Is it just me, or do most people really look closely during a movie at the house and furnishings that have been chosen in every scene? I am so personally affected by interiors, whether real or staged, that they highly influence everything I feel about the actors and action.
I’m launching into this subject because I recently re-watched a movie by Luca Guadagnino, who is the master at creating houses with as much character as the actors. I follow his directing religiously, because he is so very good at what he does.
Born in Palermo, Guadagnino has given us movies such as I Am Love, A Bigger Splash, and more recently, Call Me by Your Name — all of them set in a magnificent Italian landscape with interiors that beguile us throughout.
In 2016, New York Times writer Dana Thomas interviewed Guadagnino in his own home, a 3,200-square-foot apartment on the second floor of a 17th C. palazzo near Milan. What the filmmaker says about interiors during this interview adds to the authenticity of his movie sets and explains his thoughtful approach…
“I hate the concept of beauty for the sake of it. It is overrated. Environment is essential. I like anything that has to do with form and space. But I am also a humanist with a very strong love and attraction for character; that’s the mixture.”
When Guadagnino (referred to as G. hereafter) bought his apartment, it had been empty for 40 years. the renovation took six months, and G. was onsite daily. “I am a director.”
He discovered original terracotta bricks, a 17th C. painted wood bench, and authentic frescoes in the process. Only in Italy…
Obviously, G. is very grounded when working in an environment of his own creation. At the palazzo, his production team works in a group floor suite that opens onto the cobblestone courtyard parking lot; he edits his films in a studio just above them. And actors in the film are often lodged in nearby B & Bs.
The director in his living room
G.’s living room restored frescoes
A 2nd floor loggia
The palazzo bath and kitchen
G.’s dining room and frescoes under a window
Two views of his bedroom
And the houses in my three favorite movies that G. self describes as his “Desire Trilogy?” All spectacular, and all very different.
I’ve decided to address each of them in three separate installments because there are so many luscious details to show in each.
I Am Love, released in 2010, was filmed at the Villa Necchi Campiglio in Milan. Designed by Piero Portaluppi, the villa was built as a modernist shrine by this architect who gained his fame in the ’20s and ’30s. Society revered him for his obsessive perfection, his use of technological innovation, and his applications of fine materials — walnut paneling, parquetry, steel embossed doors, decorative arts and furnishings…
When G. ran across photos of the house, it satisfied everything he wanted in a set. “It shows the obsession with perfection and details that the Milanese bourgeoisie have. Old money always comes with great charm. Their real success is making others believe that money doesn’t exist – and luxury, as most people perceive it, doesn’t really exist in this house. It’s very severe, and feels almost unmovable, like “a piece of rock.”
The library
The sunroom
View of sunroom and entry to dining room
The grand salon
Bedrooms and dressing rooms
Bathroom and lower level hall
Which could also be the perfect description of Tilda Swinton’s character in the film as Emma Recchi. Stolid grandeur and elaborate floor plan (in her case detailed and immaculate attire and accessories) serve a vital role both symbolically and physically. Swinton explains, “we were looking for a house that was part palace, part museum, and part prison.”
Town and Country Magazine recently featured a stunning article using the Villa Necchi as the perfect backdrop for some of Italy’s most outstanding designers in jewelry, lighting and furnishings.
The villa is becoming famous in its own right…
And you can now visit this villa seven days a week in Milan (it is actually a museum)…Can’t wait!
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