Cyrano’s Costume Designer on the Film’s Romantic Looks

Graphic Resource: Everett Collection

For costume designer Massimo Cantini Parrini, serving to to remake the classic “Cyrano” tale into a sweeping motion picture musical offered a formidable challenge. If building hundreds of intimate, period-appropriate costumes for the cast to dance and sword-combat in was not chaotic sufficient, he also experienced to do it throughout a global pandemic. “It was extremely tricky,” Parrini tells POPSUGAR. “I only experienced a person month of preproduction for this film, but thanks to God, I stored creating the costumes in the workshop I opened in Sicily during the whole shoot. We sewed until eventually the very last working day and established about 750 new costumes made completely for this fantastic film.”

The exertion was, of system, really worth it — and not just mainly because the film’s costumes have been nominated for an Oscar. “Cyrano,” starring Emmy award-winning actor Peter Dinklage and helmed by BAFTA-successful director Joe Wright (“Atonement,” “Satisfaction & Prejudice”) is a gorgeous triumph. Everything about the movie is intimate and charming — the backdrops of snowy mountains and sunny Italian palazzos, the spirited choreography punctuating soaring initial musical quantities, Peter Dinklage’s love-soaked gaze — and the costumes even more make the period piece’s environment with billowing capes, lush corsets, and fight-worn uniforms. Browse on to find out how Parrini assisted breathe new existence into this traditional adore tale, at the moment taking part in in theaters nationwide.

Picture Supply: Everett Selection

POPSUGAR: Where do you commence your resourceful approach, specially when you are presented the process of recreating this sort of an iconic character as Cyrano?
Massimo Cantini Parrini: In Cyrano’s case, [director] Joe Wright and I preferred his costume to be the same for the entire film but also to be functional ample to change form and look for each scenic occasion. To do this, I made a uniform, placing buttons in the area of the seams, which allowed me to remodel the costume by unbuttoning or buttoning, and shifting aspects of the costume in continuation and in a way that it could normally be various.

Graphic Source: Sketches by Massimo Cantini ParriniGraphic Source: Photoshop by Elena Pavinato

PS: This is not Cyrano’s first film. There is a French film from 1900, a film from 1925, a television adaptation from 1938, a further French film in 1946, a movie from 1950. . . . Quickly ahead to a 1990 model with Gérard Depardieu, one more in 2008 with Kevin Kline, and many performs, of program. Were being these before tales a aspect of your exploration, or did you favor to get started more than?
MCP: Absolutely start out around! I really don’t want any sort of contamination. The thoughts have to be definitely primary, and I believe it is quite important to respect the director’s vision. Joe strongly wished that this “Cyrano” was first in almost everything and that Cyrano was a protagonist of incredible modernity, when remaining pretty faithful to the historic enjoy. We all adopted this stunning character’s evolution with enthusiasm.

Impression Source: Everett Selection

PS: How tricky is it to generate costumes that not only have to search a particular way to tell a story, but also have to be purposeful to accommodate the movements of dancers and swordsmen?
MCP: I have to say that it was a superior challenge! I have presently worked on a musical, but each movie is different. In this work, for the costumes, the key terms ended up “lightness” and “transparency.” I desired all the clothing to retain their physical appearance and their natural rendering but allow for the motion of the clothing to float as significantly as doable and for the dancers to come to feel superb and incredibly mild. The choreography is gorgeous and improved my work by making it possible for the clothing to go and stream.

Graphic Supply: Everett Selection

PS: Corsets are back in fashion, as in the 17th century. What is it about corsets that keep them coming again into fashion?
MCP: Who would not want to wear a corset at the very least after in a life time? The corset is a section of the costume that has constantly fascinated the globe and built women’s bodies unbelievably feminine for hundreds of years. For this, it has been quite complicated to abandon it, and in truth, it never ever goes out of vogue. And which is why in “Cyrano,” I desired to set them on everyone: females and adult males. And I created them use them about the shirt so that they had been clearly obvious. The actor who performs De Guiche, the superb Ben Mendelsohn, cherished to dress in the bust, and just about every day, he desired me in man or woman for the dressing — as a actual ceremony of the 1700s.

Picture Source: Sketches by Massimo Cantini ParriniPicture Source: Photoshop by Elena Pavinato

PS: The seem of the makeup is striking particularly, in the first couple of scenes — white painted faces, intricate wigs, etc. What romance did you have with the splendor workforce? I’m curious what collaboration in between departments appears to be like, if there has been any.
MCP: With make-up and hair, there has been a fantastic knowing considering that the beginning, and it is uncommon to come across it. I experienced formerly worked with [makeup designer] Alessandro Bertolazzi, and subsequently I recommended him to Joe. I believe it is very vital for all the craft departments to perform collectively and make the picture of the people together so that they are ideal from head to toe. I have to say that Alessandro and [hair designer] Sian Miller have accomplished superb get the job done in “Cyrano” — a great balance amongst the previous and style. I would like to make movies with them all over again.

Impression Source: Everett Collection

PS: Did you have a favored costume? I individually liked the sheep ballerinas (seen all far too briefly!).
MCP: I loved making the costumes for De Guiche so considerably. The strategy of maintaining it always pink in the course of the film was wonderful even the substantial formal uniform is pink! Also, the costumes for the baroque dance at the theater: the superb sheep, which had been created in tulle, and Montfleury the singer [played by Mark Benton], gave me a great deal of fulfillment. Montfleury was divine — yet another outrageous superior actor!

Picture Resource: Everett Collection

PS: Was it complicated to do the job during COVID? How has your perform altered through the pandemic?
MCP: It was really hard, not only with the conventional COVID protocol, but also not remaining equipped to check out on and go the costumes on a reside model in advance of the actors and extras came to the fittings, which we normally do when we are generating costumes. All the costumes experienced to be disinfected as quickly as the fitting was completed or the day of shooting was completed, which is time consuming, and we necessary many much more staff members to assistance us in this perform.

Image Supply: Everett Collection