A new edition to The University Times this year, ‘Four Films and a TV’ is a very special column giving out very special recommendations. Every month, the editor will make a list of underappreciated but unparalleled films (four) and TV series (one) united by a topical theme, plot device or personality. The intentions of this no-nonsense column range from the dissemination of lesser-known films and the promotion of non-Anglophone media to the betterment of film and TV-related choices. In honour of Trinity entering sweater weather, the October edition is centred around the best of winterwear.
Four Films
– Fitoor (2016)
Abhishek Kapoor’s film is on this list for Tabu. In his adaptation of Dickens’ The Great Expectations, she plays the Kashmiri noblewoman Begum Hazrat Jahan, Bollywood’s Mrs Havisham. Dressed by Manish Malhotra, reflecting the old but decayed money that she comes from, along with her broken heart, Hazrat dons all-black shararas, heavily embroidered dupattas and stunning jewellery. Not to forget her shawls of pashmina with traditional Kashida work and red velvet ones decorated with gold thread. No one does opulent winterwear quite like her.
– La Belle Personne (2008)
Christophe Honoré’s high school drama about the student Junie (Léa Seydoux) and her Italian teacher Nemours (Louis Garrel) is a very French film. This adaptation of the 1678 novel La Princesse de Clèves is either a hit or a miss, no in-betweens, and I love it. Junie almost always wears white: a white sweater, a white fringed cardigan and even a white satin mini-dress (with a grey skeevy). Costume designer Pierre Canitrot captures the aesthetics of 2000s Parisian students in muted, washed-out colours to match the season of winter.
– Brat (1997)
No one had thought that Aleksei Balabano’s small-budget neo noir about a young man (Sergei Bodrov Jr.) caught in the Saint Petersburg mob would become an unbelievable commercial success, let alone a cult classic. Brat is an essential record of 90s Russian street style, portraying hip-hop-influenced punks and Versace-wearing mobsters. The protagonist Danila’s iconic greyish-yellow sweater was purchased by costume designer Nadezhda Vasilyeva from a second-hand store for a mere 25 roubles. Most actors wore their own clothes, lending the film brilliant authenticity.
– Love Letter (1995)
Iwai Shunji’s beloved romantic film is primarily set in the very snowy Japanese town of Otaru, allowing Maruyama Masato to design the cosiest and comfiest of wardrobes for the (female) Itsuki. Itsuki receives a letter from the recently widowed Hiroko (both played by Nakayama Miho), a stranger, inquiring about her husband, who is also named Itsuki. From her flannel shirts, wide-legged pants and wool socks to her stripy sweaters and checkerboard cardigans, Itsuki is a pastiche of patterns. Watching Love Letter is like being wrapped in one of Itsuki’s many blankets, whether it be tartan or knit.
And a TV
– To the Wonder (2024)
Directed by Teng Congcong, this adaptation of Li Juan’s essay tells the story of a Han Chinese girl, Li Wenxiu (Zhou Yiran), and a Kazakh boy, Batay (Yu Shi). Set in the snow-capped Altay in the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, the landscape and culture of the prairie are central to the narrative, and the costumes create a contrast between the Hans’ southern polyester clothes and the Kazakhs’ rich traditional garments: shapan, kamzol, börik, tymaq, etc. Thanks to designer Zhao Yige, who received several award nominations for her work, this wardrobe has become an important (although politically sanitised) window into the lives of China’s Kazakh communities.
