“In re-creating this particular
era, special attention should be
paid to Tommy Love’s authentic
production design in helping Sachs
realize his return to the roots of
his own creative beginnings
and a career that has included
highlights like Love Is Strange,
Passages, Frankie, Little Men,
Married Lif, and last year’s much
praised Peter Hujar’s Day among
others in nearly four decades
behind the camera.”
“It’s set in New York in the late
1980s, and there’s a causal
confidence to the way the
production design re-creates the
era of
videocassettes, “non-stop go-go
bars,” and downtown experimental
theater.”
“Similarly, Josée Deshaies’s
cinematography and Tommy Love’s
production design avoids over-
emphasising the period of the
film.
The Man I Love doesn’t feel so
much like a portrait of a time and
place rather than something more
essential and human: a portrait
of a passionate and loving
character caught in a final
performance he didn’t ask for, and
which he wishes would never
end.”
“Outside his drag persona, Jimmy’s
personal style is exquisite;
high-waisted slacks, a stunning
yellow leather jacket and a very
fitted pink turtleneck thanks to
costumer Megan Gray, while
production designer Tommy Love
provides the minimalist but lived
in set pieces for film. Both
collaborate with Sachs for the
first
time but they’re a natural fit for
the director’s aesthetic.”
“Set against the backdrop of the
AIDS crisis, Ira Sachs’ “The Man
I Love” follows a performance
artist (played by Rami Malek) as
he
prepares to star in a new stage
play. The vibrant world of ‘80s
New York is viscerally recreated
by a group of creative talents
at the top of their game.”
“The film immediately immerses its
audience in 1980s New York
City with magnetic sets, pastel
costumes, and retro furniture.
The production designer, Tommy
Love, drew inspiration from
photographer Allen Frame, closely
studying and replicating the
atmosphere of the 1980s era.”
“Everyone is talented on a film
set and a lot of the accolades,
of course, and appreciation placed
so aggressively on the actor
and on the director, but those
production heads and the people
working with them are who really
carry a film. When you look at
this film, it's as much tethered
by the series of moving images
that Ira has created as it is by
this incredible palette that
Megan and our production designer
Tommy have put together. And
our cinematographer Jose.”
-Rami Malek in CR Fashion Book
“Tommy Love’s production design
and Lucy Hawkins’ costuming bring
the gritty underworld of New
to life, and add to the
film’s sense of neo-noir dread.”