Fashion designer turned film-maker Tom Ford asserted his credentials as an auteur at the Venice film festival, as his second feature film (after 2009’s A Single Man) received its world premiere. Speaking at a press conference before the gala screening, Ford said: “Style always has to serve substance. Believe it or not, I am not just about style, especially in film-making. It has to be part of the storytelling ... Stylistically, I never made a decision that didn’t relate to the story.”
“When you start any project,” he continued, “you have to think: what am I trying to communicate? For me, this story is about finding the people in your life that mean something to you, and holding on to them.”
Nocturnal Animals is based on the 1993 novel Tony and Susan by Austin Wright, which details the memories and impressions of a woman after she is sent a manuscript by her former husband. In Ford’s film, Amy Adams plays Susan and Jake Gyllenhall plays both Edward, the ex-husband, and Tony, the central character of the novel (also called Nocturnal Animals) in which Edward channels his feelings.
Ford, who also wrote the screenplay, has kept the double structure of the source material, but has made some significant changes, including the location: Tony and Susan is set in the northeast US, while the disturbing incident that opens Ford’s film takes place in west Texas. Ford said: “This was because the book was written in 1993. In today’s world, you would lock the doors in your car, call for help on your cellphone, and it would be done. So I had to move it to somewhere where theoretically there would be no cellphone service.
“Also, I believe in that old line ‘Write what you know’, and west Texas is a place I know very well. I grew up in Texas but I was not the traditional strong guy; I was the sensitive one who got a lot of teasing.”
Ford lived in Austin and Houston until he was 11, and then New Mexico. He moved to New York to study and begin his career as an actor and fashion designer. By 1999 he had risen to become creative director of Gucci and Saint Laurent, before leaving in 2004 to set up his own brand company. His first film – adapted from Christopher Isherwood’s 1964 novel, and starring Colin Firth – also premiered at Venice.
Ford was asked to comment on his new film’s elaborate and eye-catching opening sequence, which comprises a series of near-naked, plus-size women go-go dancing – later revealed to be an installation at an art gallery owned by Susan.
“I wanted to set the story in the contemporary world, and I wanted to emphasise its absurdity. All the art in the film is real – artists created it – and that piece in the opening scene is art I had to create. I put my head inside an imaginary European artist commenting on America: exaggerated, overfed, ageing. When I shot the scene, I fell in love with these women: they were so beautiful and free. It’s because they’ve let go of the conventions of what our culture tells us people should look like. That’s also the theme of the film: letting go of what you think you are supposed to be.”
But Ford reminded everyone he was still a consummate showman. “I also wanted to grab your attention and pull you into the film!”
The Venice film festival continues until 10 September.
