Principal photography on GREAT EXPECTATIONS began on July 8, 1996 in Sarasota, Florida. The primary set was a Venetian Gothic mansion, Ca d' Zan, on Sarasota Bay which served as the crumbling residence and estate of Ms. Dinsmoor. The imposing structure, once owned by circus magnate John Mable Ringling and his wife, was originally intended to combine architectural features drawn from two of Mrs. Ringling's favorite buildings - the facade of the Doge's Palace in Venice and the tower of the old Madison Square Garden in New York City, where the Ringling circus regularly appeared.
The structure impressed the filmmakers, especially Cuarón, who scouted the entire southeastern seaboard in search of a mansion and an authentic fishing village before choosing to film in Sarasota. "Ca d' Zan had a magical, larger-than life quality, because it was built by a circus family," he notes.
For production designer Tony Burrough, the biggest challenge was to transform Ca d' Zan and its perfectly manicured gardens into Ms. Dinsmoor's dilapidated residence, Paradiso Perduto (Paradise Lost). "It is the land that time forgot," explains Burrough, referring to what remains of a wedding party that never took place, and which launched the character's descent into madness. Inside the arched gateway were enormous party tents, ripped and tattered, a grand piano leaning precariously against a decaying bandstand, remnants of a wedding cake, overturned banquet tables and broken crystal - an elegant dinner for five hundred guests buried in twenty years of rot. The lawn covered with dead palm fronds and overgrown brush added to the forlorn feeling. The intricate design was very convincing. "You've really let this place go," griped a local tourist to one of the crew, unaware that a movie was being made.
If Paridiso Perduto represents the world of the very rich, then Cortez Island, a vintage fishing village on the Gulf of Mexico where young Finn is reared, speaks for the working class. "What's so beautiful about Cortez is that it still preserves an old style of living, though it's on the verge of changing," notes Cuarón, referring to Florida's recent ban of net fishing.
After five weeks of filming in Florida, production moved to New York City, where Finn becomes ensconced in the trendy and sophisticated art world and is eventually given a debut at the fictitious Thrall gallery. "New York was an ideal contrast to Florida because it has the best and the worst. It's the perfect picture of capitalism, of a society that starts to dehumanize. And more than that, it is the capital of perceptions," says Cuarón, himself a Soho resident.Eventually Finn moves from his cramped room at the Carter Hotel to a huge loft on Astor Place, one of the film's key locations. "The loft represents Finn's ascent into the new class that he's enjoying," Cuarón explains, adding, "We tried to film primarily in huge spaces, not an easy thing to come by in New York."
Cuarón, along with director of photography Lubezki, Burrough and Makovsky, chose a style for the film that Cuarón describes as "believable, but with its own set of rules." One rule surprised even this experienced filmmaking team: everything is green. "There's no logical explanation. It's just a color that I love and have used in all my previous films," explains Cuarón. Following their director's lead, the cast and crew made a point of regularly wearing the color. Even famed designer Donna Karan, the so-called "queen of black," designed Gwyneth Paltrow's wardrobe in shades of green. And the 150 extras appearing in a gallery scene were told to wear a combination of black and green.This color palette and Burrough's production design together helped link together scenes for a movie which would employ several styles. In addition, the film's singular point of view - it is told entirely through Finn's eyes - also played a key role in bringing the scenes together.
Finn's importance to the story is also evident in that he appears in every shot of the film. To capture the character's emotions and feelings, Lubezki framed the character in the widescreen anamorphic format. "It allowed us to compose the frames more dynamically," he notes. "For example, during the establishing shots, we tried to keep the camera behind Finn to feel what he was seeing. During coverage, the camera remained close to his eyes. We had scenes made of long Steadicam shots, scenes that were hand- held and scenes where the camera was static."In one long, virtuoso shot employing these various camera movements and styles, Finn arrives at a charity event and confronts Estella. He then follows her as she leaves with her fiancé in a limousine. Finn runs several blocks down the street in a pelting rain, arrives at a restaurant and steals Estella away for a dance. Finally, he exits the restaurant, embraces her passionately and runs down the street. The carefully constructed shot expertly evokes Finn's emotions. "You feel Finn's anguish and jealousy," says Lubezki. "The viewer becomes trapped in his feelings and feels his anxiety and all his energy as he pursues Estella."
Internationally acclaimed Italian painter Francesco Clemente also contributed to the film's impressive look. The artist created all the original artwork drawn by Finn, including portraits of principal cast members who each posed privately for Clemente. Gwyneth Paltrow's portrait adorned the film's teaser poster. Clemente also created drawings by Finn at ages ten, seventeen and twenty-five. This unique look, added to an impressive cast portraying vividly drawn characters, all help realize the film's timeless themes. "This is a story about destiny," Cuarón concludes. "It's about how we think we're in control of our own lives. But all these things we do in order to achieve our great expectations only drive us away from our true nature."
To view Clemente's drawings and paintings, visit The Gallery.
Great Inspiration][Setting The Scene][The Filmmakers][The Soundtrack][ Great Expectations Main
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