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Zero time Tony Award winner • Production Assistant • Serial rewatcher
Forget everything you thought you knew about origin stories. Disney’s Cruella breaks the mold. Cruella De Vil, as we know, was the main antagonist in the 1961 film, 101 Dalmatians. She was a fashion-obsessed heiress who has an unhealthy obsession with fur. Now scratch that and reverse it. Cruella, directed by Craig Gillespie (I, Tonya), is an explosion of fashion, music, and sweet revenge.
Beware of some spoilers ahead!
Discussion
Cruella has always been my favorite villain. This fact always comes off weird to people because of the reason for her villainy. I had high expectations for this film and the two things that I fixated on were the clothes and Cruella’s laugh.
Hollywood is no stranger to origin stories, particularly villainous ones. They all have the same job; make the character relatable and justify, to an extent, their actions. The justifiable actions in Cruella do not include skinning dogs. Let’s make that clear. However, Cruella is a somewhat relatable character.
Plot Summary
When we first meet the character, she has yet to take on her devilish alter ego. She’s merely Estella, a young girl in Primary school who has a penchant for mischief and a desire to be a fashion designer. Born with her signature black and white hair, she stands out in a crowd no matter how much her mother tries to dial her down. By a cruel trick of fate, she ends up orphaned and sleeping on the streets of London. That’s where she meets Jasper and Horace.
Cruella’s sneaky sidekicks weren’t always at her beck and call. 10-15 years later Estella (Emma Stone) finds herself still living with Jasper (Joel Fry) and Horace (Paul Walter Houser). They make ends meet by stealing. Estella sews the disguises and they hit the town. Ultimately, Estella lands a job with The Baroness (Emma Thompson). She is a renowned fashion couturier with a strong resemblance to Miranda Priestly.
Performances
Emma’s portrayal of Cruella exceeds expectations. Emma’s Estella is meek but driven for greatness. Her Cruella effortlessly nails the accent as if it were her own and, as I hoped, knocks the signature Cruella laugh out of the park. She takes all control and every other aspect of the film complements her perfectly.
The Baroness’ first entrance is when she arrives at Liberty, a department store where Estella is employed. The entire staff scrambles around for her arrival. Beads of sweat dripping, last-minute cleaning, and anxiety-ridden faces all bounce around. It’s almost as if she arrives in slow motion. A quick sweep of her elegant outfit and the delicate removal of her sunglasses instantly give you the impression she doesn’t have a sunshine personality. Estella impresses The Baroness and as the two grow closer. That’s where the thread starts to unravel.
The Fashion Aspect
The first time we get a true glimpse of the fashion is when Estella, in a flashback, crashes a fashion show. The room is flooded with models and guests dressed as if it were a Marie Antoinette cosplay convention. It’s the type of scene in a movie where a young, impressionable child looks up at the screen and realizes their true destiny. Fashion consumes you, and it’s only the beginning.
As the ’70s hit, the heart of London is bustling with outfits you can only find on dreamy Pinterest boards. Estella slowly taps into her Cruella alter ego and epitomizes the angsty, punk fashion of that decade. In her quest to overthrow The Baroness, she meets Art (John McCrea). Art owns a secondhand shop featuring vintage designer gowns. His bleached-out hair, and delicately designed eyeliner scream Bowie.
Final Thoughts
The film blazes on with one stunning ensemble after the other. A montage of Cruella single-handedly destroying The Baroness’s career tells you that costume designer Jenny Beaven is nothing less than a genius. Her attention to detail, not only with the main character’s costumes but also with the background actors, is marveled.
Cruella has the range to be more of a fashion film and less of an origin story. Sure, it’s the backstory of the villainous Cruella De Vil, but the nod to one of fashion’s greatest decades along with The Devil Wears Prada dynamic of Cruella and The Baroness seems to suggest otherwise.
Zero time Tony Award winner • Production Assistant • Serial rewatcher
