It is a truth universally acknowledged that practically everyone, sometimes, feels like watching an amazing drama where half the cast are wearing corsets and waltzing around stately homes in the countryside. Or, failing that, some outrageous flight of fancy into fantastical realms or outer space. The good news is that UK film has a fine old tradition of offering both, with not only a huge collection of stunning locations but some of the world’s most talented costume and production designers. We thought we’d celebrate the work of some of those unsung heroes this month, because they’re the kind of talent that keep filmmakers from all over the world flocking to work in the UK.
Given the news that 1995’s glorious Sense And Sensibility, starring Emma Thompson (Love Actually, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande) and Kate Winslet (Ammonite, Iris) is back in cinemas this month for its 30th anniversary, let’s start with the traditional costume drama. Jenny Beavan did the costumes for that Ang Lee film, along with John Bright (A Room with a View, Howards End), and they were Oscar nominated for it. Since then, Beavan has gone on the likes of Mrs Harris Goes to Paris, Cruella and The King’s Speech as well as Mad Max: Fury Road – which admittedly has far fewer corsets.
A Room with a View
Cruella
Another mainstay of the period drama is costume designer Alexandra Byrne, who tackled Austen herself in 2020’s Emma but with a punky, acid-bright spin and no concern that the costumes be cute by modern standards. Byrne was Oscar nominated for Mary Queen of Scots, with Saoirse Ronan (Blitz) and both 1998’s Elizabeth and its sequel Elizabeth: The Golden Age. Other giants of the field include Sandy Powell, who has won three Oscars, including one for The Young Victoria, and who did extraordinary work on The Favourite, using laser-cut leather rather than lace to inject a little modernity into the ancient locations. Another name to remember is Jacqueline Durran, who is responsible for 2005’s Pride & Prejudice, that green dress in 2007’s Atonement and 2023’s bright and poppy Barbie, to name just a few. It’s also important to look at the work of Janty Yates and David Crossman, who designed Gladiator II and Napoleon as part of their long-term collaboration with Sir Ridley Scott, and the efforts of Consolata Boyle (Victoria & Abdul; Florence Foster Jenkins).
Atonement
Napoleon
While the costume designers work closely with the cast as well as the director to find a character’s look, production designers oversee the assembly everything else onscreen for the director, from locations to sets to props. There too, certain names crop up over and over again. Sarah Greenwood started her career at the BBC and has since racked up seven Oscar nominations for her work, including extraordinary efforts on Barbie, Darkest Hour, Atonement and Anna Karenina. While she arguably has a focus on World War II and early 20th century-set films, she has travelled far and wide, with the pre-French Revolution Cyrano and the early 2000s Back to Black in contrast.
Barbie
Back to Black
A few production designers are strongly associated with particular directors or franchises. Arthur Max is a regular colleague of Ridley Scott, and worked on Napoleon, The Martian and Gladiator, going from ancient history to sci-fi and back. Stuart Craig won three Oscars – for Gandhi, Dangerous Liaisons and The English Patient – but these days is better known to a generation for his key role in creating the look and feel of the Harry Potter films as well as Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Nathan Crowley, meanwhile, is particularly associated with Christopher Nolan, working on films like Dunkirk, though it was Ruth DeJong who did Oppenheimer with the director, so both men like to mix it up. Eve Stewart worked with Tom Hooper on The King’s Speech and Les Misérables but has gone on to make superhero movies, while Suzie Davies worked with Mike Leigh on Peterloo, Mr Turner and Hard Truths, but is equally at home in the more heightened surrounds of Conclave or Saltburn.
Gladiator
Saltburn
Just a glance at the work that these people have done, and at the Oscar nominations in Costume and Production Design that British films have won, shows how wild and varied the films made here really are. While a “costume drama” may conjure up all those images of corsets and bonnets outside Palladian mansions, the reality is far more diverse and exciting. There’s the cheerful anachronism and deliberate artificiality of Poor Things, thanks to costume designer Holly Waddington and production design by James Price and Shona Heath. There’s the black-and-white impact of Mank, thanks to Donald Graham Burt’s production design and Trish Summerville’s costumes. There’s epic scope in Casino Royale or 1917, but intimate focus in The Father; space adventures in Gravity versus the carefully observed history of 12 Years A Slave. British films may not always have the mega-budgets of their American counterparts, but these talented designers always make them look like the belle of the ball.
