Big Eyes (2014)

Big Eyes (2014) was released on December 25, 2014, the same day as another big budget costume flick, also designed by Colleen Atwood, Into the Woods (2014), so most of the media discussion about the film is split between having Atwood talk about her process for both films. Since Big Eyes is the more staid, traditional historical flick, it gets less overall press than the more fantastical Into the Woods, which means there’s not a lot of information about Atwood’s process when it came to designing the costumes.

Nevertheless, the film is an engaging two-hour skim of the incredible story of Margaret Keane, whose husband Walter passed off her art as his own for an incredibly successful decade that brought them fame and fortune, but ultimately cost them their marriage. Directed by Tim Burton, it’s got its surreal elements sprinkled throughout, but it’s a pretty straightforward Burtonesque biopic. Don’t expect it to adhere to a strict timeline in terms of how things actually happened in real life, because it’s not going for historical accuracy, just emotional punch.

The surrealism is pretty minimal overall, but it’s Tim Burton. It’s going to happen whether you like it or not.

Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz play Margaret and Walter, respectively. Their life is depicted against the backdrop of famous San Francisco landmarks and neighborhoods — North Beach, the Haight, the Palace of Fine Arts, before settling in the poshy enclave of Woodside about 30 minutes from SF. There are detours to Oahu and New York City, but the bulk of the film is centered around the mid-1950s-to-mid-1960s by the Bay, at the tail end of the Beatnik era, before the rise of the hippie era. I thought it felt more authentic to the San Francisco I know and begrudgingly love, to be honest. The tucked-away jazz clubs that still manage to cling to life in the dark corners of North Beach, the overly bright and sparse art galleries that litter the city, giant concrete cathedrals set against bright blue skies…

But enough about the atmosphere. We’re here to talk about the costumes. As I mentioned, due to Big Eyes and Into the Woods being released on the same day, most of the discussion with Atwood is shifted to the more visually powerful latter than the understated mid-century former, so finding any interviews that delve into the costumes of Big Eyes is tricky. Which is not to say that the costumes are not great — they’re Colleen Atwood, afterall. They’re going to be good no matter what.

Every artist to have set foot in San Francisco since 1915 has been drawn to the Palace of Fine Arts.

Amy Adams plays artist Margaret Keane, whose “waifs” were known as “the big eyed children” and were a kitsch art sensation in the mid-1960s. Heck, I had a Keane repro in my bedroom as a child in the 1980s, such was their artistic staying power.

German actor Christoph Waltz plays Walter Keane, the husband and fraud who passed his wife’s paintings off as his own in order to rake in the dough. I thought Waltz was a weird choice for the role, mainly because his accent was kind of distracting when the real Keane was from Nebraska and lived most of his life in California. But he did bring a certain sheisty-ness to the role that worked.

This scene takes place in the late-1950s, give or take. It’s Walter and Margaret’s first date at a fancy French restaurant. I really liked the big bow-with-square-buckle and deep V neckline of her dress.

Krysten Ritter plays Dee-Ann, Margaret’s best friend, who is always fabulously dressed. I should really do a feature someday on fabulously dressed besties in film…

The strain of keeping up appearances as the supportive wife, and not the artist behind the rapidly successful paintings, starts to wear on Margaret. But she keeps it up because, well, it’s the 1950s, and she’s in too deep.

Meanwhile, Walter is off schmoozing with celebrities like Joan Crawford as Margaret stays home and cranks out paintings in her attic workroom.

I liked this dress Margaret wears to a gala celebrating the 1964 World’s Fair, in which she has painted a monumental painting.

Margaret gets an upgrade to her studio when they move to their Woodside villa. Because I am a total architecture nerd, I have a duty to inform you that this home exists, not in Woodside, but in Vancouver, BC. And I want it.