The Devil Wears Prada (film)

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The Devil Wears Prada
Promotional poster for The Devil Wears Prada
Directed by	David Frankel
Produced by	Wendy Finerman
Written by	Lauren Weisberger (novel) Aline Brosh McKenna (screenplay)
Starring	Meryl Streep Anne Hathaway Emily Blunt Stanley Tucci Adrian Grenier Tracie Thoms
Music by	Theodore Shapiro
Cinematography	Florian Ballhaus
Editing by	Mark Livolsi
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	June 30, 2006 July 30 September 14 September 28 October 5-6 October 19
Running time	106 minutes
Language	English
Official website
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

The Devil Wears Prada is an Academy Award-nominated 2006 comedy-drama film, a loose screen adaptation of Lauren Weisberger's 2003 novel of the same name. It stars Anne Hathaway as Andrea "Andy" Sachs, a recent college graduate who comes to New York City and gets a job as a co-assistant to powerful and demanding fashion magazine editor Miranda Priestly, played by Meryl Streep. Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci co-star, with Adrian Grenier, Simon Baker and Tracie Thoms playing key supporting roles. Wendy Finerman produced and David Frankel directed; the film was distributed by 20th Century Fox.

Streep's performance drew rave reviews from critics and later earned her many award nominations, including her record-setting 14th Oscar bid, as well as a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical. Blunt also drew favorable notice and nominations, as did many of those involved in the film's production. While critical reaction to the film as a whole was more measured, it received generally favorable notice and became a surprise summer box-office hit following its June 30 North American release. The commercial success and critical praise for Streep continued in foreign markets, and it led the international box office for most of October. The U.S. DVD release likewise was the top rental during December. Ultimately, it would gross over $300 million, mostly from its international run, and finish in 2006's top 20 both in the U.S. and overseas. It was also the highest-grossing film ever in Streep's and Hathaway's careers. A television series based on the story is slated for the 2007-2008 TV season.

Although the movie is set in the fashion world, most designers and other fashion notables avoided appearing as themselves for fear of arousing the wrath of powerful U.S. Vogue editor Anna Wintour, who is widely believed to have been the inspiration for Priestly. Many designers did, however, allow their clothes and accessories to be used in the film, making it the most expensively-costumed film in history.^[2] Wintour later overcame her initial skepticism,^[3] saying she liked the film and Streep in particular.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Differences between film and novel 2.1 Plot 2.2 Characters 3 Production 3.1 Preproduction 3.1.1 Writing 3.1.2 Casting 3.2 Shooting 3.2.1 Acting 3.2.2 Cinematography 3.2.3 Costuming 3.2.4 Production design 3.2.5 Locations 3.3 Postproduction 3.3.1 Editing 3.3.2 Music 4 Cast 4.1 Major roles 4.2 Notable cameo appearances 5 Prerelease and marketing 6 Reception 6.1 Critical 6.2 Commercial 6.3 Anna Wintour 6.4 "Curse" on placed products 6.5 International 6.6 Awards and nominations 7 DVD 7.1 Reception 7.2 Deleted scenes 8 Criticisms 8.1 Depiction of fashion industry 8.2 Nigel's gayness 9 References 10 External links

[edit] Plot

Andrea "Andy" Sachs, an aspiring journalist fresh out of Northwestern University, lands the magazine job "a million girls would kill for": junior personal assistant to editor Miranda Priestly, who dominates the fashion world from her perch atop Runway magazine. She puts up with the eccentric and humiliating requests of her boss because, she is told, if she lasts a year in the position she will get her pick of other jobs, perhaps even the journalistic position she truly craves.

At first, she fits in poorly among the gossipy fashionistas who make up the magazine staff. Her lack of style or fashion knowledge and fumbling with her job make her an object of scorn around the office. Senior assistant Emily Charlton, her coworker, condescends to her. Gradually, though, with the help of art director Nigel, Andrea adjusts to the position and its many perks, including free designer clothing and other choice accessories. She begins to dress more stylishly and do her job competently, fulfilling a seemingly impossible request of Miranda's to get two copies of the upcoming Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows unpublished manuscript to her daughters.

She also comes to prize chance encounters with attractive young writer Christian Thompson, who helped her obtain the Potter books and suggests he could help her with her career. At the same time, however, her relationship with her boyfriend Nate, a chef working his way up the career ladder, and other college friends suffers due to the increasing time she spends at Miranda's beck and call. Eventually she and Nate break up.

Shortly afterwards, Andrea saves Miranda from social embarrassment at a charity benefit when the cold-stricken Emily falters in reminding Miranda who an approaching guest is. As a result, Miranda tells Andrea that she will accompany her to the fall fashion shows in Paris, rather than Emily who had been looking forward to the trip for a long time. Miranda warns Andrea that if she declines, it could adversely affect her future job prospects. Emily is hit by a car before Andrea can tell Emily the next morning, making her choice moot.

In Paris, Nigel tells Andrea that he has gotten a job as creative director with rising fashion star James Holt, at Miranda's recommendation, and will finally be in charge of his own life. She also finally succumbs to Christian's charms, and sees her boss let down her guard for the first time as she worries about the effect an impending divorce will have on her beloved twin daughters.

But in the morning, Andrea finds out about a plan to replace Miranda as Runway editor with Jacqueline Follet, editor of the magazine's French edition, later that day. Despite the suffering she has endured at her boss's behest, she attempts to warn Miranda but is seemingly rebuffed.

At a luncheon later that day, however, Miranda announces that it is Jacqueline instead of Nigel who will leave Runway for Holt. Later, when the two are being driven to a show, she explains to a still-stunned Andrea that she was grateful for the warning but already knew of the plot to replace her and sacrificed Nigel to keep her own job. Pleased by this display of loyalty, she tells Andrea she sees some of herself in her. Andrea, repulsed, said she could never do to anyone what Miranda did to Nigel, primarily as Nigel mentored Andrea. Miranda replies that she already did, stepping over Emily when she agreed to go to Paris. If she wants to get ahead in her career, that's what she'll have to be willing to do.

Andrea gets out of the limo at the next stop, going not into the show with Miranda but out into the street, where instead of answering yet another call from her boss she throws her cell phone into a nearby fountain, leaving Miranda, Runway and fashion behind.

Later, back in New York, she meets Nate for breakfast. He has accepted an offer to work as a sous-chef in a popular Boston restaurant, and will be moving there shortly. Andrea agrees to stay in touch but she will stay in New York. At the film's conclusion, she has finally been offered a job as a newspaper reporter, greatly helped by a fax from Miranda herself who told the paper that Andrea was her "biggest disappointment ever", but if they didn't hire her they would be idiots. Andrea calls Emily and offers her all of the clothes that she got in Paris, which Andrea insists that she doesn't need anymore. Emily accepts and tells Andrea's replacement she has some big shoes to fill. In the last shot, Andrea, dressed as she was at the beginning of the film but with a bit more style, sees Miranda get into her car across the street. They exchange looks. Miranda gives no indication of a greeting, however she gives a soft smile once she is inside the car... before sternly telling her chauffeur to start driving.

[edit] Differences between film and novel

While the basic plot elements of Weisberger's novel remain in place, many changes were made to the specifics. Screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna created an entirely different crisis at the end of the story, and this required changes to many of the characters.

[edit] Plot

In the novel, Andrea is forced into confronting Miranda at the climax when, back in New York, Lily is involved in a car accident, which leaves her comatose. Andrea's friends and family challenge her via phone calls to stand up for herself.^[4] The conspiracy to remove Miranda as Runway editor, and everything associated with it, was written entirely for the film. Andrea ends her time with Miranda by telling her, very publicly, "Fuck you, Miranda. Fuck you."^[5] instead of simply throwing her cell phone into a nearby fountain.

To set up the climax, details along the way were changed or added. Irv Ravitz, head of Elias-Clark, was given a far bigger part in the movie. The scene where Andrea succeeds where the sick Emily faltered at the benefit was adapted from a similar scene in the novel which did not involve Emily. Her inability to go to Paris in the novel is due to a bout of mononucleosis^[6]. McKenna and Frankel decided to have her suffer the car accident instead of Lily to let Andrea out of a moral dilemma that could have made her less sympathetic in viewers' eyes.

Afterwards, the novel's Andrea sells her leftover clothing to a second-hand shop for $38,000 and finances her writer's life for the next year^[7]. She, too, eventually returns to publishing when she sells a short story to Seventeen, and then returns to Elias-Clark to discuss freelance writing assignments with another of the company's magazines.^[8]

[edit] Characters

Further information: Miranda Priestly

All the major characters were revised at least slightly from their counterparts in the novel. Andrea was made a graduate of Northwestern instead of Brown, and from Ohio rather than Connecticut.^[9] Her career aspirations were changed from literature^[9] to journalism. Miranda's failing marriage was added, and overall her character is more sympathetic. Emily in the novel is kinder to Andrea and lives in just as much fear of Miranda, sometimes engaging in passive-aggressive behavior like not doing something she just promised Miranda she would. Nate is named Alex and teaches elementary school through Teach for America in the Bronx, rather than cooking, and does not live with Andrea.^[9]

Lily underwent the most significant change. Her role in the novel is far larger: she has been Andrea's best friend since eighth grade and the two went through college together.^[10] Instead of running an art gallery, she is a graduate student in Russian literature at Columbia University^[11]. Stressed from her studies, she starts to pick up men in bars and develops a drinking problem, which leads to her car accident and the climactic confrontation between Andrea and Miranda.

She, Andrea, Alex/Nate and Miranda are all depicted as having come from Jewish backgrounds.^[12] The film makes no reference to any character's ethnicity.

Among the minor characters, James Holt and Jacqueline Follet, who figure prominently in the film's resolution, were created for it and do not exist in the novel. Likewise, several gay male Runway staffers were combined into the film's Nigel, very different from the original in the book modeled on André Leon Talley. Miranda's nanny Cara and the Elias-Clark security guard Eduardo were also eliminated. Only Christian is similar to his text counterpart (and his name was changed as well.^[13])

[edit] Production

Director David Frankel and producer Wendy Finerman had originally read The Devil Wears Prada as a book proposal written by Weisberger.^[14] It was sent out to an agent who sold it in under one minute. A hundred pages long, it dealt with what became the film's set-up, the story of Andrea's job search and how she ended up working for a fashion magazine editor.^[14]

It would be Frankel's second theatrical feature. For him, cinematographer Florian Ballhaus and costume designer Patricia Field, it was a reunion of sorts as they had all worked on Sex and the City, where they had gained valuable experience depicting women at work and play in a glamorous and exciting New York.

[edit] Preproduction

The filmmakers elected not to use storyboards for the movie. "That lasted about a minute and a half", Frankel recalls.^[15]

[edit] Writing

Four screenwriters worked on the property in the two years after the novel was published. None of them could quite achieve the tone of the book that Finerman was looking for.^[16]. Finally Aline Brosh McKenna (significantly to Finerman, the first woman among the writers) came in and was able to combine elements of the previous drafts to build the story around a young woman's coming of age on her first job, while retaining humor that arose purely from the characters.^[16] She would receive sole credit for the final film.

McKenna had had similar experiences in the early 1990s trying to find herself a job in publishing in New York after graduating from Harvard, and had empathized with Weisberger's novel even before being asked to work on the script. She went through several drafts before meeting with Weisberger for the first time because "I just thought I shouldn't until I kind of had a grasp on what we were doing."^[17]

Weisberger nevertheless liked the script. "Much to Lauren's dismay", her website says, "[Aline] made every remotely entertaining scene from the book even funnier."^[18]

The dense storylines and realistic detail of the book made it necessary to cut a great deal of material for the movie. The screenwriter, however, says that wasn't as difficult during the writing process as keeping a story going. "The book has a very real, low-tech story so we wanted to find just enough story to propel you without having it get huge."^[17] She kept it focused on the conflict between Andrea and Miranda^[16].

Some elements of Cinderella are echoed in the script — Andrea and Miranda as Cinderella and her stepmother, Emily and the other Runway girls as the stepsisters, and Paris as the ball, as David Denby observed in his review of the film.^[19]. Nigel filled the fairy godfather role, but for that reason the filmmakers insisted that his character not be so sweet.^[20]. The luxury cars in the film, more prominent in earlier cuts, were also meant to be analogous to the coach in the classic story.^[15]

McKenna had also deepened Miranda's character by adding the conflict with her husband. "That's part of what's difficult for Miranda, finding a partner who understands what her life is about and what her priorities are," she said in an interview. "Then we used that incident to show what other kind of sacrifices Miranda's made in her life."^[21] She also changed the accident so it affected Emily rather than Lily, in order to allow Andrea to "have her cake and eat it too" over the decision to replace Emily at Miranda's side in Paris.^[22]

At Finerman and Frankel's request, she had toned Miranda down somewhat in the hope that doing so would attract a major, bankable actress to the part. When they did get Streep, however, she insisted the character be made meaner again.^[14] "I didn't give a damn about sympathetic. I cared about true", she said later.^[23]

[edit] Casting

When Frankel approached Streep about playing the part, describing the script as a story "about sacrifice and the price of excellence", she asked why he wanted her in the Priestly role. "It takes a legend to play a legend" he replied. She signed on the next day.^[24]

"She really elevated the whole project and gave it the exact tone of intelligence and wit and depth that we all dreamed of", said Frankel.^[14] Blunt, whom Finerman had wanted in the part because she had the right sense of humor,^[16] reportedly lost weight at the filmmakers' request^[25] to achieve the right look for her character (although she has later denied doing so^[26]). The part wasn't written to be British, but according to Hathaway "When she was hired she said, 'You know, I can do the accent, but to be perfectly honest this girl is British' and she was right".^[24] Hathaway herself was the only actress considered for the lead.^[14] Bündchen agreed to be in the movie only if she didn't play a model.

Tucci was one of the last actors cast. Supposedly, the filmmakers had auditioned Simon Doonan, the creative director at Barney's and E!'s Robert Verdi, both openly gay men highly visible as media fashion commentators, for the part. Verdi would later claim there was no intention to actually hire him and the producers had just used him and Doonan to give whoever they ultimately did cast some filmed research to use in playing a gay character (he would end up with a walk-on part as a fashion journalist in Paris). Tucci claims he was unaware of this: "All I know is that someone called me and I realized this was a great part." He based the character on various people he was acquainted with, insisting on the glasses he ultimately wore.^[27]

Sunjata had originally read for Tucci's part, rather unenthusiastically since he had just finished playing a similar character, but then read the Holt part and asked if he could audition for it. Baker auditioned by sending a video of himself, wearing the same self-designed green jacket he has on when he and Andrea meet for the first time.^[15]

Weisberger is widely believed to have based Miranda on Anna Wintour, the powerful editor of Vogue. Wintour reportedly warned major fashion designers who had been invited to make cameo appearances as themselves in the film that they would be banished from the magazine's pages if they did so.^[28] Vogue and other major women's and fashion magazines have avoided reviewing or even mentioning the book in their pages. Wintour's spokespeople deny the claim^[28], but costume designer Patricia Field says many designers told her they did not want to risk Wintour's wrath.^[2]

Only Valentino, who had designed the black gown Streep wears in the museum benefit scene, chose to make an appearance.^[28] Coincidentally, he was in New York during production and Finerman dared Field, who had gotten acquainted with many designers over the years, to ask him personally. Much to her surprise, he accepted.^[29]

Other cameos of note include Heidi Klum as herself (behind Miranda and Valentino after his show) and Weisberger (a nonspeaking, uncredited part as the twins' nanny on the train).^[20] Streep's daughter Mamie Gummer was to have made her film debut as a barista at Starbucks; however the scene was cut.^[30] It can be viewed as one of the deleted scenes on the DVD.^[31]

Some smaller roles were cast right before cameras rolled. A former model who was out on a nearby street walking her dog was spotted by a crewmember and agreed to play one of the models at Holt's studio. Taylor Treadwell had been part of a cattle call held the very morning of the shoot for the unspeaking, uncredited role of Miranda's new assistant, in the very last scene shot. The extras in the restaurant where Andrea has dinner with her father were winners of a contest for American Express cardholders.^[15]

[edit] Shooting

Principal photography took place over 57 days in New York and Paris between October and December of 2005.^[15] The film's budget was $35 million.^[1]

[edit] Acting

Streep made a conscious decision not to play the part as a direct impression of Wintour, right down to not using an accent and making the character American rather than English ("I felt it was too restricting").^[24] "I think she wanted people not to actually confuse the character of Miranda Priestly with Anna Wintour at all", said Frankel. "And that's why early on in the process she decided on a very different look for her and a different approach to the character."^[14] "I wanted the freedom to make this person up", Streep later confirmed.^[32] Nevertheless, the "that's all",^[33] "please bore someone else ..."^[34] catch phrases; her coat-tossing on Andrea's desk^[35] and discarded steak lunch^[36] are retained from the novel.

Her major preparation for the part, Streep said, was reading a book by Wintour protegé Liz Tilberis and the memos of legendary Vogue editor Diana Vreeland. According to Field, Streep lost enough weight during shooting that the clothes had to be taken in. "There was a lot of anxiety in this character," the actress said later. "It wasn't enjoyable to be her". She likened it to her role in Kramer vs. Kramer, in which she played a character she knew the audience would judge harshly from the beginning.^[32]

Hathaway prepared for the part by volunteering for a week as an assistant at an auction house. Frankel said she was "terrified" before starting her first scene with Streep (the second time she takes the Book to Miranda's home). The older actress began her working relationship with Hathaway by saying first "I think you're perfect for the role and I'm so happy we're going to be working on this together" then warning her that was the last nice thing she would say (and it was).^[37] Streep applied this philosophy to everyone else on set as well, keeping her distance from the cast and crewmembers unless it was necessary to discuss something with her.^[15]

The filmmakers credit Streep with much of the success of her character, not just at the performance level but the writing. It had been her idea, McKenna reported, to have the editorial meeting scene, which doesn't advance the plot but shows Miranda at work without Andrea present.^[22] The idea of having Miranda appear without any makeup in the scene where she opens up to Andrea and worries about the effect on her daughters of her divorce becoming public knowledge was Streep's as well, according to Frankel. "I had no idea what she was going to do with that scene. She just came in with no makeup and wearing a robe and said, 'I'm ready to go'".^[14]

[edit] Cinematography

Ballhaus, at Finerman and Frankel's suggestion, composed as many shots as possible, whether interiors or exteriors, to at least partially take in busy New York street scenes in the background, to convey the excitement of working in a glamorous industry in New York. He also used a handheld camera during some of the busier meeting scenes in Miranda's office, to better convey the flow of action, and slow motion for Andrea's entrance into the office following her makeover. A few process shots were necessary, mainly to put exterior views behind windows on sets and in the Mercedes where Miranda and Andrea are having their climactic conversation.^[15]

[edit] Costuming

Frankel, who had worked with Field before on his feature-film debut, Miami Rhapsody as well as Sex and the City, knew that what the cast wore would be of utmost importance in a movie set in the fashion industry. "My approach was to hire her and then leave the room", he joked later.^[38]

While none appeared onscreen, designers were very helpful to Field. Her $100,000 budget for the film's costumes was supplemented by help from friends from throughout the industry. Ultimately, she believes, $1 million worth of clothing was used in the film, making it the most expensively costumed movie in cinema history.^[2] The single priciest item was a $100,000 Fred Leighton necklace on Streep. Hathaway's most expensive item was a Yigal Azrouel angora coat, valued at $2,005^[39]

Chanel asked to dress Hathaway for the film, and Dolce & Gabbana and Calvin Klein helped Field as well. Although Field avoids making Streep look like Wintour, she dresses her in generous helpings of Prada (By Field's own estimate, 40% of the shoes on Streep's feet are Prada). Field added that much of the audience would not be familiar with Wintour's look and that "Meryl looks nothing like Anna, so even if I wanted to copy Anna, I couldn't".^[2] But, like Wintour and her Vogue predecessor Diana Vreeland, the two realized that Miranda needed a signature look, which was provided primarily by the white wig and forelock she wore as well as the clothes the two spent much time poring over look-books for.^[14]

Fields said she avoided prevailing fashion trends for Miranda during production in favor of a more timeless look based on Donna Karan archives and pieces by Michael Vollbracht for Bill Blass^[40], a look she describes as "rich-lady clothes".^[2] She didn't want people to easily recognize what Miranda was wearing.^[41]

She contrasted Andrea and Emily by giving the former a "textbook" sense of style, without much risk-taking, that would suggest clothing a fashion magazine would have on hand for shoots.^[2] Much of her high-fashion wardrobe is, indeed, Chanel, with some Calvin Klein thrown in for good measure.^[41]. Blunt, on the other hand was "so on the edge she's almost falling off."^[42]. For her, Field chose pieces by Vivienne Westwood and Rick Owens, to suggest a taste for funkier, more "underground" clothing.^[41] After the film's release, some of the looks Field chose became popular, to the filmmakers' amusement.^[20][22]

Tucci praised Field's skill in putting ensembles together that were not only stylish but helped him develop his character:

She just sort of sits there with her cigarette and her hair, and she would pull stuff — these very disparate elements — and put them together into this ensemble, and you'd go, "Come on, Pat, you can't wear that with that." She'd say, "Eh, just try it on." So you'd put it on, and not only did it work, but it works on so many different levels — and it allows you to figure out who the guy is. Those outfits achieve exactly what I was trying to achieve. There's flamboyance, there's real risk-taking, but when I walk into the room, it's not flashy. It's actually very subtle. You look at it and you go, "That shirt, that tie, that jacket, that vest? What?" But it works.^[27]

He found one Dries van Noten tie he wore during the film to his liking and kept it.^[27]

[edit] Production design

After touring some offices of real fashion magazines, Jess Gonchor gave the Runway offices a clean, white look meant to suggest a makeup compact^[15] ("the chaste beiges and whites of impervious authority", Denby called it^[19]). Miranda's office bears some strong similarities to the real office of Anna Wintour, down to an octagonal mirror on the wall, photographs and a floral arrangement on the desk^[43] (a similarity so marked Wintour had her office redecorated after the movie^[2]). The magazine itself is very similar to Vogue, and one of the covers on the wall of the office, showing three models, is a direct homage to the August 2004 cover of that magazine.^[44]

She even chose separate computer wallpaper to highlight different aspects of Blunt's and Hathaway's character: Paris's Arc de Triomphe on the former's suggests her aspirations to accompany Miranda to the shows there, while the floral image on Andy's suggests the natural, unassuming qualities she displays at the outset of her tenure with the magazine. For the photo of Andrea with her parents, Hathaway posed with her own mother and David Marshall Grant.^[15] One of the purported Harry Potter manuscripts was later sold at auction for $586 on ebay to benefit Dress for Success, a charity which provides business clothing to help women transition into the workforce.^[45]

Products

Aside from the clothing and accessories, some other well-known brands are conspicuous in the film

• Apple computers are used in the Runway offices, consistent with many real publishing companies.
• Miranda drinks coffee from a nearby Starbucks.
• Andrea uses a Danger Hiptop (or a T-Mobile Sidekick) mobile phone, and Miranda a Motorola RAZR V3. (At the end of the film, however, Andrea's phone displays the message "Connecting ..." as Miranda calls, which is actually the message displayed during an outgoing call^[46]).
• The two are frequently driven around in Lincoln Town Cars and Mercedes-Benz S-Class sedans.

[edit] Locations

New York

• The McGraw-Hill Building on Sixth Avenue was used for the exteriors and lobby of Elias-Clark's headquarters.
• The Runway offices are partially corridors in the neighboring Fox building and partially sets.^[15]
• The Elias-Clark cafeteria is the one at the Reuters office in Manhattan.^[15]
• Nate and Andy's apartment is a real one on the Lower East Side.^[20]
• The restaurant Nate works at (and where Andrea, Doug and Lily eat dinner on occasion) is a real one in TriBeCa.^[20] The real Smith and Wollensky and its kitchen were used as well.^[15]
• The Calvin Klein showroom seen in the deleted scenes is the real one.^[30]
• Holt's studio is a loft used by an actual designer.^[20]
• The American Museum of Natural History was used for the exterior of the museum benefit, while the lobby of one of the Foley Square courthouses is used for the interior.^[15]
• The Priestly townhouse is on the Upper East Side and belongs to a friend of Finerman's. It had to be dressed on short notice after another one could not be used.^[20]
• The Amtrak train the twins are taking is going up the Hudson River at Haverstraw Bay.
• Streep exits her limousine, supposedly in Paris, at 77th Street and Central Park West.
• The New York Mirror newsroom where Andrea gets hired at the end of the film is that of the New York Sun.^[15]

Paris

The crew was in Paris for only two days, and used only exteriors. Streep did not make the trip.^[14]

• The fountain Andrea throws her cellphone into is on the Place de la Concorde.
• All the hotel interiors are actually the St. Regis in Manhattan. The fashion shows were filmed on a soundstage in Queens. Likewise, Christian's hotel is the Times Square Hotel W^[15]

[edit] Postproduction

[edit] Editing

Mark Livolsi realized, as McKenna had on the other end, that the film worked best when it focused on the Andrea-Miranda storyline. Accordingly, he cut a number of primarily transitional scenes, such as Andrea's job interview and the Runway staff's trip to Holt's studio. He also took out a scene early on where Miranda complimented Andrea. Upon reviewing them for the DVD, Frankel admitted he hadn't even seen them before, since Livolsi didn't include them in any prints he sent to the director.^[30]

Frankel praised Livolsi for making the film's four key montages — the opening credits, Miranda's coat-tossing, Andrea's makeover and the Paris introduction — work. The third was particularly challenging as it uses passing cars and other obstructions to cover Hathaway's changes of outfit. Some scenes were also created in the editing room, such as the reception at the museum, where Livolsi wove B-roll footage in to keep the action flowing.^[15]

[edit] Music

Further information: The Devil Wears Prada (soundtrack)

Composer Theodore Shapiro relied heavily on guitar and percussion, with the backing of a full orchestra, to capture a contemporary urban sound. He ultimately wrote 35 minutes of music for the film, which were performed and recorded by the Hollywood Studio Symphony, conducted by Pete Anthony.^[47]

His work was balanced with songs by U2 ("City of Blinding Lights", Miranda and Andrea in Paris), Madonna ("Vogue" & "Jump", Andrea's fashion montage & her first day on the job, respectively), KT Tunstall ("Suddenly I See", female montage during opening credits), Alanis Morissette ("Crazy", Central Park photo shoot), Bitter:Sweet ("Our Remains", Andrea picks up James Holt's sketches for Miranda), Jamiroquai ("Seven Days In Sunny June", Andrea and Christian meet at James Holt's party) among others.

Frankel had wanted to use "City of Blinding Lights" in the film since he had used it as a soundtrack to a video montage of Paris scenes he had put together after scouting locations there.^[15] Likewise, Field had advocated just as strongly for "Vogue".^[41]

The soundtrack album was released on July 11 by Warner Music. It includes all the songs mentioned above as well as a suite of Shapiro's themes. However, among the tracks not included is "Suddenly I See", which disappointed many fans.^[48] It became popular as a result of the film although the single did not crack the U.S. Top Forty. It none the less became a popular radio hit.^[49]

[edit] Cast

[edit] Major roles

• Anne Hathaway as Andrea "Andy" Sachs: A recent college graduate and aspiring journalist who, despite no real knowledge of fashion, is hired as the junior personal assistant to the powerful and demanding editor of Runway magazine.
• Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly: The editor of Runway. Feared by her staff and many in the fashion world, and powerful enough that she can discard a $300,000 photo shoot with impunity and lead a designer to redo an entire collection with the pursing of her lips. Nevertheless she dotes on her twin daughters.
• Emily Blunt as Emily Charlton: Miranda's haughty senior assistant, who tolerates her boss's rudeness and insults so that she may accompany her to Paris for Fall Fashion Week.
• Stanley Tucci as Nigel: Art director for Runway and the only person at the magazine Andrea feels she can trust despite his sometimes cutting remarks about her wardrobe.
• Adrian Grenier as Nate: Andrea's boyfriend, a chef at a Manhattan restaurant who eventually breaks up with her due to the strain her job places on their relationship.
• Simon Baker as Christian Thompson: An up-and-coming magazine writer Andrea grows increasingly attracted to, especially after his connections help her get the advance Harry Potter books Miranda requests for her daughters and hints he could help her with her journalistic aspirations.
• Tracie Thoms as Lily: Andrea's close friend, who runs an art gallery.
• Rich Sommer as Doug: A college friend of Andrea, Nate and Lily who seems to work as a financial analyst.
• Tibor Feldman as Irv Ravitz: The chief executive officer of Elias-Clark, which publishes Runway.
• Daniel Sunjata as James Holt: An up-and-coming designer.
• David Marshall Grant as Richard Sachs, Andrea's father.
• Gisele Bündchen as Serena: An editorial staffer at Runway and friend of Emily's.

[edit] Notable cameo appearances

• Valentino Garavani, Giancarlo Giammetti, Carlos de Souza, Charlene Shorto, Bridget Hall and Heidi Klum as themselves; Lauren Weisberger (uncredited) as the twins' nanny.

[edit] Prerelease and marketing

Two decisions by 20th Century Fox's marketing department that were meant to be preliminary wound up being integral to promoting the film. The first was the creation of the red stiletto heel ending in a pitchfork as the film's teaser poster.^[50] It was so successful and effective, becoming almost "iconic" (in Finerman's words), that it was used for the actual release poster as well. It became a brand, and was eventually used on every medium related to the film — the tie-in reprinting of the novel and the soundtrack and DVD covers as well.^[14]

The studio also put together a trailer of scenes and images strictly from the first three minutes of the film, in which Andrea meets Miranda for the first time, to be used at previews and film festivals until they could create a more standard trailer drawing from the whole film. But, again, this proved so effective with early audiences it was retained as the main trailer, since it created anticipation for the rest of the film without giving anything away.^[14]

[edit] Reception

The film did surprisingly well^[51] with audiences both inside and outside the U.S. Although most found it enjoyable, critics had mixed reactions to the film as a whole. Streep's performance drew universal acclaim, with some going as far as saying it was the only reason to see the film.

[edit] Critical

Initial reviews of the film focused primarily on Streep's performance, praising her for making an extremely unsympathetic character far more complex than she had been in the novel. "With her silver hair and pale skin, her whispery diction as perfect as her posture, Ms. Streep's Miranda inspires both terror and a measure of awe," wrote A. O. Scott in The New York Times. "No longer simply the incarnation of evil, she is now a vision of aristocratic, purposeful and surprisingly human grace."^[52]. Kyle Smith agreed at the New York Post: "The snaky Streep wisely chooses not to imitate Vogue editrix Anna Wintour, the inspiration for the book, but creates her own surprisingly believable character."^[53] "Wintour should be flattered by Streep's portrayal," agreed Jack Mathews in the Daily News.^[54]

David Edelstein, in New York magazine, considered the film thin but loved Streep as well for her "fabulous minimalist performance".^[55] J. Hoberman, Edelstein's onetime colleague at The Village Voice, called the movie an improvement on the book and said Streep was "the scariest, most nuanced, funniest movie villainess since Tilda Swinton's nazified White Witch [in 2005's The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe]."^[56]

Blunt, too, earned some favorable notice. "[She] has many of the movie's best lines and steals nearly every scene she's in", wrote Clifford Pugh in the Houston Chronicle.^[57] Other reviewers and fans concurred.^[58][59]

Ratings
Argentina:	13
Australia:	PG
Austria:	o.AL
Brazil:	Livre
Canada (Brit.Col):	PG
Canada (Ontario):	PG
Finland:	S
Germany:	o.Al
Hong Kong:	IIA
Ireland:	PG
Malaysia:	U
Mexico:	B
Netherlands:	AL
Norway:	A
Philippines:	PG-13
Singapore:	PG
Sweden:	Btl
United Kingdom:	PG
United States:	PG-13

Roger Ebert gave the movie "thumbs down,"^[60] while Richard Roeper gave it a "thumbs up".^[61]

While all critics were in agreement about Streep and Blunt, they pointed to other weaknesses, particularly in the story. Reviewers familiar with Weisberger's novel assented to her judgement that McKenna's script greatly improved upon it.^[52][19] A rare exception was Angela Baldassare at MSN Canada, who felt the film needed more of the nastiness others had told her was abundant in the novel.^[62]

But those who weren't and even some who were found it a predictable morality play that was enjoyable to watch for Streep if nothing else. David Denby summed up this response in his New Yorker review: "The Devil Wears Prada tells a familiar story, and it never goes much below the surface of what it has to tell. Still, what a surface!"^[19] Many felt that the scenes away from the magazine were a drag on the story.

Reactions to Hathaway's performance were not as unanimous as for many of her costars. Denby said "she suggests, with no more than a panicky sidelong glance, what Weisberger takes pages to describe".^[19] On the other hand, to Baldassare, she "barely carrie[d] the load".^[62]

[edit] Commercial

On its opening weekend, the film was on 2,847 screens. It grossed $27 million, second only to the much bigger-budget Superman Returns, and added $13 million more during the first week. This success led Fox to add 35 more screens the next week, the widest domestic distribution the film enjoyed. Although it was never any week's top-grossing film, it remained in the top 10 through July. Its theatrical run continued through December 10, shortly before the DVD release.^[63]

It had a very successful run in theaters, making nearly $125 million domestically and almost $325 million worldwide,^[1] career highs for both Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway.

[edit] Anna Wintour

Wintour attended the film's New York premiere, wearing Prada. Her friend Barbara Amiel reported that she said shortly afterward that the movie would go straight to DVD.^[64] But in an interview with Barbara Walters that aired the day the DVD was released, she called the film "really entertaining" and said she appreciated the "decisive" nature of Streep's portrayal. "Anything that makes fashion entertaining and glamorous and interesting is wonderful for our industry. So I was 100 percent behind it".^[3] Streep said she was "probably more upset by the book than the film".^[23]

[edit] "Curse" on placed products

A couple of weeks after the film's release, Reuters reported a striking phenomenon: All of the publicly traded companies that made products featured in the film had seen their share prices fall in that time. Analysts attributed the fall to the effect of rising gas prices on the economy, which led many consumers to cut back their purchases of luxury brands, rather than anything associated with the film.^[65]

[edit] International

Weisberger's novel had been translated into 37 different languages, giving the movie a strong potential foreign audience. It would ultimately deliver 60% of the film's gross.

The Devil Wears Prada topped the charts on its first major European release weekend on October 9, after a strong September Oceania and Latin America opening. It would be the highest-grossing film that weekend in Britain, Spain and Russia, taking in $41.5 million overall.^[66] Continued strong weekends as it opened across the rest of Europe helped it remain atop the overseas charts for the rest of the month.^[67][68][69] By the end of the year only its Chinese opening remained; it is scheduled for release there on February 28, 2007.

Most reviews from the international press echoed the domestic response, heaping praise on Streep and the other actors, but calling the whole film "predictable".^[70] The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw, who found the film "moderately entertaining", took Blunt to task, calling her a "real disappointment ... strained and awkward".^[71] In The Independent, Anthony Quinn said Streep "may just have given us a classic here" and concluded that the film as a whole was "as snappy and juicy as fresh bubblegum".^[72]

In most markets the title remained unchanged; either the English was used or a translation into the local language. The only exceptions were Argentina, Mexico and Venezuela, where it was El diablo se viste de moda and El diablo se viste a la moda respectively. Both roughly translate to "The Devil Dresses Fashionably". In Poland, the title was Diabeł ubiera się u Prady which roughly means "The Devil Dresses At Prada's" rather than "The Devil Wears Prada".

[edit] Awards and nominations

Three months after the film's North American release, Frankel and Weisberger jointly accepted the first Quill Variety Blockbuster Book to Film Award. A committee of staffers at the magazine made the nominations and chose the award winner. Editor Peter Bart praised both works.

The Devil Wears Prada’ is an energetically directed, perfect-fit of a film that has surprised some in the industry with its box-office legs. It has delighted the country, much as did Lauren Weisberger’s book, which is still going strong on several national bestseller lists^[73]

The film was honored by the National Board of Review as one of the year's ten best.^[74] The American Film Institute gave the film similar recognition.^[75]

The film received ample attention from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association when its Golden Globe Award nominations were announced on December 14, 2006. The film itself was in the running for Best Picture (Comedy/Musical) and Supporting Actress (for Blunt). Streep later won the Globe for Best Actress (Musical/Comedy).^[76]

On January 4, 2007, her fellow members of the Screen Actors Guild nominated Streep for Best Actress as well.^[77] Four days later, at the National Society of Film Critics awards, Streep won Best Supporting Actress for her work both in Devil and A Prairie Home Companion.^[78] McKenna earned a nomination from the Writers Guild of America Awards for Best Adapted Screenplay on January 11, 2007.^[79]

The following day, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts announced its 2006 nominations; Blunt, Field, McKenna and Streep were all among the nominees, as were makeup artist and hairstylists Nicki Ledermann and Angel de Angelis.^[80]

On January 23, 2007 Streep received her 14th Academy Award nomination for Best Actress, breaking Katharine Hepburn's record for most nominations for an actress. Field received a Costume Design nomination as well.^[81] Neither won, but Blunt and Hathaway presented the latter award, amusing the audience by slipping into their characters for a few lines, nervously asking which of them had gotten Streep her cappucino. She played along with a stern expression before smiling.^[82]

[edit] DVD

The DVD has, in addition to the film, the following extras^[51]:

• Audio commentary from Frankel, editor Mark Livolsi, Field, screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna, producer Wendy Finerman and cinematographer Florian Ballhaus.
• A five-minute blooper reel featuring, among other shots, unintentional pratfalls by Blunt and Hathaway due to the high stiletto heels they had to wear. It also includes gag shots such as chubby crewmembers in loose-fitting clothing walking along the runway at the fashion shows, and Streep announcing "I have some lovely nude pictures to show you" at the Paris brunch scene.^[83]

  Unlike most blooper reels, it is not a collection of sequential takes but rather a fast-paced montage set to music from the film with many backstage shots and sometimes a split screen allowing the viewer to compare the actual shot with the blooper. The many shots of actors touching their noses are, Rich Sommer says, a game played to assign blame for ruined takes.^[84]

• Five featurettes
  • "Trip to the Big Screen", a 12-minute look at the film's preproduction, discussing the changes made from the novel, how Frankel was chosen to direct and other issues.
  • "NYC and Fashion", a look at the real New York fashion scene and how it is portrayed in the film.
  • "Fashion Visionary Patricia Field", a profile of the film's costume designer.
  • "Getting Valentino", covering how the designer was persuaded to appear as himself in the film.
  • "Boss From Hell", a short segment on difficult, nightmarish superiors like Priestly.
• Fifteen deleted scenes, with commentary from Frankel and Livolsi available (see below).
• The theatrical trailer, and promotional spots for the soundtrack album and other releases.

Closed captions in French and Spanish are also available. The DVD is available in both full screen and widescreen versions. Pictures of the cast and the tagline "Hell on Heels" were added to the red-heel image for the cover. It was released in the UK on February 5, 2007.

A Blu-Ray disc of the film was released simultaneuously with the DVD. The featurettes were dropped and replaced with a subtitle pop-up trivia track that can be watched by itself or along with the audio commentary.^[85]

[edit] Reception

Immediately upon its December 12 release, it became the top rental in the country. It held that spot through the end of the year, adding another $26.5 million to the film's grosses.^[86] The following week it made its debut on the DVD sales charts in third position.^[87]

[edit] Deleted scenes

Among the deleted scenes are some that added more background information to the story, with commentary available by the editor and director. Most were deleted by Livolsi in favor of keeping the plot focused on the conflict between Miranda and Andrea, often without consulting Frankel.^[88]

Frankel generally approved of his editor's choices, but differed on one scene, showing Andrea on her errand to the Calvin Klein showroom. He felt that scene showed Andrea's job was about more than running personal errands for Miranda.^[88]

[edit] Criticisms

Amidst the generally warm reception for the film, there were two criticisms apart from aesthetics. Some journalists familiar with the fashion world thought its portrayal unrealistic, and some gay viewers took issue with how the film presented Nigel.

[edit] Depiction of fashion industry

Some media outlets allowed their present or former fashion reporters to weigh in on how realistic the movie was. Their responses varied widely.

Booth Moore at Los Angeles Times chided Field for creating a "fine fashion fantasy with little to do with reality", a world that reflects what outsiders think fashion is like rather than what the industry actually is. Unlike the movie, in her experience fashionistas were less likely to wear makeup and more likely to value edgier dressing styles (that would not, however, include toe rings).^[89] "If they want a documentary, they can watch the History Channel," retorted Field.^[90] Another newspaper fashion writer, Hadley Freeman of The Guardian, likewise complained the film was awash in the sexism and clichés that, to her, beset movies about fashion in general.^[91]

However, Charla Krupp, the executive editor of SHOP, Inc., says "It's the first film I've seen that got it right ... [It] has the nuances of the politics and the tension better than any film - and the backstabbing and sucking-up".^[39] Joanna Coles, the editor of the U.S. edition of Marie Claire, agreed:

The film brilliantly skewers a particular kind of young woman who lives, breathes, thinks fashion above all else ... those young women who are prepared to die rather than go without the latest Muse bag from Yves Saint Laurent that costs three times their monthly salary. It's also accurate in its understanding of the relationship between the editor-in-chief and the assistant.^[39]

Ginia Bellefante, former fashion reporter for The New York Times, also agreed, calling it "easily the truest portrayal of fashion culture since Unzipped" and giving it credit for depicting the way fashion had changed in the early 21st century.^[92] Her colleague Ruth La Ferla found a different opinion from industry insiders after a special preview screening. Most found the fashion in the movie too safe and the beauty too overstated, more in tune with the 1980s than the 2000s. "My job is to present an entertainment, a world people can visit and take a little trip", responded Field.^[90]

[edit] Nigel's gayness

Stanley Tucci told the gay magazine Out that he played the part with no doubt whatsoever that the character was gay.^[27] While many viewers, gay and straight, shared the assumption, nothing in the film directly suggests that he is other than a brief glance he makes at an attractive man.^[93] In the novel, he, and the other male Runway staffers are very out, often described as flamboyant^[94], freely discussing their sex lives^[95] and sometimes checking each other out.^[96]

There is none of this in the film. Instead, Nigel tells Andrea that, as a child, he told his family he was attending soccer practice when he was really taking sewing lessons, and read Runway under the covers of his bed at night with a flashlight. Finerman also says that during his first scene in the film, his visit to Andrea's hotel room in Paris to celebrate his imminent promotion, they had not yet decided how "extravagant" he would be.^[20] The film also gives no indication that he is involved in any traditional marriage or relationship with a woman. No other male staffer or editor has a significant part and indeed there is no reference to homosexuality at all. Jeffy and James, two of the gay men in the novel, were eliminated. One viewer, Michael Poland, pointed out this aspect of the film on his blog, The Hot Button, but noted it was part of a general desexualization that led him to call the movie No Sex in the City.^[97] On the other hand, a gay viewer who blogs about gay content in movies as Queer Beacon, found Tucci's portrayal refreshingly free of overdone stereotypes^[98], while another gay blogger expressed his displeasure that a movie about an industry well-known for its openly gay men seemed so determined to avoid the subject.^[99] Controversy notwithstanding, readers of gay.com voted the film the best of 2006.^[100]

Queer Beacon also wondered if Doug might be gay, since he is more aware of Miranda's importance to fashion than Andrea; also, later, when Lily takes him from Andrea at the gallery to introduce him to "someone he might find interesting", she doesn't specify that person's gender. Sommer says on his blog, however, that Doug was not written to be gay and was merely based on a friend of McKenna's.^[101]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official site (with trailer)
• DVD site
• The Devil Wears Prada at the Internet Movie Database
• The Devil Wears Prada at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Devil Wears Prada soundtrack questions, answers and other music information
• On location photos on Flickr
• Anne Hathaway interview at stv
• Rich Sommer's blog posts on the movie (includes full gag reel).

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