No matter how bad your summer vacations have been, they could in no way compare to the sheer horror of the villa getaway in “The Decameron,” one that is as filled with black comedy as it is with the Black Death.
Set in 14th-century Italy, Newtflix’s eight-episode limited series finds a group of (mostly) nobles fleeing the death and decay surrounding them to wall themselves away in a fortified palace, where they plan to frolic, drink, and generally be merry. Human nature being what it is, however, their plans are quickly derailed, and the show takes on a darker tone as the body count rises.
Along the way, there are enough secret identities and miscommunication to populate a Shakespeare play (though Giovanni Boccaccio’s book predates the Bard by a few hundred years). With a large ensemble and ever-shifting alliances, the costume design must pull its weight to keep everyone clear while also underscoring each character’s sexiness, ridiculousness, or snobbishness.
“Creating a character is a work in progress, it develops by knowing the actress or actor, buying the fabrics, seeing the colors. It is an evolution, which rarely reflects the first idea,” Oscar winner Gabriella Pescucci (“The Age of Innoncece”) and Uliva Pizetti, who designed the costumes together, told IndieWire over email. “The series takes place in the Middle Ages, and while respecting the historical era, we took a lot of liberties — from the cut of the costumes to the hairstyles and the colors, which we totally reworked so that they could blend in with the script. Breaking the rules was our goal.”
The two most striking characters upon first meeting are Zosia Mamet’s pampered Pampinea (arriving at the villa to wed her fiancé only to find her plans thwarted — though not for long) and Amar Chadha-Patel’s Dioneo. As Pescucci and Pizetti put it, “For Dioneo, the beauty of the story, we chose a very sexy look, accentuating his masculinity, using tight tights and tight corsets to highlight his handsome physique.” The combination worked; Dioneo’s velvet tights and massive codpiece are eye-catching enough to cause a few of the female characters to swoon (and at least one to question her religion).
Even Dioneo’s abrupt change in fortunes can only disguise so much, though: “Dioneo goes from a sexy male to a total beggar, and the difference is truly remarkable. We exaggerated, but despite this, he still remains the sexy beauty.”
Luck — like lives — comes and goes quickly in “The Decameron.” Servant Licisca (Tanya Reynolds) gets a shot at a better life when she is able to assume her mistress’ identity and arrive at the villa in style. Her mistress, Filomena (Tessica Plummer), however, arrives bedraggled and forced to play along with the charade that she is a humble servant. “Seeing Licisca arrive at Villa Santa totally changed like a beautiful and elegant lady, and the unexpected arrival of Filomena all torn and dirty… is a big surprise for the audience,” Pescucci and Pizetti said. “In the transformation of Filomena’s costume, a lot of aging work was done. Our departments worked a lot scratching the fabric, tearing it, discoloring it until we were very satisfied. It is often more difficult to make a good and truthful aging than a new dress.”
The servants (including Misia and Stratilia, played by Saoirse-Monica Jackson and Leila Farzad, respectively) all wore similar silhouettes, differentiated by color. “The use of colors, the contrast between one actor’s costume and another, is one of the things we work on together the most as the story progresses,” the costume designers said.
Ultimately, the costume department had its hands full with aging costumes since the back half of the series finds the characters with little to no time (or inclination) for changing clothes. “Pampinea is obviously a protagonist amongst the costumes. We highlighted the necklines, the hairstyles, used eye-catching jewels and strong colors,” Pescucci and Pizetti said. “After Episode 5, the characters — apart from Pampinea — always remain in the same costume, we just made more costumes with various stages of aging as the story progresses.”
“The Decameron” is currently streaming on Netflix.
Source link
