A Costume Tour of This Year’s Twisted Festival Gem: Buttercup Bill
Described by its two filmmakers as a psychosexual nostalgia trip, Buttercup Bill is a dark, indie darling from this year’s Marfa Film Festival that was filmed in two weeks in rural Louisiana by a rare all-female crew (more on that here).
Fusing the space where memory connects to sweaty reality, the movie obsessively circles two childhood soul mates in their reunion after a tragedy. Buttercup Bill foregrounds the gap between desire and fulfillment. To this end, the film’s display of the human form (clothed; nude; posed; strikingly natural) is shocking and darkly gorgeous.
Emilie Richard-Froozan and Remy Bennett wrote the script late at night, in Bennett’s apartment, looking over love letters and childhood journals. This seems like an obvious fact after seeing the film: Buttercup Bill certainly has at least two souls’ worth of torment in it. It manages to be both awake and nightmarish, like unearthed memories induced by insomnia that you sense would be in your dreams, if you could just get to sleep.
This is represented in the costuming, which is mostly found and vintage. It’s a combination that keeps the looks both realistic and timelessly removed. Bennett, who also stars in the movie, said the limitations of a “tiny indie budget” led to a hodgepodge. She and stylists Anna Del Gaizo and Veronica Foregger pulled items from Bennett’s closet, found key vintage pieces, and commissioned one significant custom-made shirt. Click through the slideshow as Bennett explains the inspiration and references behind the ensembles.
Buttercup Bill will be at the NOLA Film Festival this Saturday, October 18, 2014.