march 5 - 11, 1999

photo: MISHIMA

filmographies of the designers

Admission:
Presentations:
$15 general public; $12 members,
seniors and students with ID
Panels:
$10 general public; $7 members,
seniors and students with ID
Films:
$8.50 general public; $5 members
and students with ID; $4.50 seniors (weekday matinees)

Join us from March 5 through 11 when we pay tribute to the often neglected genius of those film artists who are among the true masters of illusion and imagination! The Film Society of Lincoln Center presents a weeklong survey of contemporary production and costume design enhanced by presentations by those in the forefront of these fields. Defining our most enduring fantasies and dreams--full of beauty and terror--they make a major contribution to the sensual and symbolic impact of film.

Robert Bresson said that "the importance of an image is not its beauty but its necessity. " How does the visual language of each film move the story and the characters forward? How do we assess the state of an art that is technically expanding faster than our imaginative pace? With the tremendous advance of special effects, morphing and digital manipulation, how does the designer choose his own vocabulary? How are these images balanced so as not to overwhelm the film? How does a designer collaborate with a director? The best in the business join us to answer these questions and illustrate their remarkable work with film excerpts, slides, and screenings of the films that best illustrate their gifts.

Several panel discussions focus on production and costume design. Neal Gabler, author of Life, The Movie, moderates a panel of artists, architects and other designers whose work has been profoundly influenced by the way movies look. An exhibit of drawings and photographs in the Furman GaIlery further illustrates the work of our presenters and panelists.

Schedule of Films and Presentations:

KUNDUN
(Martin Scorsese, USA, 1997; 128m)
Dante Ferretti, production designer
Scorsese's story of the Dalai Lama--from his ordination at age 2 to the moment when he had to flee Chinese-conquered Tibet in 1959--is an intimate epic, a truly visionary film. The Tibetan settings (mostly realized in Morocco) and costumes are ravishingly beautiful, and the production design breathtaking. Scene flows into dreamlike scene, and mystic sand paintings give way to cinematic mandalas in this truly sensuous film.
Fri Mar 5: 4 pm
Thurs Mar 11: 6:30 pm

In-Person Presentation: Dante Ferretti
A giant in his field, Dante Ferretti has been the production designer for Pasolini, Fellini, Gilliam, Zeffirelli and Scorsese. He created the designed environments for DECAMERON, CITY OF WOMEN, AND THE SHIP SAILS ON, THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN, AGE OF INNOCENCE, INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE, KUNDUN and MEET JOE BLACK. With a screening of DANTE FERRETTI: PROFESSION PRODUCTION DESIGNER.
(Anna Maria Tató, 36m).
Fri Mar 5: 6:30 pm

PETULIA
(Richard Lester, USA, 1968; 105m)
Tony Walton, production designer
Adapted from John Haase's novel Me and the Arch Kook Petulia, Lester's masterpiece of 60s angst (photographed by Nicolas Roeg) bursts at the seams with acting talent: George C. Scott, Julie Christie, Shirley Knight, Arthur Hill, Jospeh Cotten, Richard Dysart, Austin Pendleton, Rene Auberjonois, et al. Scott plays a recently divorced doctor who falls in love with the elusively vulnerable Christie--who's hooked up with a complicated pretty boy played to a T by Richard Chamberlain.
Fri Mar 5: 8:30 pm

In-Person Presentation: Donald Albrecht
Masters of Visual Storytelling
Donald Albrecht (author, Designing Dreams) uses slides and film clips to offer an historical overview of many of the cinema's great marriages of style and story. Examples include the work of Ken Adam (DR. STRANGELOVE and the Bond films), Anton Furst (BATMAN), Cedric Gibbons (high-style MGM), and William Cameron Menzies, who earned the first on-screen production design credit for GONE WITH THE WIND.
Sat Mar 6: 4 pm

In-Person Presentation: Tony Walton
Tony Walton has done extraordinary work for directors François Truffaut, Richard Lester, Mike Nichols, and Sidney Lumet. He was production designer on FAHRENHEIT 451, THE BOYFRIEND, PETULIA, THE WIZ, MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS and REGARDING HENRY.
Sat Mar 6: 6 pm

Panel: Production Design
Donald Albrecht (see above) moderates a panel of some of the most important production designers working today, including award-winning Jeannine Oppewall (THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY, L.A. CONFIDENTIAL, PLEASANTVILLE), Eiko Ishioka (MISHIMA), Kevin Thompson (KIDS, FLIRTING WITH DISASTER, 54), Santo Loquasto (CELEBRITY, BULLETS OVER BROADWAY, CRIMES & MISDEMEANORS) and Tony Walton (see above).
Sat Mar 6: 8 pm

In-Person Presentation: Ellen Mirojnik
The diva of contemporary costuming, Ellen Mirojnik's work includes FATAL ATTRACTION, WALL STREET, BLACK RAIN, BASIC INSTINCT, STRANGE DAYS, FACE/OFF. Sun Mar 7: 4 pm

Panel: Costume Design
Phillip Lopate (author, Totally, Tenderly, Tragically) moderates a panel of some of the most important costume designers working today, including Aude Bronson-Howard (MEET JOE BLACK, SCENT OF A WOMAN, MISSISSIPPI BURNING), Anne Hollander (author, Seeing Through Clothes), Ellen Mirojnik (see above) and James Acheson (see below).
Sun Mar 7: 6:30 pm

In-Person Presentation: James Acheson
Creating some of the most gorgeous costumes in the history of film, James Acheson has collaborated with directors Bernardo Bertolucci, Terry Gilliam and Stephen Frears. His work includes BRAZIL, THE LAST EMPEROR, DANGEROUS LIAISONS, THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK.
Sun Mar 7: 8:30 pm

THE LAST EMPEROR
Director's Cut
(Bernardo Bertolucci, Italy/GB/China, 1987; 209m)
James Acheson, costume designer
The sumptuously envisioned and poignant saga of Pu Yi (John Lone), crowned Emperor of China when he was only three, and later forced out of the Forbidden City into the real world, courtesy of Mao's Revolution. Starring Joan Chen and Peter O'Toole, The Last Emperor won nine Academy Awards, including Costume Design.
Mon Mar 8: 3 pm

ILM Presentation
For over two decades, Industrial Light and Magic has set the standard for visual effects, creating some of the most startling ever seen on film. ILM pioneered the development of motion control cameras and optical compositing, and has refined the use of computer graphics and digital imaging. Art Department Manager Susan Davis and Art Director Alex Laurant guide us through a comprehensive presentation of ILM's F/X marvels--past, present and to come.
Mon Mar 8: 7 pm

STRANGE DAYS
(Kathryn Bigelow, USA, 1995; 122m)
Ellen Mirojnik, costume designer
This dazzling chronicle of chaos during the last days before the Millennium forces us to confront the voyeuristic quality of watching "movies," while still serving up a nifty love affair between Angela Bassett and Ralph Fiennes, a drug dealer who sells his clientele other people's reality trips. Beautifully costumed, STRANGE DAYS owes much to brainy Bigelow's sensual eye.
Mon Mar 8: 9 pm

THE MADNESS OF KING GEORGE
(Nicholas Hytner, GB/USA, 1994;107m)
Ken Adam, production design
Stolid King George (Nigel Hawthorne) begins to act mighty strange, and is taken in hand by unorthodox physician Ian Holm--while court intrigue boils. Hawthorne flawlessly reprises his stage performance in Alan Bennett's adaptation of his sharp-witted, distinctly odd play about royal life in 18th-century England. Helen Mirren is a marvelous queen, and Rupert Everett a very nasty, scheming Prince of Wales.
Tues Mar 9: 4 pm

In-Person Presentation: Ken Adam
Veteran production designer Ken Adam has created the worlds inhabited by James Bond, and has worked with directors ranging from Stanley Kubrick to Herbert Ross. His work includes DR. NO, DR. STRANGELOVE, DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER, PENNIES FROM HEAVEN, THE MADNESS OF KING GEORGE.
Tues Mar 9: 6:30 pm

Panel: The Backlot Aesthetic
Neal Gabler (author, Life, The Movie) moderates a panel made up of designers and artists whose work has been profoundly influenced by the movies, including David Rockwell (designer of "entertainment architecture," e.g., restaurants, casinos, entertainment centers, hotels), photographer Sheila Metzner, Ralph Appelbaum (exhibition designer, THE HOLOCAUST MUSEUM), Geoffrey Beene (fashion designer) and J. Abbott Miller (graphic designer, 2WICE MAGAZINE).
Tues Mar 9: 8:30 pm

BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA
(Francis Ford Coppola, USA, 1992; 123m)
Eiko Ishioka, costume designer
A most voluptuous film--visually, emotionally, musically--Coppola's version of Dracula follows the original novel very closely. Gary Oldman carries off every aspect of the vampire's extravagant persona: ancient alien, Victorian dandy, lord of rats, and arrogant demon. Winona Ryder, Anthony Hopkins, Keanu Reeves are exquisitely costumed and passionately "up" for this oft-told tale.
Wed Mar 10: 3:30 pm

In-Person Presentation: Eiko Ishioka
Eiko Ishioka brings a unique and flamboyant aesthetic to her work as production designer (MISHIMA, CLOSETLAND) and costume designer (BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA).
Wed Mar 10: 6:30 pm--Please note new time.

In-Person Presentation: Patrizia von Brandenstein
Patrizia von Brandenstein's award-winning production design work for directors Milos Forman, Mike Nichols, Robert Benton and Brian DePalma has extraordinary scope and range. Her work includes WORKING GIRL, AMADEUS, SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION, THE PEOPLE VS. LARRY FLYNT.
Wed Mar 10: 8 pm

WORKING GIRL
(Mike Nichols, USA, 1988; 113m)
Patrizia von Brandenstein, production designer
A screwball comedy for the 80s, with Melanie Griffith playing a sexy airhead who's really got plenty of gray matter. Her ambitious secretary aims to get ahead, despite falling in love with Harrison Ford's high-powered businessman and getting tripped up by Sigourney Weaver's superbly bitchy boss. Upward mobility with Cinderella, Prince Charming and a Wicked Witch--accompanied by lots of tasty laughs. (With Alec Baldwin, Joan Cusack, Kevin Spacey.)
Thurs Mar 11: 4 pm

I SHOT ANDY WARHOL
(Mary Harron, USA, 1996; 106m)
Thérèse DePrez, production designer
The 60s world of pop-artist Warhol and Valerie Solanas, his almost-assassin, is presented in wonderful detail here. Indie-queen Lili Taylor stands out as the enigmatic woman who authored the SCUM Manifesto, labeling men obsolete. The film's superb decor includes the polymorphously perverse cast: Jared Harris (Warhol), Stephen Dorff, Martha Plimpton, Lothaire Bluteau, Michael Imperioli, and others.
Thurs Mar 11: 8:45 pm