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#MovieMonday
By Anton Adianto
American Hustle is a black comedy crime film directed by David O. Russell which involves lots of A-list Hollywood stars, strange hairdos and trickeries. This film has received 10 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director, and became the second film since 1981 to receive nominations in all four acting categories.
One of the film’s most admirable elements is its overall stylish look, which is the work of Academy Award-nominated production designer Judy Becker. With a $40 million budget — relatively small by Hollywood standard— creating this look was not easy! The movie setting is based on the New York area (New York City, Long Island, New Jersey and Atlantic City) during the 70’s. Becker requested the movie “The King of Comedy” to be a reference since it was set in the more elegant Midtown Manhattan “American Hustle” was to portray.
In November 2012, Becker and the crew spent two weeks scouting location that represents the Disco era, before finally settling on Boston and the nearby Worcester since those locations are lined with buildings from the 70s. The production design team built a stage in the warehouse of a granite and marble dealer in Woburn, Massachusetts. Meanwhile, The Plaza Hotel was built for two different versions: the less elegant for the opening sequence and the ‘General Sherman Suite’ version. Becker also created the look of two of the film’s most notable sets: the shiny and cosmopolitan apartment of Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) and the outrageous ranch house of Rosalyn Rosenfeld (Jennifer Lawrence).
Becker and her team constructed a disco bathroom in a separate warehouse and they found an empty office building in Worcester that they transformed into Christian Bale’s character’s office. They also used this property to create a magazine office where Adams’ character briefly works. Since the film was shot in Boston and Worcester from March to May 2013, the production was slightly delayed due to the Boston Marathon bombing.
Photo by Sony Pictures & Annapurna Productions