Swide Magazine by Dolce&Gabbana

On the screens this spring is Tilda Swinton's extraordinary visual and emotional tale of the becoming of a woman; "I Am Love", the tale of a modern revolution.

Meet Tilda, Oscar-winning actress and unconventional A-lister whose private life is notorious for her choice of having two partners ; meet Emma, model wife and mother, member of the Recchi family, Milan's answer to the Trumps minus all the garishness. Emma is the character played by Tilda Swinton in Luca Guadagnino's I Am Love, for whom she is herself a producer and mastermind.

"For over ten years, Luca and I have been discussing our mutual desire for a kind of cinema experience: something - literally - sensational, what might be called 'pure cinema', what we think of as the language of cinema - as opposed to the language of anything else. A large part of this discussion has always been our worship of the films of certain filmmakers from the past - Hitchcock, Huston, Kubrick, for example - whose claim on the development of the cinematic language is unassailable: they pushed the form by using the form, as a toolkit, with real authority. I AM LOVE is the first of a series of films we have been planning for a while to attempt to honour this kind of bravado"

Tilda and Emma are polar opposites - until I Am Love's revolution starts to unfold. Emma is a bourgeoise in disguise; the Russian accent is the first clue that underneath all the froideur of this new Hitchcokian heroine, burns a different kind of fire. As much as she looks the part there is something of the wild untamed lioness in Emma which becomes clear as the film progresses and her good conscience no longer tries to tame the metaphorical beast. It takes a man, a much younger, more socially modest man to start a revolution - although one feels he is merely one of the many sparks which could have started the fire. He is beautiful, so is she, and so it could look like a simple coming together of two eager lovers but there is more to it than intense sex scenes (though they do offer some striking examples of cinematography and the clever use of soundtrack). Emma's repressed Russian past comes out in unexpected ways and while the film gears up towards a dramatic and traumatic climax one sees a surprising contrast in Emma's blossoming into her own woman.

Part of the brilliance of the film is how easy and natural Luca and Tilda made this complex process look on screen; Tilda's own words give an impression of utter simplicity.

 And what would a scarlet woman be without a Little Red Dress?

Is Marisa Berenson the Big Bad Wolf?

Tilda reckons that fashion in the film means "[s]ubstantially less than style does", although Emma's wardrobe is a definite insight into her soul. While the clothes seem too real to be deemed costume, the film does have a "costume" designer, none other than Raf Simons. While the red garment's symbolic value needs no further explaining, the rest of Emma's outfits offer a more subtle window into her inner revolution; structure for instance, and the transition from rigid tailoring to free-flowing fabrics. Likewise with colours, from blues and neutrals to whimsical orange. And of course when Tilda's character hits the Riviera to embrace her sultry affair and newfound independence there is more than a hint of masculinity to her clothes. Read more on I Am Love's fashion in the New Yooxer's exclusive interview.

 

Is hot pink the new scarlet?

 

*I Am Love is set for UK release on April, 9th. Further details here.*

 

 Aurelie Bellavigna

TAGS: i am love tilda swinton italian film io sono l'amore milan aristocracy jil sander raf simons luca guadagnino sundance 2010