The devil wears Prada
A girl who dreams of becoming a journalist, as intelligent as she is terrible when it comes to looks; a career woman, refined in her tastes but despotic to say the least, without tact or respect for her subordinates. Two lives destined to collide, to coexist with each other, to contaminate each other, perhaps. In the background, but not too much, the glossy universe of fashion, between catwalks and fierce competition.
Explosive ingredients that gave life to one of the most famous and loved "fashion" films in the world: The Devil Wears Prada, based on the novel of the same name by Lauren Weisberger with a stellar cast to say the least.
If you want to learn more about films inspired by fashion we can recommend this reading: Ranking: the best films about fashion
The devil wears Prada: fact sheet
- Titolo originale: The Devil Wears Prada
- Country of production: United States of America
- Anno: 2006
- Genre: comedy, drama, sentimental
- Regia: David Frankel
- Subject: Lauren Weisberger (novel)
- Screenplay: Aline Brosh McKenna
- Producer: Wendy Finerman
- Casa di produzione: Fox 2000 Pictures, Wendy Finerman Productions, Dune Entertainment
- Distribution in Italian: 20th Century Fox
Cast
- Meryl Streep: Miranda Priestley
- Anne Hathaway: Andrea “Andy” Sachs
- Emily Blunt: Emily Charlton
- Stanley Tucci: Nigel
- Adrian Grenier: Nate
- Simon Baker: Christian Thompson
- Tracie Thoms: Lily
- Rich Sommer: Doug
- Daniel Sunjata: James Holt
- Gisele Bündchen: Serena
Plot
The Devil Wears Prada follows the events of Andrea “Andy” Sachs, a recent graduate and aspiring journalist with nothing short of terrible taste in looks.
Looking for a job, Andrea decides to have an interview at the prestigious fashion magazine Runway to get the job as second assistant to the director Miranda Priestly. Miranda couldn't be more different from Andrea: despotic, tyrannical but very elegant, the woman initially sends the protagonist away without too many compliments, only to then retrace her steps.
Hired by Miranda, who never misses an opportunity to mock her for her poor aesthetic sense, Andrea is also forced to suffer the harassment of the first assistant Emily, jealous and excessively competitive (as well as exaggeratedly obsessed with her appearance); the situation, however, is destined to reverse.
In fact, Andrea will receive unconditional support from Nigel, Miranda's trusted right-hand man, who will revolutionize her look, transforming her from a sloppy assistant to a trendy and successful woman. A change which, if on the one hand will contribute to raising Andy's prices within Runway, on the other will distance her from her closest loved ones, primarily from her boyfriend Nate.
Torn between the dream of having a career and the desire to remain herself, Andy will inevitably find herself at a crossroads: which path will she decide to take?
Welcome
The film was released on June 30, 2006 in the USA; to see it in Italy, cinephiles had to wait until October of the same year.
Since its first screening The Devil Wears Prada has been inundated with positive reviews. The merit is to be found above all in the acting performances of the duo Meryl Streep - Anne Hathaway and in the adaptation of Weisberger's novel, so successful that it has qualitatively surpassed the original work.
Shrewd, biting, but truthful: The Devil Wears Prada shows the public the other side of the glittering world of fashion, that dark side made up of gratuitous trips, envy, spite of various degrees and also of small and large hypocrisies.
A soundtrack well suited to the context also contributes to making the film directed by Frankel an authentic jewel of bittersweet comedies. There is no shortage of the hit Vogue by Madonna alongside songs such as City of Blinding Lights by U2, Crazy by Alanis Morissette, Beautiful by Moby.
The Devil Wears Prada received almost unanimous acclaim from audiences and critics. Acclaim that translated not only into record box office receipts (produced with a budget of around 35 million dollars, David Frankel's film grossed 326) but also into nominations and awards in almost all sectors: among these, the Golden Globe awarded to Meryl Streep as Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical Film stands out.
Curiosities
The author of the novel from which The Devil Wears Prada is based drew on her personal experience. Weisberger, in fact, worked for years at the magazine Vogue under the careful direction of Anna Wintour. The references to the Vogue primadonna in the character of Miranda are clear, even if the writer underlined that Wintour was not as angular in character as her "alter ego" on the screen.
Lauren Weisberger is present in the film in a small cameo: she plays, in fact, the Priestly twins' housekeeper. In addition to the author of the novel we find numerous well-known fashion faces in the film, among which the immense stylist Valentino and the models Gisele Bündchen (in the role of Serena), Heidi Klum, Bridget Hall, Inés Rivero and Alyssa Sutherland stand out.
The role of Miranda Priestly was originally offered to Glenn Close who, fearing "locking herself up" in a stereotype role (the beautiful but shrewd antagonist), turned it down.
