Tribe Books: Storaro and the gift of light
“Writing with light” is a trilogy of limited edition coffee table books in which Vittorio Storaro explains more in depth the meaning of colours and lighting in his films.
The three hardcover books are published by Accademia dell’Immagine together with Electa.
In the last volume of this trilogy, titled “Writing With Light – The Elements“,
there are 18 pages dedicated to Warren Beatty‘s Dick Tracy with sketches and stills from the film, and some very interesting details about Madonna‘s character in the film, temptress Breathless Mahoney and the world of colours she moves in.
Storaro in the book reveals that:
“In the shocking violet of the dual vibration from which Breathless draws life, a woman who is nourished by two opposite color tones that share the imaginal space, by attraction and mistery, passion and reason, birth and death.
She is a creature who completes the magic color code in which these elements are in opposition, in which the protagonists of this story play their part, act out their drama.”
A very interesting discovery about Breathless is that Storaro with the help of Dick Tracy costume designer, Milena Canonero, went back to the inspirations behind the original comic strip, to create the right look for Madonna in the film.
Chester Gould, the creator of the original Dick Tracy strip, was inspired by German expressionist painter Otto Dix for many of his characters.And as you can see from the comparison below, Storaro and Canonero brought to the film, both in terms of costumes and lighting, the Dix expressionist atmosphere.
