One of the first scenes of the movie Death on the Nile, which came out in theaters last weekend, reveals a tension between the two protagonists on which the plot is built. The film is directed by Kenneth Branagh, one of two movies he directed based on Agatha Christie's book series.
The opening scene takes place on a dance floor, where we meet Jacqueline de Bellefort (Emma Mackey) dressed in a red nightgown, dancing in the arms of Simon Doyle (Armie Hammer). Suddenly, wealthy heiress Linnet Ridgeway (Gal Gadot) enters the scene in a silver collared gown with sharpened shoulder cuffs, sweeping away Jacqueline's dancing partner right under her nose.
Paco Delgado was the lucky costume designer that got to portray the two character's personas through their outfits. Delgado is a Spanish-born designer with two Oscar nominations under his belt. In an exclusive interview with Ynet, he described the development of the film's characters through their clothes.
"Linnet, for me, is a woman that wants to look like a Hollywood star. She's already the big winner of the movie, and this is the reason she wears the silver dress at the beginning of the movie. She thinks she's the center of the world", he explains. "However, despite her power and wealth, it was important for me to present her delicateness. Jacqueline is a character full of passion in the movie. She's fire. She was the woman who loved and was cheated on, and I wanted to show this through the colorfulness of her clothes: crimson red, gold, maroon."
When asked about the significance of the age difference between the two actresses, Gal being 36 and Ema a decade younger, Delgado replied, "now that you tell me Gal is 36, I'm surprised. I didn't even know. Gal is an ageless woman. Timeless. If you were to tell me she's 24, I would believe you. She's an extremely beautiful actress with very young energy".
Gal Gadot, playing Linnet Ridgeway, acts the woman that everyone envies. Delgado reveals that Gadot was involved in the designing of her character and that throughout the preparations for the movie, there were between seven and nine fittings. "Gal is the type of actress that you can just put anything on her and she'll look amazing", he said. "She's like a model and she also has good taste in clothes."
Delgado was reminded that Gadot was crowned Miss Israel in 2004, to which he replied: "Really? I didn't know this. But it doesn't surprise me. She's an excellent actress, but also knows how to dress up, which makes my job easier. I wanted to show that she was a sexy woman, that she has fine shape, that you can feel that she's respected not just because of her wealth. But because she has money and power, she's always worried about what people think of her. So I thought it would be very interesting to show her in soft cool shades like cream, powder, and peach. The cuts of her clothes, however, were very airy, a play on the high temperatures on the Nile and the heated emotions of the characters."
Death on the Nile came to theatres after a two-year delay, with a tail of scandals behind it, including sexual abuse allegations against actor Armie Hammer, as well as cast remarks on COVID-19 disputes. The film's plot takes place in the mid-1930s on a cruise ship sailing through the Nile river in Egypt.