Big Fish (2003)

Writing about the marvelous precision and carefulness in the choice of setting, decor and costumes of Anderson made me think about another director with almost as much sense for these aspects of film: Tim Burton. Although with a slightly different approach since he loves fiction and injects the fantasy element to most of his works.

Big Fish takes place in the American countryside which provides much space for old American tradition and clothing. I really love the oil-waxed cotton duck (deriving from the Dutch 'katoen doek') jacket worn by the farmer, the canvas and leather rucksack (another Dutch derivation) that could have been a Filson, the 1966 Dodge Charger and of course the deck shoes which probably are my favorite type of footwear. Although I sometimes long to the time where people wore no shoes at all and enjoyed wobbling rocking chairs. As a child growing up in Cameroon I didn't wear shoes for most of the time and it gives you a certain kind of freedom. Another interesting item featured in the film is the money bag with the ziplock (where Anothersomething recently did a small article on). See for yourself.

Les Quatre Cents Coups (1959)

In the mid 50's it were the editors of the critical film magazine Cahiers du Cinema who would soon lay down the foundation for a revolution in cinema later named 'The New Wave'. Amongst them was Francois Truffaut who had written the 1954 controversial essay "Une Certaine Tendance du Cinéma Français" in which he attacked all of France's cinema. A couple of years later he, as well as fellow colleagues like Godard and Rivette, would actually show what cinema should be like. This is the debut by Truffaut and even at the time it was greatly appreciated which resulted in winning the Cannes 'Best Director' award. He dedicated this movie to the founder of Cahiers du Cinema, André Bazin, who passed away a year earlier.

Truffaut did a great job on casting the talented Jean-Pierre Léaud who gives an astonishing performance as a young rebel. It's shot in the streets of Paris, a great environment to find well dressed people at all times. They must have been wearing the duffle coat a lot these days because the film is full of them. Just as the French beret, but that's no surprise.