FILM DESCRIPTION: Before she was Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), she was Diana, princess of the Amazons, trained to be an unconquerable warrior. Raised on a sheltered island paradise, Diana meets an American pilot (Chris Pine) who tells her about the massive conflict that’s raging in the outside world. Convinced that she can stop the threat, Diana leaves her home for the first time. Fighting alongside men in a war to end all wars, she finally discovers her full powers and true destiny.
Gal Gadot got her part shortly after she decided to give up on acting, being unsuccessful at landing roles and tired of regularly taking 15-hour plane rides back to Israel. However, when she was invited for a screen test, she was not told what the film was about and she agreed as a kind of final fling before she quit. The screen test consisted largely of reading relatively anonymous dialogue and she left afterward to return to Israel. However, she received a call-back and only then was she told that she was short-listed to play Wonder Woman. Gadot was floored at the idea of playing the iconic superhero and she eagerly agreed to participate further.
The scenes of Themyscira were shot in Southern Italy, on the Amalfi Coast. Production designer Aline Bonetto said the location was perfect: “Italy had beautiful weather, a beautiful blue-green sea, not too much tide, not too much wave.”
Steve Trevor sarcastically refers to Diana’s island home of Themyscira as “Paradise Island.” This was the original name for the island in the early comics and Wonder Woman (1975). In the 1980s, the island received a formal Greek name, Themyscira, in George Perez‘ stories featuring an updated and revamped Wonder Woman.
Steve’s timepiece is a pocket watch, adapted with a leather case to be worn on the wrist. Pocket watches were the norm at the time (they were usually worn on a chain), but they proved to be impractical in front line action. Because timing was critical for coordinating large-scale action (such as the use of infantry maneuvers in conjunction with artillery barrages), soldiers began wearing timepieces on their wrists. This fashion spread to civilians after the war and adapted pocket watches into wristwatches, which became as the preferred fashion of timepieces in the 20th century.
In the comics, Steve Trevor and Diana met in the Second World War (1939-45). However, in the film, they meet in the First World War (1914-18). The change in World Wars was made because the filmmakers thought that era was more suitable. According to director Patty Jenkins: “World War I was the first time that civilization as we know it was finding its roots, but it’s not something that we really know the history of. In this world, there are questions about women’s rights, about a mechanized war where you don’t see who you are killing. It’s such an interesting time.”
In Greco-Roman mythology, the Amazons of Themyscira and the Greek hero Heracles share a rivalry, since Heracles seduced Queen Hippolyta and stole her enchanted belt. This carried over into both DC and Marvel comics. In the DC Comics, Hercules (who is the Roman version of the Greek Heracles) is a misogynistic and villainous character who was punished by the Amazons for defiling them; he later became an anti-hero who sought redemption for his actions.
In the Marvel comics, it was the reverse. Hercules was a superhero (and Thor’s best friend) and Hippolyta and the Amazons were villains. Hippolyta’s daughter was called Artume, and she was a parallel to Wonder Woman.
Diana’s scenes in London are an homage to Superman (1978), where Superman encounters urban life for the first time: the protagonist gets a disguise of a formal bespectacled attire, stops a mugging attack and has some trouble with a revolving door.
In the comics, Wonder Woman got the alias of Diana Prince during World War II from a US Army nurse who was very similar in appearance to her and from whom she bought her identity
In this movie, while she is posing as Steve Trevor’s secretary, he interrupts her introduction of “I am Diana, Princess of…” and re-names her as “Prince. Diana Prince”.
Director Patty Jenkins was originally in talks with Warner Bros. to direct this film back in 2005, but due to her unexpected pregnancy, she had to step down. Jenkins claimed that this film is the film she has been wanting to do her whole life and that she was fortunate to come back to it, even though she had only directed one low budget drama film in her career 14 years before and had no experience handling big budget action movie.
Some of the Amazons have flesh colored cloth over one side of their chest, almost seeming like one breast was uncovered or nonexistent (this is very apparent in the opening sequence when young Diana watches the training and Antiope walks over to talk with an Amazon so clad). This may be a reference to the fact that Amazons are often depicted in art as having one breast exposed. Ancient sources even state that Amazons cut or burned off their breast on their dominant side so that it wouldn’t interfere with combat, especially with a bow. Some ancient sources suggest that this is the source of their name; “a-mazos” in Greek means “without breast”.
Every design decision made for Themyscira came down to director Patty Jenkins and designer Lindy Hemming asking, “How would women want to live that’s badass?” Hemming crafted a look to show off the Amazons’ ripped shoulders and toned legs, emphasized by wrist braces and heeled sandals, because, Jenkins explained, “As a woman, I want Wonder Woman to fight and look great at the same time. In my opinion, this means she has really long legs.”
This is the first feature in which Wonder Woman does not wear earrings. She wore red circle earrings throughout the Wonder Woman (1975) live-action television series and in Hanna-Barbera’s long-running animated series Super Friends (1973), but wore white star earrings in Cartoon Network’s television series Justice League (2001). In the early comic books, the earrings were said to grant the ability to breathe in any environment, including outer space, but the idea was dropped as Wonder Woman’s abilities were increased.
Gal Gadot is an Israeli actress, singer, martial artist, and model. She was born in Rosh Ha’ayin, Israel. Her parents are Irit, a teacher, and Michael, an engineer. She served in the IDF for two years, and won the Miss Israel title in 2004.
Gal made her film debut in the fourth film of the Fast and Furious franchise, Fast & Furious (2009), as Gisele. Her role was expanded in the sequels Fast Five (2011) and Fast & Furious 6 (2013), in which her character was romantically linked to Han Seoul-Oh (Sung Kang).
In early December 2013, Gal was cast as Wonder Woman in the superhero team-up film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), and filming began in 2014 for a March 2016 release. Gadot received swordsmanship, Kung Fu kickboxing, Capoeira and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training in preparation for the role. As a result, her performance as the superhero, which is the first time for the character on film, was hailed as one of the best parts of the otherwise poorly-received film. The film is part of the DC Extended Universe, and Gadot plays the role again in the solo film Wonder Woman (2017), which was received very positively, and superhero team-up Justice League (2017).
She has been married to Israeli businessman Yaron Varsano since September 28, 2008. They have three daughters.
– IMDb Mini Biography By: Aj and Pedro Borges
WE&P by: EZorrilla
Photo: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Diana-Roman-religion
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0451279/trivia/?ref_=tt_trv_trv
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