My Best Friend's Wedding was filmed entirely in Chicago. Director P.
J. Hogan utilized the big, bold, beautiful city as have few filmmakers.
He says, "Chicago's center is a show room for the world's great architects.
It is a great metropolis, charged with excitement. It represents Julianne's
challenge. Its grandness is a symbol for what she's up against."
Indeed, The Windy City's highrise structures are a wedding of heaven and
earth, two things Julianne intends to move in order to turn events to her
liking.
"Chicago is a character in the film," says Oscar®-winning
production designer Richard Sylbert. "The action begins when Julianne
arrives at massive O'Hare Field, one of the biggest airports in the world.
This is a gigantic windmill the lady is attacking. The city grows ever bigger
as her task turns more difficult and she gets more desperate, until it becomes
almost surreal with the wedding and reception."
Sylbert, previously associated with cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs on Shampoo,
Frances and Ruby Cairo, is referring to one of the most lavish weddings
ever staged for a motion picture. Filmed at the splendid Fourth Presbyterian
Church on Michigan Avenue, a fairy tale ceremony worthy of royalty is planned
boasting 7,000 white Teniki roses flown in from Ecuador, representing every
single Teniki rose blooming at that time. "Movie weddings are tricky,"
notes P.J. Hogan. "They are judged harshly. Some people go primarily
to see the wedding, and some rate the film by the ceremony. Everyone has
a concept of a wedding. So it is important to try to be inventive. A lot
of work should go into staging a movie wedding, because it is a ritual guaranteed
to produce a certain amount of madness.
"I've learned that couples often borrow from movie weddings. Believe
it or not, I've met people who came down the aisle to the sounds of ABBA,"
he laughs, referring to the music in the much-loved Muriel's Wedding. "However,
I can't guarantee that any of them are still married. Muriel's Wedding was
the fantasy of a provincial girl who hadn't seen much of the world. Kimmy's
planned ceremony is the dream of a girl who owns a big chunk of the world."
Speaking from his perspective, costume designer Jeffrey Kurland says, "Julianne
enters a rarefied atmosphere not very familiar either to her or to the audience.
We intensified the Wallace world to, let's say, a heightened reality. There
had to be a feeling that she was constantly off balance in a strange. insulated
land of excessive wealth and privilege. There had to be a sense that she
is in the Land of Oz. Look at the costumes and sets and you know for certain
that Dorothy definitely isn't in Kansas anymore!"
The dream wedding gown designed by Kurland was styled off the shoulder and
double-bodiced, constructed of white silk gazarre and silk satin, hand-beaded
with Austrian crystals and detailed with silk roses. The silk tulle veil,
piped in silk satin, flowed 20 feet over a 14-foot train.
Between O'Hare Field and Fourth Presbyterian Church, upscale locations included
the exclusive Union League Club, the Conrad Hilton (Presidential) Suite
at the historic Hilton Hotel and Towers, the Drake Hotel's rich Gold Coast
Room, as well as monumental structures such as Union Station and the stunning
77 West Wacker office tower.
If Julianne had any doubts about how outmatched she is in her quest, the
massively exquisite home of the intended bride's parents says it loud and
clear. These scenes were shot at the magnificent Cuneo Estate and Gardens,
built in 1914 by Samuel Insull, Thomas Edison's partner and first president
of Commonwealth-Edison. The home and grounds were subsequently enhanced
and polished by publishing giant John Cuneo, Sr.
In addition to landmarks such as Lake Shore Drive, Comiskey Park was also
utilized. That's because the bride's father, as a little sideline, owns
the Chicago White Sox. One intimate scene was filmed on a boat moving up
the Chicago River, displaying some of Chicago's famed towers.
Production designer Sylbert elaborates, "We have lots of food, lots
of eating, many kitchens, restaurants and bountiful celebrations. We shot
in several lovely restaurants, including the renowned Charlie Trotter's.
In fact, Charlie Trotter, himself, appears in the opening scene. And while
we weren't doing a travelogue, we utilized a number of windows with spectacular
views of the city as a backdrop to the romance and comedy."
Part of the charm and energy of Muriel's Wedding resulted from director
P.J. Hogan enthusiastically weaving the '70s music of ABBA into its fabric.
"I love music," he says. "I feel that people express a lot
of emotions they can't put into words through music, and that's why we all
find sappy love songs so affecting."
In My Best Friend's Wedding, he continues to punctuate his work with memorable
songs. Among the numbers that color the comedy and the poignancy are "I
Say A Little Prayer For You" and "I Just Don't Know What To Do
With Myself," made famous by artist Dionne Warwick, "I Am Woman,"
"Annie's Song" and Rachmaninoff's rousing "Praise The Name
Of The Lord."
Julia Roberts, heard singing a bit in her two previous pictures, points
out, "I'm the lucky person in the movie, the only one who never has
to sing."
P. J. Hogan explains, "Julia's character is much too constricted and
driven ever to live in the moment and burst into song. Actually, her journey
involves not only attempting to get the groom, but possibly becoming free
of the emotional ball and chain she drags around."
With the invaluable assistance of the Chicago Mayor's film office and the
State of Illinois' corresponding commission, the movie makers were unhampered
by any production balls and chains. One of the few, albeit brief, impediments
was the exuberant citywide presence of the 1996 Democratic National Convention.
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