Paris, 1957. 21 year old Yves is catapulted to international stardom as the successor to Christian Dior who has recently died
After Meryl Streep’s The Devil Wears Prada (2006) and Audrey Tautou’s Coco Before Chanel (2009), here’s a quick change... to a fashion house drama led by men.
Director Jalil Lespert’s biopoc covers two decades from 1957, when the 21-year-old, sketch-loving French Algeria-born Yves Saint Laurent (Pierre Niney) is suddenly promoted after the shock death of his 52-year-old boss, Christian Dior (Patrice Thibaud).
Together with lover and business partner Pierre Berge (Guillaume Gallienne) he takes over the brand, only to be later fired when falling sales and controversial conscription to the French Army re the Algerian War of Independence combine to blitz his creativity.
Based on Laurence Benaim’s biography, the beautifully-cut film is visually stunning.
Like the perfect gown, everything flows, whether the scenes are domestic, catwalk or landscape (Paris looks so timeless that the terrace view of the Arc De Triomphe is beyond tantalising).
Niney has a strong, yet fragile presence, as if he’s in a Woody Allen film being directed by the ghost of Anthony Minghella.
The score and soundtrack are eclectic, switching from classical piano to a substance-fuelled nightclub groove that will appeal to fans of The Doors, all very interesting after the death of Mick Jagger’s fashion designer girlfriend L’Wren Scott only this week.
Anyone keen to learn more about the last 30 years of Laurent’s life or answers to questions like ‘how do you intend to tighten the waist without taking it in’ will be left holding their breath.
Especially as some observations are limited to ‘we do not know where taste and instinct comes from... we are born with it’ and ‘beware of shy people... they rule the world’.
So, we can listen and read the subtitles, but if you want to be the next YSL, it will have to come from within.
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