Stolen Youth

At the moment I'm working on my first ever proper 'collection' for Frances Baker (I feel pretty weird about using that word... it sounds like something big labels do, and this is just a little one-woman show here). Anyway, by that I just mean that I am designing a small collection of clothes that will be available made to order, instead of one-off pieces from vintage fabric which is what I've been mainly doing so far. They're all going to made in really beautiful sustainable fabrics like bamboo too, so excited!

Anyway, that's pretty much what is taking up all my time and brain space at the moment, so I might as well talk about it and some of the things that have been inspiring me, and one such thing is the Bernardo Bertolucci film Stealing Beauty. I have seen Stealing Beauty mentioned on plenty of blogs (including my own at some point) for it's general prettiness and cute 90's sundresses: the outfits are adorable! My love for this film is definitely mainly aesthetic for sure, it's just so nice to watch. As a film though it's got a lot of pretty bad reviews. I personally do find it pretty weird that it's a film about a young girl's coming-of-age (I like Bertolucci's films in general but this seems kind of creepy). The screenplay was written by a woman though which maybe makes it a little better somehow?

I do agree though with Roger Eberts observation that Lucy seems to exist "primarily to stir lust in the loins of men". For sure, it does seem like she spends a lot of the time prancing about in her (lovely) little 90's dresses while the men sit around perving on her and discussing her apparently fascinating virginity. I think suggesting though that Lucy is no more than a plot device and "some ideal of virgin beauty" really takes away from Liv Tyler's performance. For all the men in the film, including the director, it definitely does seem like that is Lucy's main interest and purpose in the film, but I don't know, I just got more out of it myself. I felt that Liv does lend enough to the character in her performance to breathe life into Lucy.

I also felt for Lucy. I think the film depicts that time as a teenager where it feels like everyone is obsessed with sex, and there is all this fascination with one's virginity and losing or not losing it. It makes for a lot of pressure and weird double standards, where you feel like you can't experiment with clothes or makeup or just being pretty or it will draw unwanted as well as wanted attention, and you don't even know yet what you want anyway! I felt for Lucy because I think she definitely seems pretty annoyed at all the attention she is getting, and pissed off that her virginity has become the favourite topic of conversation (and why wouldn't you be). She is just trying to work out who she is and what she wants on her own terms, something that should be a private and personal matter.

I think at the end of the day, the other characters are fascinated by Lucy's 'unadulterated beauty' in a way because they are hankering after their own lost innocence and the promise of youth. They all seem pretty disillusioned with their apparently not-so-picturesque life in Tuscany where everyone seems to be sleepily moving towards death (sorry that was super morbid but it is definitely a theme set up by the character Alex, plus Diana says at the end that she doesn't want to die there and she wants to go back where grey and damp and 'real'). Alex mentions several times how full of life Lucy seems, quite the contrast to himself. At the end of the Summer Lucy will go back to New York, which compared to the sleepy commune surely seems like a place of bustling excitement and promise. Basically, she has her whole life ahead of her. Perhaps they are also jealous of Lucy's discerning approach to love and to losing her own virginity, as opposed to Miranda's unromantic sounding experience with "the local deflowerer", or Richard's messed up "tripping with his babysitter".

Anyway, it's still not exactly an amazing film and probably not worth all this discussion, but I still like it. So to get back to the point, I am inspired by the film because of Liv Tyler's depiction of youth and innocence and promise. She just seems so vibrant and full of life (not to mention that Liv is a total babe). Plus the film definitely feels like Summer. So after all that, I guess my main interest in the film is visual/aesthetic. I suppose I just really enjoy analysing what an aesthetic I like actually symbolises to me. Also, did I mention that Stealing Beauty has a great soundtrack?

I'd really like to know what did you think of the film (if you've seen it)?