II. Peeling the
Groomed Surface
If cinema is to go by, behind the glamorous surface of fashion there is often a sinister world of violence, oppression and danger. Get a clue from Michelangelo Antonioni’s Chronicle of a Love, Arne Mattsson’s Mannequin in Red, John M. Stahl’s Leave her to Heaven, René Clément’s Purple Noon, Vicente Aranda’s Fata Morgana and Alfred Hitchcock’s The Lodger.
The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog
Tuesday 13 May, 18:30 | BFI Southbank | Duration: 98'The Lodger was Hitchcock’s first critical and commercial success, and inspired several subsequent remakes. This Jack the Ripper-type story of a serial killer who, like Hitchcock himself, has a thing for blondes. Audaciously photographed, the film combines sinister scenes of London streets and interiors with equally urban and modern images of media hysteria and mannequin dressing-room thrills.
Introduced by Alice Rawsthorn, Design Critic of the International Herald Tribune. With live musical accompaniment.
Fata Morgana
Friday 16 May, 20:45 | Ciné Lumière | Duration: 84'Aranda’s futuristic thriller Fata Morgana (1965) is an intriguing exploration of violence committed against beautiful women. The plot is centred around the murderous pursuit of Gim, a publicity model, played by one of Spain’s favourite models of the time, Teresa Gimpera. Set in a city evacuated after a thermonuclear catastrophe, the film’s cool aesthetic owes much to the ‘60s pop-art-meets-Cold-War world of comic books, advertising and fashion.
Purple Noon (Plein Soleil)
Sunday 18 May, 14:00 | Ciné Lumière | Duration: 118'This iconic French thriller, which was remade in the late Anthony Minghella’s The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), is a portrayal of a murderer who is at once alluring and terrifying. Much of Ripley's anti-hero mystique is tied up with his ambiguous sexuality, expressed in the film not only through his bronzed torso but also through the use of fashion and adornment.
Introduced by Guest Curators Stella Bruzzi, Professor of Film and Television Studies at the University of Warwick; and Pamela Church Gibson, Reader in Cultural and Historical Studies at London College of Fashion.
Mannequin in Red (Mannekäng i rött)
Tuesday 20 May, 20:15 | Ciné Lumière | Duration: 108'A private detective doubling up as a fashion mannequin, a head designer with lesbian inclinations and a mean, wheelchair-based fashion house matrona ominously accompanied by a white cat… Welcome to the strange world of “La Femme” where the elegant surface soon starts to peel, revealing what’s hidden and repressed underneath.
UK premiere. Introduced by fashion designer Bella Freud.
Leave Her to Heaven
Mon 19 & Sun 25 May, 18:20 / 20:40 | BFI Southbank | Duration: 84'Throughout John M. Stahl’s 1945 noirish melodrama, Gene Tierney’s character Ellen Berent Harland presents a mask of impenetrable beauty. Immaculately groomed and coordinated, her style speaks of wealth and exclusivity. However, beneath this apparently idyllic façade is a dark, psychological story of obsession and violence.
Preceding the screening on Sunday 25 May, Guest Curators Rebecca Arnold and Adrian Garvey will give a talk “Sometimes the Truth is Wicked: Fashion, Violence and Obsession in Leave Her to Heaven.” Arnold is a Fashion Historian and a Research Fellow at Royal College of Art; Garvey is a Film Lecturer at Birkbeck College.
Chronicle of a Love (Cronaca di un amore)
Sat 24 & Mon 26 May, 20:40 / 17:50 | BFI Southbank | Duration: 98'One of Martin Scorsese’s all-time favourites, Antonioni’s first feature film is a mature work packed with characteristic sensuality, themes of yearning and jealousy, and a keen interest in high fashion. The film is a labyrinthine story of a love triangle tainted by two enigmatic deaths, and the director’s ode to the deluxe bourgeois girl Paola played by the 1947 Miss Italy, Lucia Bosé.
Introduced by Guest Curator Elizabeth Wilson, cultural historian and crime novelist.
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