scarlett: the whole world obviously gives a damn

Arguably*, the only actress of this generation to fully embody a throwback to the golden era of film-making when Dietrich, the Hepburn(s), Bacall and Monroe were goddesses.

Her appearance at the premiere of The Black Dahlia – a film where her role is, by all accounts, limited but distracting – at the Venice Film Festival earlier this week sent the paparazzi into a rabid frenzy. And who didn’t see a photo of Scarlett, butterfly in hair (so 5 years ago, non?), resplendent in a very retro cream-gold gown splashed over, most the world’s front pages the next day?

The dress is vintage, the butterfly is Chopard, the hair is certainly reminiscent of Katherine Hepburn’s Tracey Lord. There were naysayers (“Oh, she wears too much makeup”, “She should dress her age” etc.) But frankly, if you were 21 years old and had the choice of looking like a 40s’ movie starlet, wannabe gothic emo skater girl Avril Lavigne, or Size 00 permatanned lovelies Lindsay Lohan and Nicole Richie… well, I know which look I’d be channelling. Avril, incidentally recently lost the skater punk grrl look in favour of erm… a very blonde meringue-like wedding.

Scarlett, it must be admitted, does not make me want to see movies. Lost in Translation struck me as entirely Bill Murray’s movie, and its condescending attitude towards Tokyo and its inhabitants grated. (NB: Scarlett’s Marc Jacobs wardrobe throughout was however, divine!) The Island’s appeal completed passed me by, as did Woody Allen’s ‘take’ on London, Matchpoint. And I wasn’t quick enough to catch Girl with a Pearl Earring As for The Black Dahlia, well, on strength of preliminary reviews, I might save it for a DVD night.

In any case, though her acting talents still remain untested, Scarlett is a breath of fresh air amongst her literally shrinking contemporaries.

Does anyone know where I can get a hold of her stylist?

*I’d also put Christina Ricci with her kewpie doll looks and curvy physique up there as a gothic, truly film noir vamp, but she does not inhabit the spotlight to the extent of our Scarlett, nor does she, lamentably, show as an acute sense of style.