Floria Sigismondi brings her characteristic cinematic style to Gucci Garden, the Gift Giving 2016 film campaign.
Named after the lead character from “Tosca”—her parents are Italian opera singers who relocated from Pescara to Canada–Floria has created music videos for David Bowie, The White Stripes and Rihanna, and directed and wrote feature film The Runaways. Here, the director discusses the magical campaign and its inspirations, shot in Rome’s Ninfa Garden in Cisterna di Latina.
What did the Garden of Ninfa bring to this video?
This garden brought all its history and beauty to the film. It was the perfect depiction of paradise which you really see it when you walk through it. It’s full of butterflies, dragonflies and bees and has been called," the most romantic garden in the world". What better place than that to shoot our film?
What was you approach to the look and feel of this campaign—how does it differ to your other work?
I approach everything I do with a painterly brush. For me, it’s about creating a world, even if it’s one we know, I always try to challenge myself to find a different perspective. Polina's character is the protagonist in this film and we see this paradise from her point of view. She give us insight to her inner world, the tempting desire for knowledge, shown through a suspended moment. She opens the film with a glimpse of a dream and we end the film with her making her choice. A small act of defiance with big consequences, but this is a young girl who, for better or worse, wants the chance to experience life. The film was all shot on location with only available light, so I had to work with what was there, and be one with nature. My surroundings, the light and the animals - they all have their own set of rules and can’t be controlled. So for me the approach was very fluid and I gave up control and gave myself to it.
Why opera for the soundtrack?
Both my parents are opera singers. I was named after a character in La Tosca, so I’ve been immersed in this world since birth. The stories in operas are larger than life and the reinterpretation of mythic Eden is a larger than life story. Since we are seeing it through Alessandro Michele’s modern eye, the juxtaposition of Donizetti’s aria”Il Dolce Suono” added an emotional and transportive layer for me. It takes me to a different time. The female voice is almost like a singing bird in a dream.
The film references a story from the Old Testament, are there other references can you shed light on?
I liked the idea of bringing a coming of age reference to this old biblical tale. To me, it represents the moment when we get a taste of what it is to really live, to experience life as our own in true independence. The idea of depicting the inhabitants of this garden with naturalism as such innocents calls to that. It’s at the crossroads of owning our individuality and also, responsibility. That’s why I chose to end with the bite. It's not important what happens after the bite, it’s the choice that matters and the idea of that dream.
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