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Domino is
a "disarmingly
straight-forward"
work that "pushes
us to reexamine our
relationship to images
and their consumption,
not only ethically
but metaphysically"
-Collin Brinkman

De Palma on Domino
"It was not recut.
I was not involved
in the ADR, the
musical recording
sessions, the final
mix or the color
timing of the
final print."

Listen to
Donaggio's full score
for Domino online

De Palma/Lehman
rapport at work
in Snakes

De Palma/Lehman
next novel is Terry

De Palma developing
Catch And Kill,
"a horror movie
based on real things
that have happened
in the news"

Supercut video
of De Palma's films
edited by Carl Rodrigue

Washington Post
review of Keesey book

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Exclusive Passion
Interviews:

Brian De Palma
Karoline Herfurth
Leila Rozario

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AV Club Review
of Dumas book

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Friday, October 17, 2014
'PASSION' ANALYSIS AT CLOTHES ON FILM
WITH QUOTES FROM COSTUME DESIGNER KAREN MULLER-SERREAU
Christopher Cole has written a terrifically insightful piece at Clothes On Film about the clothes in Brian De Palma's Passion, with details and quotes from the film's costume designer, Karen Muller-Serreau. Cole is particularly interested in the power dynamics at play in the film. "Ice-blonde Christine is a Grace Kelly lookalike who craves attention," Cole states, "usually wearing the most noticeable colour in the room; the solid colours help her stand out without patterns to get in the way."

Here's an excerpt from the article:
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Muller-Serreau says she wanted to give Rachel a “contemporary Hitchcockian feeling with shapes that have a modern vintage style in bold colours.” Christine begins the film in an ice-blue shirt and palazzo pants combo topped off by a blueberry-vanilla coloured scarf tied artfully around her neck, while Isabelle’s black dress shirt and pants pop against the white walls and light-coloured furniture of Christine’s house. She has to be dominant so she gives the scarf as a gift to Isabelle, wrapping the blueberry-vanilla scarf around Isabelle’s neck; it stands out against her black coat.

The following morning, Christine struts her stuff down the path in her front yard in a double-breasted blood-red overcoat that would scare the bejeezus out of Tippi Hedren in Hitchcock’s Marnie (1964); Christine looks like a spoilt little rich girl about to be chauffeured to private school. If Christine sometimes looks like a child playing dress-up, there’s a scene late in the film where she wears a striking black overcoat worn with a wide-brimmed hat, round sunglasses and teal stiletto sandals. It’s a coat that Muller-Serreau wanted to look like a little girl’s coat, so she based it on a classic child’s coat since Christine’s twin sister died in childhood.

Isabelle, the second-in-command, wears black for most of the film signalling her lack of identity. Since Muller-Serreau didn’t have colour to work with for Isabelle, she gave her shape and texture. There’s a suit jacket with heavy shoulder pads that hint at Joan Crawford in Mildred Pierce (1945) and a side-breasted military jacket she wears when she has the upper hand. Her Edith Head hairstyle, fringe and all, helps make her look like she stepped out of an old movie.

One particularly inspiring moment is when an angry, depressed Isabelle at an office reception wears a black dress shirt and pants with a black tie. Underneath the slightly sheer shirt is a black bra. She’s dressed in a stereotypical male outfit, but despite the butch quality of the outfit, she still wants to be desired sexually as a feminine woman. Muller-Serreau says Isabelle’s look was supposed to be a “uniform”, presenting Isabelle as a “soldier” — a soldier who wants to be seen as a sexy woman.

While Isabelle wears only one colour, her assistant Dani wears many colors, and is the only person who threatens Christine’s status as the most colourful person in the room. She often wears animal prints and sometimes pairs it with clashing horizontal stripes. Her costumes are meant to garner attention, like the denim daisy dukes she wears paired with tights and knee-high stiletto boots, and an asymmetrically zipped purple leather motorcycle jacket. However, she also achieves elegance in a violet lace shirt. It’s a look Muller Serreau describes as “feminine and sexy” and that it’s a departure from the “butch lesbian cliché.”

Dirk wears braces with his pinstripe suits and checkered suits; the braces hark back to a much earlier era. His costumes consist of all suits, except for when he wears a tank top in his bedroom post-coital. Lying on a bed, his thin frame is more evident here, making him appear more vulnerable. He confesses secrets while smoking in a cigarette, becoming more feminine in his gestures and voice: he seems to be imitating Christine when he tells Isabelle that the blueberry-vanilla scarf looks better on her. It’s a perfect example of how men are emasculated in this film, and how the characters are much different in private.

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Posted by Geoff at 3:20 AM CDT
Post Comment | View Comments (8) | Permalink | Share This Post

Friday, October 17, 2014 - 11:24 PM CDT

Name: "silencio"

Pretty to look at but otherwise stinks. Redacted an Passion is a fall from grace from a once great filmmaker.

Saturday, October 18, 2014 - 10:04 AM CDT

Name: "Geoff"
Home Page: https://www.angelfire.com/de/palma

That's ridiculous-- PASSION is far from a set of pretty pictures. It's a tight thriller with an eerie sense of fate, and one of De Palma's best dream sequences. It also has a wickedly fierce performance from Rachel McAdams.

Saturday, October 18, 2014 - 5:16 PM CDT

Name: "harry georgatos"

Passion is a servicable thriller with compelling dream cinematography and an excellent designed dream sequence that needs repeated viewings to understand it's design in the greater scheme of the film. It has entertaining twists and turns but my favourite De Palma period started with Sisters and his films throughout the '70's, especially Carrie and Fury into his vintage period with Dressed To Kill, Blow Out, Scarface and Body Double. That's the mise-en-scene that got me excited about De Palma. Still upset that I haven't been able to see Femme Fatale and Passion on the big screen as these two films went straight to dvd in Australia.

Saturday, October 18, 2014 - 10:53 PM CDT

Name: "silencio"

Most overrated filmmaker. Bad storyteller. Award winning Razzie champion for worse filmmaker out there.

Sunday, October 19, 2014 - 12:42 AM CDT

Name: "silencio"

Mr De Palma is more concerned with his camera then telling a compelling story with detailed precision. Look at the films of David Fincher and the De Palma like THE I LIVE IN by Pedro Almodovar in how low De Palma has fallen with disjointed storytelling. Never been a fan.

Sunday, October 19, 2014 - 12:47 AM CDT

Name: "Geoff"
Home Page: https://www.angelfire.com/de/palma

Are you now saying you don't like any of De Palma's films? What is it about PASSION that you don't like?

And giving credence to the Razzies? The Razzies are a bogus entity that nominated De Palma worst director for DRESSED TO KILL, SCARFACE, and BODY DOUBLE. Not to mention Kubrick for THE SHINING.

Sunday, October 19, 2014 - 2:01 AM CDT

Name: "Geoff"
Home Page: https://www.angelfire.com/de/palma

Well, yes, if you like detailed precision, then Mr. Fincher is certainly your guy. It is true that De Palma is focused on telling stories through images. He is a visual stylist, and as such, prefers, as much as possible, to leave it to the image to tell the story. But he packs the story into the image.

Sunday, October 19, 2014 - 1:43 PM CDT

Name: "Geoff"
Home Page: https://www.angelfire.com/de/palma

(Somehow my 12:47 comment got listed after silencio's 12:42 comment, although I wrote it in response to the 12:42-- sorry for any confusion.)

Thursday, October 23, 2014 - 7:22 PM CDT

Name: "kinglear"
Home Page: http://no-harm-in-charm.blogspot.com

eerie sense of fate, you got that right! Fate is all over the movie. It's in the set design. It's in the costumes. It's in Rachel McAdams's eyes; like that one scene when Christine writes the email and then the camera zooms in on her face as she looks around, sensing the future. Every one of De Palma's shots have a purpose and he wouldn't zoom in on her face for no reason. Another hot shot is when the camera zooms out slowly from Christine sitting on the sofa in lingerie; he moves from extreme close-up to a long shot like he zoomed out from Tony Montana in sitting in the bathtub in "Scarface." In both movies, the shot conveys isolation and shows the character in a pathetic light. 

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