Cold Gold
or every piece of jewellery in 'After the Hunt' explained
Starting watching a new film I can right away tell if jewellery is going to be the best supportive actress in it. To my amusement it happened again recently with Luca Guadagnino’s latest opus ‘After the Hunt’. The golden hints in the prolog engaged me immediately promising to throw an extra shiny light at the characters’ personalities, and highlight the messages they want to deliver to the audience.
The first scene starts with Maggie Resnick (Ayo Edebiri) who doesn’t feel too comfortable at the party and is visibly consumed by some deep thoughts or insecurities. She seems to be too absorbed by her inner world to think too much about her appearance. She’s got a tiny gold ring in her septum which is a nod to her student status: it’s her time to be young, free, nonconformist and rebellious. She’s got all the opportunities in the world lying ahead.
Alma Imhoff (Julia Roberts), Maggie’s professor of philosophy, is a complete opposite and her jewellery choices show it galore. She’s got brilliantly earned status, confidence, respect, money – and she spends it wisely. Almost exclusively – apart from a functional Cartier wrist watch – Alma wears heavyweight made to order golden jewellery by Ilaria Icardi.
Having spent years in top fashion houses designing alongside Tom Ford, Phoebe Philo, Victoria Beckham, Matthieu Blazy and now Miuccia Prada the Italian designer knows a thing or two about strong intelligent woman storytelling.
As if Alma’s long golden necklace (we’ll return to it later) accompanied by an impressive ribbed golden bracelet were not enough for this party, she adds an extra posh flair in the form of the carnelian and diamond dome ring.
Carnelian was a beloved ring stone of the Ancient Egyptians and Romans who relied on it to bring courage and strength. It is also believed to restore self-esteem, dispel apathy, and help in overcoming abuse. Well, well.
The fellow teacher Hank (Andrew Garfield) – whose appearance always charges the air around Alma – is trying hard to show he couldn’t care less about dress codes or etiquettes, but his very manly silver jewellery pinpoints his vanity and probably blears the eyes of women he flirts with.
The dean wears a Hermès tie and modest cufflinks – gotta do what you gotta do, nothing to discuss here.
But this is interesting: Alma’s ever present pendant hanging from a long gold chain. First I thought it was one of that glass lockets containing loose precious stones inside. Then it started looking like an empty circle to me. Oh, what a way to show the heroine’s complexity, I thought: she’s shiny, sleek and solid, but does she really has anything precious behind that luxury wallpaper? But only the third guess was right – it is a magnifying glass. It speaks of rationality and cold-bloodedness. The philosophy professor who sees through people and matters, she can put any difficulty under the microscope of her brilliant mind and find a reasonable solution.
Alma’s friend Dr. Kim Sayers (Chloë Sevigny) on the other hand can be a bit scattered and unpretentious. Her not so neat clothes are unintentionally oversized, her stacked necklaces look like an inheritance or vintage finds: meaningful, sentimental but definitely not curated.
As Maggie seeks to try on Alma’s personality she acquires a new expensive looking necklace with gemstone incrusted pendant, told to be her mother’s. Interestingly it has much more cultural reference that Alma’s own, nothing of the working woman’s expensive minimalism. It almost seems like a cue of a multifaceted richness and complexity that can still be developed inside a young woman’s heart and mind.
Even in the most mixed up moment Alma gathers her strength, her shield is flawless.
An unexpected change comes in the final scene. Maggie found her footing and her own style which is abundance, not at all restraint. Her jewellery is almost too much, but that’s because she’s happy living her best life and she can let go of control.
Alma has changed too, softened, allowed some nonchalance to her looks, let go of something as well. Her oversized ring is still present, but her minimalist gold earrings are replaced with pearl ones. And the pearls – apart from bringing light and brightness back to one’s face when it is most needed – are associated with organic and sentimental qualities. “Nothing affects you”, says Maggie. But does it really?…
Playing this dispatch out with ‘A Child Is Born’ by Tony Bennett & Bill Evans:
Take care,
N
Feel free to take a look at my jewellery at STRIPE+BEAT & on Instagram. Sharing it will also support my writing and designing further on. Thanks!
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My son has this summer tradition: when it’s the middle of July, and the heat in the South of Cyprus becomes unbearable, he pulls the most frosty-crisp Christmassy book ‘The Yule Tomte and the Little Rabbits’ by Ulf Stark out of his library and makes me read it to him. (It is best read under the sheet in the broad daylight.) It works perfectly every time, and we both feel a great relief afterwards.
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WARNING: this is a holiday indulgence dispatch – please, enjoy responsibly.
I absolutely love how directors and costume departments are using jewellery as such a narrative device in film now!