the kind of obsession the queen has over her son.
00:14:59
Speaker
And when we first see the queen with her husband before she has a child, she's very Spanish where she's like very, very Catholic Spanish, like in black black, black with like pearls and some, some gold, I think at the beginning.
00:15:14
Speaker
Like, yeah, a little bit trim and obviously like gold jewelry naturally. Naturally. and then so like her court is very much in black and her like the not her so much and like other folks in the royal court have these roughs.
00:15:34
Speaker
Oh my God. The roughs are so good. They're like the collars in Emma 2020 where they they take something that was extreme and then push it
Court Life and Historical Fashion
00:15:46
Speaker
even further. make it into a cartoon. And make it a little bit into a cartoon. So like roughs during this period were expensive. And if you had lace on them, obviously a show of wealth. If you had lace lace cuffs, that kind of a thing.
00:15:59
Speaker
But these – because they They were expensive because they take so much fabric to make. Yeah. that It's back to the like, like cartridge pleating is huge in this era as like an aesthetic and the the way the roughs are constructed is almost the same. Yeah. um But yeah, it's like these big like looping back and forth pleats. So like if you imagine, you know, whatever the measurement of your neck is, you got to multiply it by like
00:16:31
Speaker
10 in order to make one of these things it's crazy your neck is like 16 inches or 13 inches around you've got to go very big with the fabric to make it very small but full and that's that's why you have those pumpkin pants is because you have this like volume of fabric that you have to balance it yeah you bring together at the waist and at the hem to like be wearable and it's just i laughed when i saw those roughs because they're so bonkers big they're It's like... They're...
00:17:05
Speaker
they're they It's like if you imagine it, you know, because obviously, like when you see like paintings of like kings and queens of the actual like time period, like there are some that are like really big and you're like, wow, that's so dumb looking. It's hilarious.
00:17:18
Speaker
But then like these ones somehow are like even bigger and they're not on the king or the queen. It's on like the court people. So it's like imagine if the queen had one, it would be like a freaking umbrella around her neck. It'd insane. Because its yeah like those portraits, they they're meant to awe you with like the size and the the wealth on display.
00:17:40
Speaker
And so it kind of makes sense, especially during European history where your silhouette was gigantic. Or like Queen Elizabeth, a lot of people remember for this like surviving pair of stays where it's... I don't know if it's like still a conversation as to whether or not they were actually hers.
00:17:58
Speaker
But they're so dramatic that... like they make it look like her body just had this insane like schiff like a triangle. She had like a Dorito, like a very slender Dorito her torso.
00:18:13
Speaker
And like in reality, that was the width of your skirts making your torso look smaller. yeah And like yes, your stays brought you in, but only like by two inches. Right. and It's like an illusion. It's and like a visual trickery. So to have this illusion of these giant colors, which there were some that totally existed, it's not something that would be worn all day, every day. It would be something for like state, like specific things to to look like the queen more so than at any other time when you are the queen.
00:18:50
Speaker
And so, yeah, to have like your courtiers wearing these like stupid... Just standing around. It just like kind of makes them look like your herd of domestic corgis with cones, you know? That's what I was thinking about. so It was great.
00:19:09
Speaker
because It's this like kind of bright little comical effect in like a very dark setup for this this kingdom. And we see like these... um like acrobats come in who have like very, the very pasted on makeup and like very colorful wigs and very home homemade clothes and like a homemade pair of wings.
00:19:32
Speaker
And that distinction between these like traveling performers and the sedate wealth of this like small court is really kind of like,
00:19:45
Speaker
I liked it. Oh yeah. It's so nice to see this like colorful and weird like setup of these, these performers come through. I do like it when movies recognize the like the weirdness of humans and the world and that like, you know, people didn't invent a weird in like the 20th century. Like it's always existed and people have always done weird shit. And so it's like, yeah, there's weird stuff all throughout human history. Like if you want to find it, like it's not, um it's not exclusive. It's not a modern idea.
00:20:22
Speaker
Yeah. But I also, I was wondering... I felt like the movie was kind of telling us through all of this black that like the court was like in mourning for the kid that they didn't have.
00:20:41
Speaker
then there's like color later. Yeah, I agree. Cause like the queen, when these performers are are performing for them, ah there's like water splashed on one of the women and she opens up her robe and you see a pregnant belly and the queen is,
00:20:56
Speaker
immediately gets up and walks away and then locks herself in her room and throws things and starts to cry and the king has to come in and try to just calm her. And that's like, we're seeing that that she's making everybody around her suffer.
00:21:11
Speaker
Like you're not allowed to show your pregnancy because she is not pregnant. So it feels like, yeah, the whole kingdom is kind of holding its breath in like this dark, sad way. So it's like showing that everyone is kind of,
00:21:27
Speaker
surrounding her in this obsession, which is, you know, that is what Queens, that was the pressure was to establish the royal line and maintain the royal line. So you can understand it historically, but it's also like pumped up to this like Yeah.
00:21:43
Speaker
Fantasy kind of level, which is so dark because yeah, the child is born, the the husband's gone, the child is born. And now we see so sad to see John C. Reilly go from the movie so quickly because I love him. want him to stay had like three, three lines.
00:21:59
Speaker
three three lines I know. And he's heavily featured in like the the trail the trailer. And like he's like third build on IMDb. And I was like, okay, well, all right. I guess that was the end of that. We got about seven minutes of screen time. And half of that he's in a diving suit that surely was a stunt performer and not him at all. so loved the twins and how pissed off the queen must have been. that It's like she finally got
00:22:30
Speaker
her son that she'd been waiting for and it's like oh and this other girl has one exactly like him that's not fair it unlocked her psychopathy so fast yeah because like this son is totally a belonging like this son is an object for her where i'm the only one who can love you and you know especially because you're magical that makes you even more mine and so like both boys identical.
00:22:56
Speaker
And one of course is the prince. So he's wearing like very, very luxurious clothing. But like you said, now that she had the child color is allowed to come back into
Class Distinctions in Costume Design
00:23:07
Speaker
the kingdom. So like the queen still has black, black is still a main theme for their clothing, but there's like crimsons and like bright reds and golds and greens and all these other things that are allowed to come into the wardrobe.
00:23:21
Speaker
So this boy has this like very beautiful slashed poof sleeves all over the place. This collar that like is not always in the same outfit, but he has like a black collar at times. It's embroidered and it's like got red and gold and green. It's so pretty. And then And he has like a darker red that's not as present as the red theme is with his mother. yeah But um the other boy, so there's Elias and Jonah. So Elias is the prince and Jonah is the other boy.
00:23:55
Speaker
And Jonah is raised by the cook. And so she is not wealthy. She is a poor cook in the kitchen worker and they're in like natural tones like browns and tans and things like that. And so you even so like there is some distressing like that the cook, his mother, when we first see her, she looks like she's been in a room full of onions which is exactly where we find her.
00:24:21
Speaker
Where it looks like she's got like onion dirt on her clothes because it's like off-white accrue, know, and so it's like shows the dirt very well. But like throughout this movie we don't really see distressing like that very much with many people.
00:24:38
Speaker
No, it's very particular when we see it. It's not very particular. And it's always the poorer people. But it's like we don't see distressing with any of the wealthy people. All of their clothes look like they just came off the table.
00:24:54
Speaker
Well, except for the princess. Except for the princess. She gets she gets roughed up. But like, she's the only one. and then her father and starts to kind of decay like that as well. But like for most of the movie...
00:25:09
Speaker
All the rich people, their clothing is like – it genuinely looks like it came off the mannequin. yeah And it's just like absolutely perfect. Like there are a white shirts that have no sign of yeah sweat or anything like that. It's like it's been worn once and it's the only time it will be worn.
00:25:25
Speaker
and um But it it was – This first chunk was beautiful. yeah i I loved it. What did you think of Selma Hayek's red and black dress that we like jump cut to her in that stone maze? That was an interesting piece. That was an interesting piece.
00:25:44
Speaker
I loved it. And I have a very fussy thing to say. Okay. So how did you feel about it? Okay. um i I really enjoyed it as a fantasy piece of clothing that is inspired by a historical period.
00:26:04
Speaker
ah not quite the one that we're watching for the rest of the time. um But I thought, I mean, I thought it was um a very beautiful piece. And i mean, Selma Hayek is insanely beautiful. So it looked great on her.
00:26:20
Speaker
There was some kind of strange details, especially like the shoulder ruffle situation that I was like, that is pure fantasy. That is not anything that I've seen in conjunction with this time period.
00:26:35
Speaker
um But it was ah It surprised me because it was, I felt at that point, the biggest departure from the a tight historical reference. So it surprised me, but I didn't dislike it. But it did seem very different than everything I've seen.
00:26:56
Speaker
It felt very much like... heightening the fantasy of it all because it is a fantasy movie. And so this is the portion where she has been kind of living in her fantasy. Like we're seeing, we're being shown that her son is actually running away from her through this maze, not playing with her. Like, aha, come and get me.
00:27:19
Speaker
He's using it as an escape so that he can meet up with Jonah and then they hop the wall and go hang out with each other. And it seems like they can kind of almost like hold their breath for a very long time because they're swimming together and like evading capture, like just hanging out, swimming around the legs of like guardsmen who are trying to pull them back.
00:27:39
Speaker
But yeah, really showing sea monster. Yeah. And it so the dress like I what I liked, I think about it is that, yes, it is a departure from like reality because the it's very much kind of um referencing the period, but like not beholden to it.
00:28:01
Speaker
And it's also kind of, at least I was reading it a little bit like, this is showing us that she was living in a fantasy because her son is getting older now. She doesn't have control over him.
00:28:13
Speaker
The way that when a child is relying on you to learn how to speak, to learn how to walk, you have all of this time with that child, but once they develop their own interests and their own relationships, they move away from you.
00:28:27
Speaker
And so it was like, she started very locked in to like a historical thing. And now she's in this like kind of fantastical thing. That's like, this is her, she was having fun in her own weird losing it kind of way. And so like, then it starts to kind of change from there.
00:28:49
Speaker
But yeah, it's, it's a very interesting piece. And so if, if, if you haven't seen the movie, dear listener, i definitely recommend looking it up and it is ah Salma Hayek. You can, you can look up like the title of the movie, the, the name of the designer, Massimo Contini-Pernini, you can look up Salma Hayek and,
00:29:07
Speaker
And this gown has so many great closeup pictures, but the sleeves are almost like, like wizarding sleeves. Like for sure, everything is pushed to, to a very heightened place and it's beautiful.
00:29:25
Speaker
It's like really lovely. um But there was one fussy little thing that I did notice because of being a backstage customer, some productions. Yeah.
00:29:35
Speaker
So usually on stage with this type of a gown that is a bodice and a skirt because it's, you know, you have the option of making them all one with like honking zipper up the back. Or if you want it to be more period accurate, air quotes, it would be two separate pieces or more. um You are dealing with a very heavy skirt. Right.
00:29:57
Speaker
that's going to pull away at the back or at the waist where it is not connected to your bodice. So like in history, there were hooks, hooks and eyes where you would connect the two pieces so that as you moved, you wouldn't reveal any flesh or undergarments.
00:30:14
Speaker
And while Salma Hayek is moving through the labyrinth, And she's like leaning forward, you know, doing these little tiny bunny runs, like looking for her son. You can see between the bodice and the skirt because in the very back, I don't think that there were hooks and eyes or something had come undone.
00:30:32
Speaker
And so I was like, interesting. Yeah, it was just like a, see your back a little bit. And so that was just a very fussy little observation that like, yeah, the world's going to end because I noticed that. It ruined the illusion. Everything over.
00:30:53
Speaker
But I also kind of liked it because it shows you that it's two separate pieces. So you understand a little bit more about the construction of the costume.
Story Structure and Character Obsessions
00:31:00
Speaker
Right. A little peek behind the curtain for those of us that are like looking at that kind of stuff. I actually did not notice that moment. So yeah good on you. I was just like red, black, red, black, not red, black. ah Skin, white, undergarment.
00:31:14
Speaker
Oh, no. Shocking. um Okay. so the second chunk of this movie We kind of move back and forth between each story and then at the end have like a crossover. They're all interspersed, but I think it makes sense to kind of talk about them like one story at a time.
00:31:32
Speaker
So otherwise it'd be a little bit of a nightmare. So the second chunk is the Vincent Cassell chunk Oh boy.
00:31:43
Speaker
I'm genuinely this man. This French actor. i think, well, actually, you know what? I do have to give him ah some some props because he was not a nightmare character in Beauty and the Beast that he was in.
00:31:58
Speaker
Oh, I haven't seen that. Yeah, he played the beast. So that was a character that you could understand. And you're like, i get where this is going. yeah Misunderstood. well um Maybe he's misunderstood in this movie, too.
00:32:14
Speaker
yeah No, we're not going to give him that. the first The first time we see him is on the way to the funeral for Salma Hayek's husband. And so we see the king of the third chunk, which is the flea.
00:32:32
Speaker
And we see Vincent Cassel. Yeah. yeah He's having a nice time with a couple ladies. who um just And it's like a jump scare when he enters the frame because you think for a long time it's just the two ladies. Yeah, and that they have their bodices open, unlaced, and they're being very intimate and having a great time. And then he literally pops up.
00:32:55
Speaker
And you're like, oh, God, oh, no. And ah he is pretty sedate aside from that in this first scene. But I i did put in my notes. ah And of course, Vincent Cassell arrives with a bang.
00:33:08
Speaker
Then I laughed like that for a while. But he's he is obsessed with passion, it seems like. Like he's obsessed with sex and with women and passion and pursuing that.
00:33:23
Speaker
Yeah. And it seems pretty indiscriminate. Like he's not – He's not obsessed with getting to know these women on a personal level. Let's put it that way. it is 100% the, yeah, the passion of it all.
00:33:36
Speaker
And there is there's a scene where um it's like the morning after a crazy party. and Yeah.
00:33:46
Speaker
Debauchery. Yeah. And there are like... but I don't know, eight women, nine women, 10 women laying, like sleeping yeah in various states of undress on like little chaise lounges on the floor in a fountain. In a pool, yeah. Just in a pool.
00:34:02
Speaker
And also like the room is not really inside. They're like, it's like kind of alfresco. alfresco. We're being so pearl clutches. so funny Listen, he's a king. We have to be respectful, right?
00:34:23
Speaker
Jesus Christ. So he keeps trying to wake all these women up and just like trying to like find somebody to play with, shall we say. And they're all like look snoring.
00:34:35
Speaker
him to leave me alone. yeah And so he's wearing these crass. crazy pants and black work embroidered white shirt.
00:34:47
Speaker
But the the black work embroidery of his, like that's like a theme for him. And it was so nice because you don't see that a lot in movies, you know, like, cause we don't see this era a lot.
00:35:02
Speaker
This era is, is very okay. the The time that we usually see this era is with, um, The Three Musketeers. Right. And so it's usually, you know, most often French and it's most often swashbuckly and like slight pirate sometimes.
00:35:23
Speaker
And because it's so frilly, it's so frilly and like over the top. And this movie really does capture that because like the amount of fabric that is used for all of these wealthy characters and like the shiny things and the embroidery, the deliberation.
00:35:40
Speaker
of these pieces is like so specific and it is really nice to see the black work because it's not black work takes time. i know um I was, I did a show where ah had to repair a shirt that had faux black work on it that was painted on with like,
00:35:57
Speaker
slightly puffy fabric paint and so I had to go in and like repaint all of this black work embroidery because it would have taken too long to actually do the embroidery what it needed to be done by and it was like kind of in the same style as this shirt for this king where it's in strips because dear lord having that I mean can you work Imagine doing it on a shirt.
00:36:24
Speaker
Oh my God. Insane amount of time. It was like really lovely to see that, but his shirt was always so stark white. And one thing that I found really fascinating in the fashion history courses that I have taken was the processes for how you would actually bleach things and keep things white.
00:36:44
Speaker
So yeah there are many, the one that I'm remembering right now, you're welcome, dear listener. is ah
00:36:54
Speaker
um What's the... What is it that's in urine? Ammonia. It's ammonia. So it's ammonia that basically is the bleach, right? So there was a job...
00:37:07
Speaker
in the world where there would be someone who would go around house to house, to house, to house, whatever. And they would collect the urine from the household. Like obviously a lot of people threw their waste into the streets and stuff, but there would be somebody who would go around and collect it for like laundries. And that's how you'd bleach your stuff is washing it in, in human waste.
00:37:33
Speaker
And That's for a long time. that's And that's also how you would set dye. Like there's walking wool in Scotland. Like I'm imagining I can I remember a specific scene from the bit of Outlander that I have watched where they're like, yeah, they're making some fabric and they're dipping it.
00:37:56
Speaker
Dipping it in there and making it pretty. And it would set the die. And it's just like, it's a nod to human ingenuity that like, you would find that out.
00:38:07
Speaker
How do you find that out? It's gotta be like, because yeah, it's so weird how like... Things like that developed before people like had a concept of like what chemistry is. Before they had a concept of germs. through experimentation.
00:38:22
Speaker
or washing their hands. Yes. They've cleaned water. They've figured this stuff out. Yeah, it's insane. And so I just kept thinking about that every time I saw him on screen because that shirt was so blindingly white.
00:38:35
Speaker
It does make you wonder, especially like, it's got to be like such a major flex to have something like that shirt that is so white, but then has black embroidery on it. Because I would imagine that there's maybe a different way of caring for that to keep the black black and the white white. yeah That must have just made it completely unattainable for...
00:38:57
Speaker
and For sure. And we see this starkness really quick. Like in the first chunk, we we don't really see super, super poor people for a long time. We only really center on the cook and her son. And then we see like a few people, but they're always very distant.
00:39:14
Speaker
And so we're always seeing these like richer people up in their tower looking down. Unless like the prince from the first one runs down and he like gets closer to some of the children, but that's a very deliberate move with this.
00:39:26
Speaker
The king is yelling out of a window because he hears this woman singing and he has been rebuffed by all of these like young fair maidens. And so he's like ready to go. and he's like, how old are you?
00:39:39
Speaker
Old enough. And it's like, but gross. And so I was like, let's look at the details of this black work embroidery. Yeah. But i was I was like, as soon as I saw the two ah sisters in their house, I was like, this house was made for Ariel with these this like die yarn dye pulley system coming in and out and like the natural fight. like I was like, this yeah is tailor-made Ariel.
00:40:07
Speaker
for you I just I loved it. Like, but he's yelling down at this woman who he just hears and he can see her but he can't see her closely. And she we can tell from a distance because she's not wearing super saturated colors that she's more with the environment down there that it's like dirtier.
00:40:27
Speaker
rougher clothing And when we see her and her sister up close, Dora and Emma, they are wearing, like there's white clothing that they have, but it is definitely distressed. It is old clothing. These are old women who have...
00:40:42
Speaker
been working hard and long for a very, very long time and don't maybe have more than one gown. And like, they're just going and going and going. And so they are distressed for the gods. And so having the king, because eventually he like pursues her and he's on one side of the door And he's, you know, dressed as he's dressed flamboyantly. And they're on the inside, just like rough and poor, so poor and so worn and so old.
00:41:15
Speaker
And it's such a stark just juxtaposition because he is like trying so hard. And this is where I really want to give so many shout outs to the special effects makeup. Yeah. Because these two actresses are covered in this fake skin. Yeah, like a full body.
00:41:34
Speaker
Full body prosthetics. But eventually, because this one sister Dora is like, you know what? we might be able to get something out of this because the king like sends down like a necklace with jewels and is like trying to, you know, enta yeah entice her with wealth. And she's like, we could get something out of this. So yes, ah i'll i'll I'll do what he wants, but only in the dark.
00:41:59
Speaker
So she gets her sister to create this like paste and to paste the glue, to glue her skin down yeah make her seem younger. Like um old school, like facelift situation, but like on your entire body, like it was so creepy and creepy. And like, it's, it's not like, Oh, old women. like That's not it at all. It was like, again, heightened. Everything was pushed to this like crazy place.
00:42:33
Speaker
It's like, this is uncomfortable. This is where the horror works in the body horror. And um so, like, yeah, everything that they have is so worn. And then seeing... and i love the particular because like it's a very particular kind of aging and distressing because you can see that like what they do is spin and dye yarn for like other people, I presume to make things
Realism in Costumes and Social Status
00:43:01
Speaker
out of. So there's this like layering and layering and layering of these like dye colors onto like their actual clothing. That was not something that you see that much. Like, I don't think I can think of another movie or TV show I've seen where like that profession was depicted like this, where you're,
00:43:24
Speaker
Seeing what that does to clothes and the way their hands are stained from dye just over and over and over again. The one thing I can think of is another Toby Jones joint ever after because have brain this big. Oh, of course.
00:43:42
Speaker
At the end of Ever After, they're the the the evil stepmother and evil stepsister consigned to the dye-like laundry. yeah And everybody down there has, well, they get their skin dyed purple, but like their hands are purple and like their clothes are all purple.
00:43:57
Speaker
um Please listen to our episode on Ever After to hear everything about that movie. Being nerdy with us on that episode. um But in that episode, We're not seeing the – it doesn't feel like staining. It feels more deliberate. Like yeah we're going to dye everything these colors because it's here. It's present. It's cheap. It unites us as the people who work here. But also it will hide you know the the staining.
00:44:24
Speaker
These two women are wearing different clothes. And so they're not wearing a uniform. They're not wearing dark clothes that will hide their work. It's they truly are. They look like they've been stained.
00:44:36
Speaker
And so it's it's yeah, it's a very specific way that feels very natural to like distress these clothes. And it's a very beautiful job of doing that. It really is. And so their story is that Dora goes through with sleeping with the king. She hooks up with him and then hooks up with him.
00:44:57
Speaker
His curiosity can't ah can't handle not knowing what she looks like. And then they when he discovers that she's old, he has the guards to throw her out out of the window of the tower. And she's caught in a tree wearing, basically, the only thing that she could pull around her, which was a red sheet, like a red blanket.
00:45:21
Speaker
And so another moment where red is like so striking because... Whenever we have red in these costumes, it's not 12 people wearing red. It's always like one or two. It's very concentrated so that it has a high visual impact.
00:45:34
Speaker
Yeah. So she's swinging swinging in this tree trying to get out. And a witch comes across her. a very A very giddy witch who laughs a bit.
00:45:46
Speaker
A giddy witch. A giddy witch. What a way to be What a state of being to be in. I mean, how nice I was like, look at you, Pam. and Like this witch comes along and then breastfeeds Dora yeah um back to youth, essentially, because Dora falls asleep. And when she wakes up,
00:46:06
Speaker
She is young and she has this long, long, luscious red hair and are our bestie, the king, non-creeper himself, sarcasm. Super cool guy, totally normal, just not hashtag not all men, hashtag not all kings.
00:46:24
Speaker
He's hunting, which is like my least favorite way to see some of these kings now after Marie Antoinette because Jesus Christ, read a book. Yeah. He is out with his men hunting this, this hog who I think either belongs to the witch or is the witch.
00:46:41
Speaker
And, um, unclear, but unclear, but it's a giddy hog. Who's like, you do and leads the King to Dora, who is now fresh and spring chickeny, um, and nude. And he's like, Oh my God, I'm in love. So she becomes the queen.
00:46:59
Speaker
And then we have kind of the the barrier between her and her sister because her sister is, of course, still old. She sends her a gown and says, come to to the castle to this like you know to which evening.
00:47:14
Speaker
I love that moment because yeah it it highlights so much of the stuff that we talk about on the show that like the – expense and like opulence of clothing was so important at this time. It's like, you literally can't go inside the castle without this dress on because the dress is the wealth that you have. And it's like, obviously she's concealing that it's like her sister. She's kind of like, cause she doesn't want him to know that she's not this like,
00:47:47
Speaker
hottie anymore but it's uh she absolutely had to have a dress for her to wear like that was a non-negotiable um and i think it's one of my favorite things in the movie because it doesn't fit very well it's obviously not for her Absolutely one of my favorite things because it's also a little bit of a bribe. Like yeah the sister, the older sister, Emma, is like, I've been missing my sister. Like they have been so bound together that she's just like, I'm alone now. And like, what am I to do? And then this dress arrives and her sister...
00:48:24
Speaker
is like when they reunite, she's like, I've missed you so much. But then very quickly, it's like, get out of here, you old lady. And you can't be here. And Emma is like, but I'm going to stay with you. And that's a thing that goes between them until the end of their story.
00:48:38
Speaker
And so this dress, this gown with this color, of like jewels and then gold wire, or silver wire, like it feels like it's a bribe, like take this and buy yourself a different life because I'm here now. And this is kind of like from Dora's point of view, like a goodbye. and to Emma, it's her entree into the castle, but she doesn't have maids. She doesn't have anybody. She doesn't have a mirror to look at.
00:49:06
Speaker
to look at how to have it sit properly. Like, I don't even know that the gown is, is laced up all the way in the back. It's not, it's not. And so like, it's ill fitting and the collar, there's a, there's an actual name for it, but I'm totally blanking right now, but there's like a wire support, a support desk, like four collars like this.
00:49:29
Speaker
And, um, It's totally lopsided and just like laying back. And so she's walking amongst these other women who have like their dresses are properly laced. Their their collars are properly supported.
00:49:44
Speaker
And she just stands out so much. Like her hair is not dressed the same way. And it's such a divide between – She's such a tragic figure in this like movie. like i If I felt for anyone the most in the movie, it was definitely It her. Because it's just like, you can just immediately, you know, it's not going to work out well for her. It's not going to work out. It's very cool. This is tragedy only. Yeah. And so, yeah, we see this this difference between the two of them. And then this like this is where we get the clincher, where
00:50:21
Speaker
dora Is telling Emma who's asking how how are you young? How did this happen? And Dora lies. And says. i Does she lie?
00:50:33
Speaker
don't think she lies. i think she doesn't explain it enough. She just says. She says that she. ah Got different skin, which yeah is true, but she doesn't explain how and she doesn't like it's there's no way for you to understand what that means. Yeah. And so because she can't understand what it means, Emma decides that it means something that she can understand, which is.
00:51:00
Speaker
Oh, well, she was flayed then. So she took off her skin and then she got a new skin. yeah And her journey is then to go find someone to beg someone to flay her.
00:51:14
Speaker
Yes. And she pays him with that jeweled collar because money is... money like right there like She just like rips it off of her dress and hands to was pretty impressive. that I loved it. That it was prepared to be removed. like yeah Good for you with your your strength or the building of that thing.
00:51:34
Speaker
But yeah, she hands it over and he goes, okay And then he proceeds to fly her. And that was another very striking body horror moment because she's still wearing the gown when she comes back home into town.
00:51:51
Speaker
Because he's he's taken her out into like the forest and she was walking back. And she's just bloody and gory and like still wearing this this gown, which is still shiny and like still has like that silky shine. And it's just like yeah so awful.
00:52:10
Speaker
The contrast because it's like this beautiful like pale icy blue satin and like the contrast of that with this like dark, nasty blood like dripping yeah From her down onto it was, um I think, the most like interesting visual for me personally. it was it was a very, very interesting visual because like that dress just represented so much.
00:52:36
Speaker
And so it's like her whole story, once she gets it, you're you're watching how she's in it, how she's experiencing it.
Character Arcs and Tragic Transformations
00:52:42
Speaker
And then she's just like skinned alive in it and it's horrific like a horrific thing to see and then it doesn't even matter because at the very end like the queen like spoiler like the you know ah what's what's her name ah Dora ah the enchantment like wears off at the end and she becomes old again anyway so it's sort of like which I mean it's not a big surprise but yeah and she just runs away this runs away which I'm like yeah go for it
00:53:13
Speaker
Get out of there. It's so interesting, too, how, like, was such a great special effects makeup moment, too, because, like, it's not like everything just goes at once. It's like she sees she feels it and you can kind of see her face change a little bit.
00:53:28
Speaker
And then every time the camera goes from her hands to her face or something, it's gone more and more more. And it's just like, ah. And again, she's in a beautiful gown when she runs away as the ancient queen. And then like, that's the end of her story as far as we know.
00:53:45
Speaker
Yeah. like just disappear The end. Close the storybook on that one. Yikes. Ouch. Ouch. And like Vincent Cassell just keeps going on as a stinky wretch of a man. yeah i don't think like he cares too much. no Cause he'll be fine. and then. for your um Okay. So the third story. Yes.
00:54:06
Speaker
Yes. so This one is ah Toby Jones and his as the king. and So, you know, it's going to go sideways for sure.
00:54:18
Speaker
And the final kingdom was kind of a shock to my system because the color palette of this royal family was so different from
Princess's Journey and Empowerment
00:54:26
Speaker
the other two, which were very heavily black and red. Yeah.
00:54:29
Speaker
Yeah. and um And it's much you more just open and much more free. Much more free, more open. And that's like such a a lie, you know, because um we see like light blues, ah light pinks, we see greens, we see just like softer colors. And it just feels like there's more sun here. And yeah, like you said, like more open, like more open air.
00:54:55
Speaker
And um we follow this princess who is the daughter of the Toby Jones character. And she like is ready to to not basically be a little girl.
00:55:06
Speaker
Ready to be an adult. Ready to be an adult. Have her own identity. Yeah. Because that's what that means, obviously. We all know. fire She's very much captive, even though it looks more open. It's like she's a captive bird almost because she's like performing for her father who can't see her beyond this like kind of obsession. flea A literal flea. And like that just keeps taking his focus and then becomes this giant flea, which is insane. And he decides that the answer to her question, which is...
00:55:43
Speaker
Can I get married? yeah How do I find a husband? And he goes, oh, it's all sorted. And she's like, oh, good. Who's going to, who what? Who am I going to marry? Yeah, like you want to tell me what's going to happen? Yeah, can can I come into this information? He's like, oh, well, you know how it is. You've read books.
00:56:00
Speaker
ah Princesses get married ah through a tournament. and So we're going to have one of those. And you would think like, okay, like jousting or archery a la Robin Hood or hunting something.
00:56:13
Speaker
He's found this perfect way to use this giant flea after it has died, which is like... to To skin it and then to have people come and guess what the skin is.
00:56:29
Speaker
And that's terrible on so many, so many levels. But he's so joyful about it. Like he's so Toby Jones about it. and Like nick disregarding everything else about it that is a problem. Yeah.
00:56:41
Speaker
just like It just seems kind of disrespectful to his little flea, his little pet flea that's like the size of a pony or something when it dies. like because he was like so heartbroken. He stretches it on a freaking frame.
00:56:54
Speaker
Like it's yeah rude. And it's just like madness. It's just this madness. And so all of these men come through and they are not up our princess's alley. She's not into this at all.
00:57:09
Speaker
And she just is being told basically at every point, just be pretty, shut up. And each man guesses what it is and they're all wrong until we get an ogre who comes through and he takes a sniff and he says, flee.
00:57:22
Speaker
And the princess is like, no no no no no, no, no. And then the king is like, I didn't think anybody was going to guess it. Oh no And then she challenges him um about this and like you don't actually care about me and he goes shut up you can't say anything against me like I'm the king and I can do whatever I want she says okay let's do what you want then and she goes away with the ogre and she's wearing this is the second gown that like I think did a lot of heavy lifting because literally yeah a lot of heavy lifting because the princess is dressed in this like very specific style of gown from this century where her shoulders are exposed, her neck and her collarbones. And she has like drop earrings, like her hair is done.
00:58:10
Speaker
um It's also, I think like kind of in the same color family as um Emma's dress was where it's like a Yeah, it's a like a grayish blue. And then it has this really interesting trim like ah like in stripes like ah over it that I couldn't figure out what it was because it had this sort of vaguely, i don't know, like rectangular or like geometric quality because it was like red and and
00:58:43
Speaker
blue and It looked like when you're like when you're weaving something and um you end up with like these short...
00:58:56
Speaker
kind of like threads on the back of it that get cut. But then there's like a bit of not like a fringe, but like, do you know what i'm talking about though? Like it looked like we were seeing ah ah geometric trim from the wrong side facing out. That's the only way I could understand what it was.
00:59:16
Speaker
i don't know if that is what you saw at all, but that's what I saw. The geometric shapes stood out to me very much. And like, I really liked it because it it stood apart from other things that we've seen in this movie. And I'm looking at a picture of it right now. I'm trying to zoom in and it's very blurry. Yeah, let me see if I can find one.
00:59:39
Speaker
But it's like it has all these colors that we've seen in this kingdom so far where it has like a soft pink. It's got this soft green. it's got just like multiple blocks of color that go down like the center front even of the skirt.
00:59:55
Speaker
Yeah. And then on the sleeves, on the slash sleeves. And um it's it's very – It's unusual for this. it's It's very unusual. And it also because her hair is in these very dramatic ringlets that's like three or four ringlets on each side and then very tightly coiled like ringleted little side bangs. It's a very...
01:00:20
Speaker
Like you would see this hairstyle in a painting and you would see this style of dress in a painting. So she looks like a painting. She looks also like a doll. Like this outfit really works to make her look like a child and to make her look so young. And um it's just trashed.
01:00:41
Speaker
kill Like it is. And i I can only assume that there multiples, but like it is she is taken by the ogre to his like mountain place. Cave? Question mark?
01:00:54
Speaker
That's just covered in in dead things and carcasses. And she is absolutely overpowered by the ogre. Like she has no choice. She has no agency. And this is just she's captive.
01:01:08
Speaker
yeah And she just is immediately like – like catatonic almost like she almost yeah yeah because it's so horrifying and like there's no way for her to get out like she would have to grow wings to be able to get out and her wings show up in the form of a family of acrobats who have a very very wonderful wardrobe that like the mother i think shows up is the first person that she sees and she's like is it a mother i thought or a sister sister a woman she's a a woman a woman yeah Imagine that. Defined only by her relationship to men. um
01:01:43
Speaker
But she's on another mountain peak with this like crevasse in between them. Yeah. And she's like, please don't leave me. And this woman like is like, I'll be back tomorrow. And she's like, you cannot leave me here for another night. And she's like, I'll be back tomorrow. like listen I thought she said with my sons, but that was also. You could be so right about that. yeah i don't know.
01:02:07
Speaker
Yeah. So either way, she comes back the next day with two boys and an older man. And they one of the boys is a tightrope ti walker. and so Which she is sort of like the fairy tale part of it is like how the rope gets to her side in the first place. Yeah. i it has It's like Batman roles where there has to be some sort of grappling, like silent grapple system, you know?
01:02:29
Speaker
Yeah. Like our princess is outside of the cave, just like forlorn and sad, just looking out. And then she sees like little face like beckoning. And so yeah they escape.
01:02:41
Speaker
The, the ogre falls into the mist of the crevasse. They think they're safe. Yeah. And they're in there. All fun and games. We're in a, they're having a great time. Little smile fest. There's some wine or something going on. The back of their wagon is ripped open and the,
01:02:59
Speaker
The ogre just like tears this family up, just yeah kills all of them. yeah And it's like, you're coming back with me. And she takes a knife and she slits his throat and rescues herself, essentially. Like this family saved her and then she has to save herself. And- Which is like so terrible for this poor family. Like they did everything right. And they did it. They like help this person that they don't know. And through no faults of their own, just brutally, brutally murdered.
01:03:31
Speaker
And so she takes the ogre's head and makes her way back. to her kingdom, to her father, we find out is super sick. And this is another distressing moment.
01:03:41
Speaker
Not distressing like, oh, my heart, but like costume distressed moment because he's super sweaty and like just his guilt is eating him up alive, I think. Which likes you like is good.
01:03:53
Speaker
Yeah, you deserve it. Yeah. what You deserve worse that. and You deserve all of these leeches that are hanging out by your bedside. Oh, that was so gross. I know it was terrible. Yeah. I hate leeches. And he's wearing his like night dress, his Ebenezer Scrooge night dress.
01:04:10
Speaker
And it just, it feels, maybe it's not super distressed, but in my mind it is because it was not like a stark white, the same with Vincent Cassell's King's clothing.
01:04:21
Speaker
It was like this off white that feels like something that's been tea stained, which can also read like sweat and right just aged. Right. And like, could be if it was more fine, it could just be natural fiber, but like, doesn't really feel like that. Yeah. Yeah. And so it's just like, you suck. And she, this princess whose name I don't know, because God forbid, I know any character names.
01:04:46
Speaker
Her name Violet. Thank you. ah Violet becomes the queen. And she... Is crowned. And that's when we see the three stories intersect again. so we write began with a funeral. Where we saw people all together. And then we see them at this coronation. yeah And Violet is now. In this like gorgeous.
01:05:07
Speaker
Cream and gold gown. It's beautiful. And she's looking up. um As she walks. She looks up. And there's a tightrope walker. Who's walking on a rope that's on fire.
01:05:19
Speaker
so I like that. She is kind of the only character who has gone through any of these like horror fantasy things who seems to have better.
01:05:30
Speaker
Yeah. She comes out better. And she seems to, I like to think based on this, like she looks up at the tightrope walker and she just smiles. And I like to think that she's going to take care of these acrobats because they took care of her. And so it's like acrobats will like be welcome in her kingdom or something. you know And that that's why she specifically had a tightrope walker for her coronation is like a thank you to to the person who saved her.
01:05:58
Speaker
That's a nice thought. That's a nice thought. I didn't have that thought. Like I didn't not, like I didn't think like anything in particular, but I didn't think that thought, but I like that. just liked it. Yeah.
01:06:12
Speaker
Because she saved herself and her father is like on his – like when she comes back and her father is in his like kind of ugly, dirty looking night dress. He like falls to his knees and he begs her forgiveness.
01:06:24
Speaker
Yeah. And she's like – And she's like – And like everybody else is on their knees like – she She has earned her freedom. and like that, the the color palette of the costumes in that that final scene feel more like a breath of air, kind of like when we first yeah saw their kingdom.
01:06:44
Speaker
ah Yeah, the because the warmness, the warmth has come back. And then we have the visiting royals who are, you know. Differently dressed. And Dora. Who is ah the queen of Vincent Cassell's kingdom. Who's getting old in the background. And then runs away. The castles. In this movie are.
01:07:07
Speaker
So insane. yeah Like the the way that they. Used real places. To like. then build upon them and make this like fairytale setting was absolutely insane.
Admiration for Visuals and Costume Construction
01:07:21
Speaker
And further my understanding that i need to go to Italy. so yeah, this, this movie, the costumes and and the castles, they felt like what we have been trained to expect from Shakespearean things, which you mentioned at the very beginning, this felt very much like when we see something that is like a lush,
01:07:45
Speaker
Shakespeare adaptation. Totally. And I think there was a part of my brain that was like ready for that. And then it was like, nope, we're seeing – Not really. It's like Hamlet vibes, but not Hamlet, you know, because like the darkness and the blood.
01:08:01
Speaker
And so it was kind of interesting to like be in that place, but be like, oh, yeah, no, there Europe is larger than just Shakespeare's England. Yeah. That is a one thing about it. Shakespeare's imaginary Denmark. That you can count on is it is bigger than that. And so I think that the the costumes and the design of it all were really beautiful. And I think it did find a spot in our um season. Very, very much so. Because the color is so rich in this film. And and the so deliberate.
01:08:35
Speaker
deliberate. Yeah. I mean, like... if If you want to see cartridge pleading, which you do, obvious. like why I know. i know that that's what everyone's waiting for, cartridge pleading. There's so much of it in this movie, and it's so amazing.
01:08:51
Speaker
and like there's been so few times in my... you know, career thus far where I've had an opportunity to like do anything that involves cartridge pleating that I'm just like, wow, what a beautiful gift to everybody.
01:09:06
Speaker
I've only been called to repair cartridge pleats. And so for those who don't, like we did give a brief overview on which cartridge pleats are, which is like pleating to really bring in large volumes of fabric.
01:09:19
Speaker
But it's like, You have to do it by hand. Yeah, there's no other way. i i have not seen anybody do it any other way. So maybe there could be another way. But the thing is that the fabric becomes so thick that I just don't know of a machine unless it was like a cobbling machine. Like to get through the thickness of that fabric. Well, because you have to like... You have to go pleat by pleat by pleat. Yeah. Like if you think about something that's traditionally pleated...
01:09:50
Speaker
like the pleats are like flat these are like vertical partridge pleating is vertical so it the density increases because the folds of the fabric are right up against each other and i think like you have to sew them down on the top and the bottom by hand i don't think there's a way to do it on yeah i just don't think i think it would have to be like an illusion kind of style of a thing yeah right yeah It looks like it, but it's not really.
01:10:17
Speaker
Cartridge pleating requires a lot. And there are many, many, many gowns and britches in this movie that have tons of cartridge pleating.
01:10:29
Speaker
yeah And so it's not like it's like, you're gonna cry tears of blood having to do cartridge pleating. It's just, it's one of those pieces of work that takes time. And so like when you see that in something, you recognize there was a lot of, there's a lot of work that was done just for that.
01:10:45
Speaker
And um it's interesting because cartridge pleats can be present, not just when you think of a waistband, you usually think a band that goes around your waist. So it is just a circle that goes equidistant like flat like it sits against your body yeah but um i think it's no it's not violet it's dora's gown when we first see her as queen that is also kind of like a creamy gold situation that has cartridge pleats that follow her conical like pointed bodice yeah and it's like
01:11:20
Speaker
There's so much math in that. Geometry. Geometry. it's it's it's That's skill. That's really beautiful labor. yeah And um so these costumes are worth
Dark Themes and Costumes' Narrative Role
01:11:33
Speaker
looking at. And so it's it's an experience of a movie. There's sexual violence. There's some very questionable animal treatment that I don't know where CG begins and ends. And that did make me uncomfortable.
01:11:46
Speaker
um But it's a very dark movie. fantasy horror. And so, and it also is like a very sedately paced fantasy horror. Like you're not going to get you know, shock.
01:11:57
Speaker
yeah It's, it's very much the pacing of the fantasy. It's atmospheric. And so, i mean, I recommend it like for the costumes alone, if not anything else, like, and I do recommend it as a watch, but it's, the costumes are beautifully, beautifully done.
01:12:14
Speaker
h Yeah. And I think it's like, um If anyone's curious about it, rather than just looking up photos, I think that the...
Personal Reflections and Takeaways
01:12:26
Speaker
The costumes are really in like integrated into the actual like story. So actually watching the plot play out enhances the clothes. I mean, hello, that's what we're all trying to do. so um they really, really do heighten the fantasy of it all.
01:12:46
Speaker
Yeah, very purposeful in in where they are. yeah yeah And also, just watch it for the John C. Reilly diving suit, even. That thing's nuts. Honestly, it's like 10 minutes of your time. You can't go wrong.
01:12:58
Speaker
And then you say, goodbye, John C. Reilly. You were here. Now you're gone. It's so crazy. I'd never even heard of this movie, but there's so many like famous actors in it and like American people like John C. Reilly who...
01:13:13
Speaker
If he's in a movie, I'm automatically like more interested in seeing the movie just because I like him. But i' I had never even heard of this movie before ah you suggested it for the podcast.
01:13:24
Speaker
Yeah, I think I saw like one trailer. And i am such a fan strong... strong like illustrative cinematography, you know, that it like sticks out when you're like, Oh, this looks like a painting, like a painting come to life. So like, what's its deal.
01:13:42
Speaker
And then it just kind of stuck in the back of my head. I'm glad we got an opportunity to watch it because I was never going to watch it. And I'm, you know, I don't know that I'm going to watch it again, but there are things about it that are going to stick with me. I can tell.
01:13:58
Speaker
Yeah, it's it's ah it's an experience and I'm glad that I saw it. There were very strong performances. um And yeah, the design was beautiful. What more can you ask?
Preview of Next Episode
01:14:09
Speaker
Thank you so much for listening to our episode on Tale of Tales. ah It was definitely an experience and maybe a slightly different um temperature than most of our episodes. But ah we we have, you know, we have...
01:14:25
Speaker
love affairs with movies, and then we have new experiences with movies. And it's it's all. That's life. It's life, baby. the next up, we're having a movie experience that Melinda has not had yet. If you have, please join us and watch this so we can talk about it. Because this is another.
01:14:43
Speaker
Tarsem Singh joint with are my favorite um costume designer, Aiko Ishioka. This 2012's Mirror Mirror, which is a take on Snow White.
01:14:57
Speaker
oo We're going from one one fairy tale to another. We're just hopping over. And this does star um a person who has been rightly ousted from Hollywood, Armie Hammer.
01:15:13
Speaker
And so that is a warning in case you do not want to watch this. Totally understandable. um It is a ah very strange movie. And i I have so much to say about it because the design of it with Aiko Ishioka, lovely.
01:15:34
Speaker
The movie itself, what the hell? so Oh, I'm so excited. Yeah, it's it's a weird one. so um if you want to follow us along on this one, that you can picture frowns.
01:15:48
Speaker
It's like, dislike frowns it's like Question marks and rubbing our foreheads because there's so many what and how and why.
01:15:59
Speaker
and Julia Roberts, who plays the the evil queen. And we will have so much, so much to go off of on that one. So yeah, follow along and we'll see you on that episode.
01:16:12
Speaker
Join us if you dare. What a welcome.
01:16:17
Speaker
Can't wait. Thank you for listening. Bye. Goodbye.