Diamonds, which just opened in theaters around Israel, is an Italian movie that plays like Almodovar lite, about the dramatic lives of a group of female costume designers and seamstresses for movies in Rome in the 1970s.
For some, this description will promise a heavenly movie-going experience, but those who enjoyed Pedro Almodovar’s signature movie, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, but disliked many of his subsequent portrayals of emotionally unstrung women won’t find it much fun.
The movie, directed by Ferzan Ozpetek and a big box-office success in Italy, uses a framing device of the director (played by Ozpetek) in the present day, bringing together his favorite actresses to have them read the screenplay of his new movie.
This new film is about the travails of those who worked in a movie costume shop 50-60 years ago. I am not sure what this device adds, but soon the movie settles down to its period story.
The script, written by the director along with Elisa Casseri and Carlotta Corradi, focuses on the two sisters who run this costume workshop: the imperious but talented Alberta (Luisa Ranieri) and her weaker sister Gabriella (Jasmine Trinca), who is struggling with the grief of losing her child.
They are hired by Oscar-winning costume designer Bianca Vega (Vanessa Scalera) to create elaborate designs for an 18th-century, upper-class costume drama. Alberta sees this as an opportunity to get the business out of debt, since the workshop has been floundering since the death of Gabriella’s child.
Alberta insists that they can create all the costumes, not just those of the leads, and they are happy to follow Bianca’s emotion-laden directives on how each dress must mirror the inner world of the character who wears it.
An abusive husband, a withdrawn son
While the seamstresses and designers throw themselves into this project with everything they have, they also face personal dilemmas. One has an abusive husband who does not want his wife to work; another has a withdrawn son who may be mentally ill; still others have flings with the workmen who do repairs on the villa that houses the shop, while one has a young son she must bring to the workshop because she has no one to care for him.
The relative of another employee who is wanted for participating in the political demonstrations hides out there and turns out to be skilled at creating designs that supposedly add depth by illuminating the characters’ emotions. The political turmoil outside the workshop is hinted at, but is not important to the story.
While you might think this movie would be filled with beautiful costumes, we rarely get to see the finished products, and the ones shown did not look all that great. I was hoping to see gorgeous gowns like those in Luchino Visconti’s The Leopard, one of the great Italian costume dramas.
A 1970s fashion exposé
But the fruits of the seamstresses’ labor are far less impressive and, to my mind, did not illuminate any psychological underpinnings of the character, although they were meant to. Fashionistas who want to see this movie will find even more to enjoy in the 1970s outfits worn by the seamstresses and designers.
There are a few messages about how everyone has to set their ego aside and work together, and how it is important to trust their instincts. But the movie is mostly a showcase for the actresses to have their dramatic moments.
The story might have worked better as a television series, where we could have gotten to know each woman more in depth as their stories unfolded gradually. But as a feature film, Diamonds introduces each character and gives her some important moments, then moves on to the next one rather abruptly.
The cast is good, but in the end, it’s all a bit cliché, despite the intriguing setting.