The costume vault

La La Land 's nomination for Best Achievement in Costume Design was a weird choice for the Academy, but not for the reason everyone seemed to agree on (mainly that it had no merit because it was contemporary costuming and it consists solely of just shirts and dresses). It was an uncommon choice because, had it won, it would have been the first contemporary film to win Best Costume Design in 22 years (the last one to do so was  Priscilla, Queen of the Desert  in 1994). But, truth be told, this is a more than well deserved nomination.  La La Land  is a felt tribute to Hollywood's Golden Musicals and, as such, works at a purely emotional level; through the music, the acting, the cinematography, the sets and, of course, the costume design, it creates an emotional roller-coaster for the audience. And it makes sense;  La La Land  is a love story. It exudes love: for L.A, for music, for cinema... for being in love. True, it's not the most complex and nuan...

Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn . I could hardly find a more pertinent way to start this review, for that is my general reaction towards historical costuming in the Hollywood Golden age (as I have made amply clear in reviews such as this ). But, despite that general rejection towards classical historical Hollywood movies, it's undeniable that without them our modern notion of the Costume Drama would not exist. And that is, particularly, thanks to a "small" movie that you might have heard about... Ambition, ambition, ambition... that seems like the only way to describe this 1939 "blockbuster" that, to this day (when adjusted for inflation) continues to be the highest-grossing movie of all times (see here ). Gone with the wind , clocking its runtime at almost 4 hours, is a landmark of cinema. With a scope and magnitude that overwhelmed audiences, this movie is, to this day, perhaps most notable for bringing us one of the best female charact...