I saw this photo for Meek's Cutoff when I was first shuffling through the lists of movies at Sundance. Instantly, I knew I needed to see this one. Just that bonnet alone made me get the ticket. Can you see the details?!
The movie is loosely based on the real Meek's Cutoff and a story that may or may not have actually happened. I'm a sucker for anything about the Oregon Trail. That whole time period fascinates me.
The movie was just so-so. It moved so slow, but in a way that was perfect because that's what it was supposed to be about. They needed water. They trudged on day after day to find it. The excruciating monotony. That same squeaky wagon wheel every time they moved. I really felt it. 
The director said during the Q&A that it really was hot and dry and awful. They had a hard enough time filming it.
But those bonnets....I was smitten. The director also said that the costume designer hand sewed every dress and bonnet. Wow. They were amazing. I would see it again just to stare at them for another hour. They were that full of beautiful details.
And the muted colors. Aren't they perfect?! The pale pinks and greens and yellows that had faded from every day use. The delicate flower patters and pin tucks. The girls said that the bonnets were hard to wear because they were like horse blinders. They had no peripheral vision what so ever.
One my way out of the theater, after the Q&A was over, I was carefully stepping out of the row at Prospector. The seating there is probably the worst of all the theaters. I always get stuck behind a giant and can barely see the screen. And the aisles are really narrow with this giant step the front. You have to be extra careful not to trip. So I was doing just that.
I rounded the corner to the stairs, head down, watching my step carefully. I saw someone coming the opposite way, back into the theater. Strange. It was mostly empty. I looked up so I wouldn't bump into them and looked directly into James Franco eyes. Not even kidding. We stared at each other for a second and then kept walking.
I said to myself, "I think that was James Franco." Not really believing it was true, I stepped out of the theater into the hallway. I just stood there and waited. I had to be sure. He walked out of those same doors. Yep, it was 100% him. He was racing to get out the door before a mob surrounded him. I smiled to myself walked out the door and caught my bus home.
The end.
3 comments:
This for some reason reminds me of Emily of New Moon when her Aunt makes her wear that apron which is so out of style! I love the costumes too.
it must be pretty weird to actually see a celebrity in real life. weird to think they are actually real people....james franco's eyes are his best feature :) geez april- lately you have me feeling like a teenage girl! ryan reynolds and now james franco? don't even start talking about christian bale please...although i saw the fighter a couple months ago and man-he's either aged terribly or they really uglied him up- he sure isn't batman anymore! :)
YES, I too want to see the movie just for those bonnets!! I especially like the still where one of the girls bonnets is blown up at the back by the wind and she looks something like a turkey in a beautiful/ugly kind of way.I read a comment once on how the bonnets brim's main purpose was to protected a woman from the unsolicited gaze, as much as the suns damage to skin. Have you seen Angela Ellery's Bonnets made of pins? They affected me too. As evil as they were my friend and I still desired to try them on.Costume is so interesting how it was as much designed to keep us in our place as be decorative.
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