Rooms on Film: Cracks 2009

rockstar teacher miss g's private room

Sometimes I can't do a simple Rooms on Film post, because there is so much more going on than set design. Cracks is such a production. Starring Eva Green (Dark Shadows, The Dreamers) as a captivating, modern instructor at a 1930s private girls school, Cracks is really one of those treats of costuming and design. Take a beautiful actress, build a gorgeous setting and clothe her in cutting-edge style. Then turn her loose to perform while the audience falls back, mesmerized by the dashing shapes and silhouettes all this amounts to as the story unfolds. SO, this will be the first of two posts: one centering on the sets, the second focusing on the wardrobe.

First, the digs. Now, girls schools are not particularly interesting to me. They tend to be old, heavy, dark, and stodgy. The full weight of their age - legacy - is probably best felt in person. But the ways in which the people who pass through such institutions manage to make them homey, that does interest me. Witness Miss G's lovely, bohemian quarters. Moody, colorful, cluttered, worldly. Her possessions seem collected and eclectic - exactly the persona Miss G presents to her students.

wider shot of miss g's teal walls and wild collection

textiles and pattern galore: velvet, brocade, wool, rattan

hand-painted rattan vanity

secretary (with electric fan)

sewing table

I can't seem to find a bed, only the low chaise. There must be a small sleep chamber that is never seen.  And now, the girls' dormitory. Not all of the students live here. It looks like this is the room that the main characters live in. They aren't separated by age, and all are in Miss G's swim club together:

AND this film was directed by Jordan Scott, daughter of Ridley. 

Stay tuned for my Color Texture Pattern post on Miss G's killer wardrobe!