Tagged: Black Crew-neck Sweater
Carnal Knowledge: Jack Nicholson’s Duffel Coat
Jack Nicholson in Carnal Knowledge (1971)
Vitals
Jack Nicholson as Jonathan Fuerst, arrogant Amherst College student
Hampshire County, Massachusetts, Winter 1946
Film: Carnal Knowledge
Release Date: June 30, 1971
Director: Mike Nichols
Costume Designer: Anthea Sylbert
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
As we continue facing snow and below-freezing temps here in the northeast U.S., I’m finding comfort in the layered winter style from movies like Carnal Knowledge, Mike Nichols’ cold (in every sense of the word) depiction of sexuality through the mid-20th century.
Even though the “New Hollywood” movement led by directors like Nichols, Robert Altman, and Arthur Penn had been breaking cinematic barriers since the late ’60s when the strict Production Code crumbled and the ratings system was introduced, the content and presentation of Carnal Knowledge was still considered too obscene and offensive for some audiences, to the point that a Georgia theater owner was convicted of obscenity charges (later overhauled by the U.S. Supreme Court) for showing it in his theater.
Carnal Knowledge centers around the swaggering Jonathan (Jack Nicholson) and his mild-mannered friend Sandy (Art Garfunkel), whom we first meet as students at Amherst College in the years following World War II. Continue reading
The Seven-Ups: Roy Scheider’s Leather Jacket and Pontiac Ventura
Roy Scheider as Buddy Manucci in The Seven-Ups (1973)
Vitals
Roy Scheider as Buddy Manucci, renegade NYPD detective
New York City, Winter 1972
Film: The Seven-Ups
Release Date: December 14, 1973
Director: Philip D’Antoni
Costume Designer: Joseph G. Aulisi
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Philip D’Antoni’s sole directorial effort The Seven-Ups was released 50 years ago today, starring Roy Scheider in his first major leading role as the lead of a group of renegade NYPD detectives who specialize in securing arrests for crooks who will serve sentences of at least seven years… hence being known as “the seven-ups.”
The Seven-Ups could be argued as a spiritual continuation of The French Connection, which D’Antoni had accepted the Academy Award for producing two years earlier. Both movies were filmed and set during a gritty winter in early 1970s New York City, focused on crusading cops unafraid to break a few rules—including Scheider as an Italian-American detective named Buddy, inspired by the real-life Sonny Grosso.
Both The French Connection and The Seven-Ups also featured a thrilling car chase centered around our protagonist behind the wheel of an ordinary Pontiac, pushed to perform extraordinary stunts thanks to the late, great Bill Hickman.
If you liked seeing one Pontiac at the heart of The French Connection‘s famous chase, you’ll love seeing two Pontiacs duking it out in The Seven-Ups!
But before that…
The Bourne Ultimatum
Matt Damon as Jason Bourne in The Bourne Ultimatum (2007).
Vitals
Matt Damon as Jason Bourne/David Webb, amnesiac ex-CIA assassin on the run
Everywhere (London, Madrid, Tangier, New York City), early 2004
Film: The Bourne Ultimatum
Release Date: August 3, 2007
Director: Paul Greengrass
Costume Designer: Shay Cunliffe
Background
After kicking a substantial amount of ass across a few continents, David Webb still isn’t taking it easy by the time The Bourne Ultimatum rolls around. As usual, he is paired up with a Bad Boy Super Assassin and defeats him with the usual weapons of a book and a bath towel and still manages to do it all without cracking a single smile. Continue reading
The Bourne Supremacy: Bourne in Europe
Matt Damon as Jason Bourne in The Bourne Supremacy (2004)
Vitals
Matt Damon as Jason Bourne, ex-CIA assassin on the run
Europe (Berlin & Moscow), Winter 2004
Film: The Bourne Supremacy
Release Date: July 23, 2004
Director: Paul Greengrass
Costume Designer: Dinah Collin
Background
By this point in The Bourne Supremacy, Bourne has already witnessed a tragic death, been in a car chase, beat up two U.S. Consulate officials, and stolen an old BMW. The complacent Bourne who, in his own words “got sloppy”, is now replaced by the professional Bourne.
It is important to recognize the parallels of the “two Bournes” used in the first two films: At the beginning of both, he is in a state of relative inactivity. In The Bourne Identity, he is searching for his identity (duh), and in The Bourne Supremacy, he has set up a home for Marie and himself in India. During these early parts of each film, Bourne is in more colorful clothes than usual.
After he is plunged into action (the Paris apartment realization in The Bourne Identity and Marie’s death in The Bourne Supremacy), he switches into his “Professional Badass” attire of long dark coat, sweater, dark jeans, and boots. Continue reading
Jason Bourne in Paris
Matt Damon as Jason Bourne in The Bourne Identity (2002).
Vitals
Matt Damon as Jason Bourne, ex-CIA assassin on the run
Paris, Winter 2002
Film: The Bourne Identity
Release Date: June 14, 2002
Director: Doug Liman
Costume Designer: Pierre-Yves Gayraud
Background
After Bourne realizes his identity (as you would expect him to in a film called The Bourne Identity), he begins dressing in a manner that allows him to be practical and blend in while still looking respectable enough to access offices and decent hotels. Continue reading