“The world is beautiful, this world is luscious and precise, and it takes specific people to create a living world,” director David O. Russell says in a new exclusive clip about the craft of his latest film, “Amsterdam.” While the film, which comes out this week on October 7, has been lauded for its sprawling, A-list cast—Margot Robbie, Christian Bale, and John David Washington as the three leads, plus a cavalcade of supporting actors like Chris Rock, Anya Taylor-Joy, Zoe Saldaña, Mike Myers, Michael Shannon, Taylor Swift, Rami Malek, and Robert De Niro— there are also several superstars below the line who worked on the gorgeous-looking movie.
The film is set mainly in 1930s New York but also Europe and Amsterdam, and it centers on three friends (Bale, Robbie, Washington) who witness a murder, are then framed for it, and uncover one of the most outrageous plots in American history in the process (read our review here).
Visually, “Amsterdam” looks amazing, transporting you to the 1930s with all its textures, colors, costumes, and vintage vibe. One of the chief collaborators on the film is three-time Oscar-winning cinematographer Emmanuel “Chivo” Lubezki, who has worked with most of today’s most admired filmmakers like Terrence Malick, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Alfonso Cuarón, and more.
This clip also highlights the incredible craftsmanship of Oscar-nominated Production Design Judy Becker and the stunning work of costume designers J.R. Hawbaker and two-time Oscar-winner Albert Wolsky.
“Amsterdam” the movie definitely has an enchanting, exquisite, fable-like quality to it, like revisiting old New York in a fairy tale about essentially the goodness of people, our country, and the forces at work to undermine it. Certainly, at the very least, the film feels artisanally crafted and will definitely teleport you to the past.
Ahead of the theatrical release of“Amsterdam” on October 7, you can watch an exclusive clip and the trailer below.