Saturday, September 1, 2012

Face To Face

Photographed By Ellinor Forje

Yesterday I had the opportunity to have an in depth conversation with Marc Jacob's muse, Zoe Cassavetes (to the extreme left followed by Lucrecia Martel, Giada Colagrande and Massy Tadjedin), after a press conference held at the Hotel Excelsior in Venice.

I was curious, and wanted to find out what her take was on the pieces by Miu Miu used in her film "The Powder Room" (read more about the Miu Miu project in the post below), as I'd read a review by Tavi Gevinson where Gevinson relates the collection in question to Sofia Coppola's movie "Somewhere". Miuccia Prada herself stated to "Style" that her inspiration for the clothes came from "everybody's obsession with being famous." And André Leon Talley alludes to a scene in the movie "to be the most accurate depiction of the state of American culture in recent years..."

After a whole day of too many impressions, I can assure you that my first question didn't come out in the clear and concise manner suggested by the paragraph above. No. No. This is how it went: "I just re-watched some of the 'Miu Miu Musings'...they were talking about the little black dress - Shala Monroque said something about Audrey Hepburn...wait, that's another question...*backtrack*...the dresses in the Miu Miu spring 2011 collection...wait...am I on the right collection?...Coppola's, 'Nowhere' - I mean - 'Somewhere' - vanity and....American culture..." Jibberish.

Cassavetes looked at me with the an expression that kinda read "okay, I didn't know all this was going on...", then said, "I live in France."

On a more serious note though, Cassavetes was inspired by the art déco feautures of the clothes. This in combination with watching her grandmother revamp herself in a powder room basically sets the stage for the film. The haunting vibe of the atmosphere was something that happened naturally during shooting and wasn't something that Cassavetes had intended from the onset. It does however serve as a prelude of what's next to come in the tales. I think I did mention somewhere earlier that these ladies are pretty bold.

Also, I had to ask Cassavetes whether there was a double entendre to her use of the word "powder room". She replied that she hadn't really dug that deep, at least not intentionally. So in essence, the "powder room" is just a "powder room", with a single entendre.

Ah yes, but what about the eerie environment and the action executed by a runway of models, in a large measure, in the last movie? How's that supposed to be interpreted? Brace yourself. "Women are witches...women are mysterious" said Cassavetes.

5 comments:

  1. I wish Zoe would put out a new movie. Interesting read.

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  2. What a great opportunity, and funny story!
    Bevin
    magnoliareverie.blogspot.com

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  3. As a former journalist, your fumbling situation was all too familiar. Sometimes you just reach a point where you're so focused on capturing the essence of their response, that your brain doesn't have enough time to process it through all the stimuli.

    Also, I have yet to see Coppola's "Somewhere," but that is a friendly reminder that I must.

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  4. This is amazing and makes me wonder why I can't have your life haha.

    and thanks for leaving such a lovely comment on my blog :)

    -Jenn
    chīsana blogger

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