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Dressing Mildred Pierce : costume and identity across the ages
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Bruzzi, Stella (2013) Dressing Mildred Pierce : costume and identity across the ages. Screen, Volume 54 (Number 3). pp. 397-402. doi:10.1093/screen/hjt033 ISSN 0036-9543.
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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/screen/hjt033
Abstract
This essay looks at the differing strategies used in costuming the protagonists of two versions of James M. Cain's 1941 novel Mildred Pierce. Michael Curtiz's 1945 wartime Hollywood film and Todd Haynes's 2011 five-part HBO miniseries are both very distinctly costumed, not only in the sense that you notice what characters are wearing – the detail, the fabric, the authenticity – but in the way that costume becomes an interpretational tool, a means by which character, identity and narrative can be accessed or understood. However, whereas in Curtiz's film the costumes dress the star, in Haynes's version they dress the character. Costume generally is a crucial element in a film's mise-en-scene, a purveyor of meaning or an analytical tool; though when it comes to femininity in particular, display, ostentation or an interest in fashion have too often been undervalued or deemed frivolous.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||
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Divisions: | Faculty of Arts > Film and Television Studies | ||||
Journal or Publication Title: | Screen | ||||
Publisher: | Oxford University Press | ||||
ISSN: | 0036-9543 | ||||
Official Date: | 2013 | ||||
Dates: |
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Volume: | Volume 54 | ||||
Number: | Number 3 | ||||
Page Range: | pp. 397-402 | ||||
DOI: | 10.1093/screen/hjt033 | ||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||
Publication Status: | Published | ||||
Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access |
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