Cruella
Dir Craig Gillespe
Emma Stone, Emma Thompson, Joel Fry, Paul Walter Hauser, John McCrea, Mark Strong, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Andrew Leung.
In the 1960’s young Estella is a bit different to the other children around her; she is adventurous, has a flair for fashion, and has a bit of a wild side that her mother has nicknamed ‘Cruella’ that she is trying to keep subdued.
When she is expelled from school, her mother decides to take her to London, but a brief stop at a fabulous party ends in tragedy when Estella accidentally causes her mothers’ death.
Ten years later, she is now a grifter living in London, with her two best friends Jasper and Horace. they get her a job that lands her in the sights of The Baroness – a wealthy, and famous designer who is painfully difficult to work for. Soon Estella discovers that her past is connected to The Baroness, and this brings out the darkness of Cruella that Estella has been trying to keep hidden.
Very fine take on the early life of Cruella, the vicious villain from One Hundred and One Dalmations – is directed well by Gillespie, with some impressive camera work including long takes, and quick panning.
The story, is also quite solid, with Cruella being the protagonist, and a character you can sympathise with. It also creates both her relationship with Anita, and shows why she dislikes dalmations so much. If I were to pick at one thing, the film makes Estella/Cruella too empathetic, so it does question what happens to her after the events of this film (a confirmed sequel might answer this question).
The main cast, or the two Emma’s are both outstanding in their roles – with Stone as previously mentioned giving a great and sympathetic performance, but it is Thompson who steals the show as The Baroness. She plays the role of the cold, apathetic woman who creates the monster. She is one of the most detestable characterisations. Considering her real life personality, this is a brilliant performance from Thompson.
The setting of 1970’s London is well done, with the sets such as the Liberty early on looking the part. There is also some great use of computer graphics for neighbourhoods and buildings. The secondary theme of fashion is very well done, with the Costume Design team winning an Oscar for their work. The Hair/Makeup team were also nominated for their work and rightly so.
There is a fun soundtrack that is appropriate for the 1970’s for when the primary storyline occurs, and a score that complements the film nicely too. Some of the dialogue might be a little too modern for the era, but the screenplay was for the most part non problematic.
Some downs, there is a little too much narration done in the first twenty minutes, and at 130m it is a little too long. The third act “twist” is a little cliché, but makes sense narrative wise.
I really enjoyed this one, and is good for the nostalgia.
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