Drama & Movie Vibes: 1. Colours in Almodovar's Movies and Fated To Love You

Colour Influences from Almodovar's Movies

Ever since I picked up Pedro Almodovar's movies in 2014, I had been hoping to see such vibrant colours more often in local drama (Singapore) or Chinese movies--lots of reds and other warm colours, like below:

[Top: Tie Me Up Tie Me Down; Bottom: High Heels]

But I didn't come across any so imagine my pleasant surprise when I saw such colours in a favourite Korean drama -- Fated To Love You (命中注定我爱你) .

I was watching Episode 16 for the umpteenth time when it struck me that Jang Nara's red skirt matched the red background of the lovely studio.

This rang a bell and images of some of Almodovar's movies flashed cross my mind.

So I watched the whole drama again, this time paying close attention to the colours of the clothes and backdrops. There are some scenes that seem to reflect the influences of Almodovar's movies, especially the way he uses colours and matches the clothes to the environment.

[Below: Episode 16] As this is a very important scene, the stylist had gone all the way out to match Mi Young's clothes to the background (walls, window frames, red paints), thus creating a very atmospheric setting together with the dim mood lightings.

[Below: Episode 1] The framing of the Mi Young's friend through 'C' reminds me of Almodovar's framing of Antonio Banderas through 'O' in Tie Me Up Tie Me Down.

Tie Me Up Tie Me Down (1990)

[Episode 4] The blue and white check shirt matches the tablecloth, which immediately reminded me of Kika. A very clever adaptation of Almodvar's idea.

[Below] Notice how the red and white check clothes match the curtain in Kika (1993).

Below: Kika (1993)

[Top left: A very clever matching of the flowers on her hair with the red wall flower.

Top right: The black and white floral trimmings on her dress pick out the spotted design of the floor.

Bottom: The flower on her hair and her red dress match the red decor very well. ]

[Episode 4] I think the stylist did a very good job in this scene filled with blue.

Both men's blue and white shirts match the blue objects in the surroundings--the umbrella, the big blue words on the shop front. Most strikingly, the other man's blue and white stripes match the striped awnings. Before this scene, I wondered why he is wearing a yellow scarf which doesn't match his clothes. Then I saw this scene--the scarf matches the umbrella and the yellow cartons.

[Below, Top left: Women On Verge of Nervous Breakdown

Top right: Tie Me Up Tie Me Down]

Characters in the same scene usually don't wear the same colours to avoid colour clashes.

But Almodovar loves red so he dresses many of his characters in red, often in the same scene.

In Fated To Love You, the stylist chose orange which brightens up the scene considerably, since so many are wearing the colour.

Although some scenes seem to reflect Almodovar's influences in colour choices and matching style, there are lots of other colours in the show. You can tell that the stylist / interior designer had spent much time and effort much attention on colours.

[Below: Episode 1] The Candy colour theme runs throughout most of Episode 1, starting from the candy shop with bubble gum colours, to the rainbow coloured umbrellas and the sweet pastel coloured balls. Even the dog chase scene is colourful as the dog chases the two of them past flower beds where flowers bloom in a riot of colour.