Eleven years after the release of “Ocean’s 13,” we meet the Ocean family again. Forget about George Clooney & Co. (or almost), because the crime’s crown has passed on to a group of… Queens!
Title
“Ocean’s 8.”
Behind and in Front of the Camera
The director of the film is Gary Ross, who is also in charge of the original screenplay. He has been nominated 4 times for the Academy Awards, and among his successes, we can count “The Hunger Games” saga, “Big” and “Seabiscuit.” The main feature of Ross’s work is his ability to explore humanity, both on the good and bad sides and with this band of female thieves, with very different skills and pasts, the field of analysis for the director was certainly wide and stimulating.
The cast is amazing: to captain the gang we find Sandra Bullock, who plays Debbie Ocean, sister of the famous Danny and who Bullock describes as, “The mind of the action. She knows how to identify talents and then how to put together the best team.” But who are the talents of her team? First of all, there is Lou, Debbie’s historical partner, played by Cate Blanchett. Then we find Helena Bonham Carter, in the role of the decadent stylist Rose Weil, Mindy Kaling as Amita, an expert jeweler, Sarah Paulson as Tammy, a mother with a shady past, Rihanna as Nine Ball, a skilled hacker, and Awkwafina in the role of Constance, a pickpocket from the Queens. To complete the cast, we have Anne Hathaway, who plays Daphne Kluger, the “victim” of the theft, Richard Armitage as Claude Becker, an art curator, and James Corden in the role of the insurance agent John Frazier. All these actors move like checkers in a smart game full of twists that keeps the audience glued to the screen until the end.
Who’s Got the Typewriter
In addition to Gary Ross, to take care of the screenplay is Olivia Milch. “Ocean’s 8” is her second feature film after “Dude,” an independent movie available on Netflix (2018). Variety has included her among the “10 screenwriters to keep an eye on” and she has several projects in the making, both for cinema and TV, proving herself as one of the most required voices in Hollywood at the moment.
What to Know (ABSOLUTELY NO SPOILERS):
Debbie Ocean needed five years, eight months and twelve days, the time she spent in prison, to organize the biggest hit of her life: stealing the Toussaint necklace by Cartier, estimated 150 million dollars, from the neck of the actress Daphne Kluger during one of the most fashionable and exclusive annual events: The Met Gala in New York. To do that, she needs 7 people and 20000 dollars: the 7 members of the band are her historical partner Lou, the stylist Rose, who will dress Daphne for the evening, Amita, a jeweler exasperated by her mother, Tammy, a mother with an outlaw past, Nine Ball, an ingenious hacker and Constance, the fastest pickpocket in New York. Together, they will set up a perfect and fun plan in the name of Girl Power!
What You’ll Need
A minimum knowledge of fashion. Between the set and the references, it might come in handy. The desire to spend a mindless evening, watching the return of a beloved saga, revisited in a female key, even if having seen the previous films is not mandatory. And, if you have some spare jewels with which you can dazzle the audience, that’ll be great.
What They Say
Sandra Bullock: “It’s a movie about a robbery and this kind of movies are always fun: how are they going to go out with the loot and what will happen along the way? But our movie mainly talks about these eight fantastic, intelligent and entertaining women, who will drag you into the vortex of adventures and unexpected turns that they’ll find on their way.”
Cate Blanchett about the team: “It’s nice to be with women who know how to laugh at themselves, each of them has brought a positive energy on the set that I think it is perceptible in the movie.”
Steven Soderbergh (producer) said that Ocean’s 8 was entirely filmed in New York: “Gray has done a magnificent job in capturing the city life. I could not have imagined a better place to set the fourth movie of the Ocean’s saga.”
One Last Thing…
Let’s take a moment to talk about the accessories and the clothes in the film. For example, the Toussaint necklace by Cartier is a copy of the original one, designed in 1931 for the Maharaja of Nawanagar and considered “The most beautiful cascade of colored diamonds in the world,” which unfortunately no longer exists, while takes its name from the creative director of Cartier, Jeanne Toussaint, who held the role from 1933 to 1970. The partnership with Cartier also led to two days of filming inside the historic Cartier Mansion on the 52nd Street.
Sarah Edwards, the costume designer, created personalized wardrobes based on the style and needs of the characters, always proving to be collaborative towards all actresses, who describe the costume rehearsal as “Fast, furious and very amusing.” For the Met Gala evening, she worked with designers such as Alberta Ferretti, Dolce& Gabbana, Naeem Khan and Jonathan Simkhai for the realization of the dresses, managing to express through them the personality of the various protagonists.
Last, but not least, let’s talk about the sparkling set of the Met Gala, the annual themed charity event that takes place at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The theme of the fictitious evening is “Imperial Fashion” and it took almost 9 months to design and build the elaborate regal set where the dinner takes place! Among the fictitiously exhibited dresses, there are models of Alexander McQueen, Valentino, Christian Dior and Zac Posen.
The screenwriter Olivia Milch declared that in “Ocean’s 8” all roads lead to the fundamental event, the Met Gala: “An ensemble of fashion, art, and celebrities, the most important night of the year.” And it certainly represents a special evening for the Ocean’s gang… Are you ready to see the hit of the century?
Out of 5 Monkeys:
