All About The Color

I was tempted to go on and on with the Manolo-related posts but I restrained myself for the sake of a balanced diet. Rest assured that you will get more on that topic, sooner than later, as there are endless avenues to explore.

Last Friday I went to the movies craving something silly and, hopefully, fun. The scathing critiques of the new Almodovar film “Los Amantes Pasajeros” piqued my curiosity, and knowing that it would be filled with music, over the top gay stuff, and mounds of color, I thought I would have a good, liberating time. What a mistake. What a turkey. What a waste of time. And money. The cutest (though totally predictable) sequence is the lip-synced dance number by the three flaming flight attendants to the Pointer Sisters’ “I’m so excited”.

I was really surprised at the fatuity of the normally expert Blanca Li’s choreography, for real. I guess that they all –Pedro and friends that is- decided just to have a good time, but it’s just not the stuff for a full-length feature; maybe a freebie You Tube short for promotional reasons, or one of those trendy fashion films.  Or just limited to the flashmob. It especially stings knowing it was paid for with the help of the Spanish taxpayer. I guess that by now no one in the government bothers reading his scripts before giving his production company the dough to proceed. He has done a lot for the Spanish image, they must reason, and I suppose that’s true.

But this post is not to assess Pedro’s movie making prowess, and I really don’t possess the skills to do that, being but a mere spectator. Rather, my interest is in the style. The color and his fashion sense are typical features of all his movies, from the credit titles to the decoration to the wardrobe of his characters. Bright, bold, solid colors, mainly the primaries- red, blue and yellow- plus defined patterns, garish combinations, kitsch but very polished costume and make-up treatments. His characters hardly ever look shabby or untidy despite representing junkies, transvestite hookers and street bums. Even the illiterate deep- Spain women make their aprons and slippers look trendy.

Over the years he has collaborated with well-known international designers, from Armani, Chanel and Jean-Paul Gaultier, to the Spanish Antonio Alvarado, Francis Montesinos, Amaya Arzuaga and David Delfín. His influences as a child growing up during the 60’s and 70’s were the aesthetics of Pop Art and the Technicolor saturation and bright chroma of the melodramas of the 50’s from directors like Douglas Sirk. He has also declared that artists like Edward Hopper and Velazquez are clearly inspirational to his way of understanding color and light although he does admit that with the evolution of the mood of his movies the colors have muted slightly.

I really relish his sense of color and light, much more than I appreciate his plots, and having worked with some of the best cinematographers –Aguirresarobe and Alcaine- his movies resonate with those of the great Antonioni, who’s colors are so decisive.