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Review -- Valentino: The Last Emperor
Valentino: The Last Emperor (2008)
Director: Matt Tyrnauer
Starring: Valentino Garavani, Giancarlo Giammetti
Canadian Rating: PG
3.5 stars out of 4 (Very Good)
Valentino: The Last Emperor hits DVD retail/rental shelves this upcoming Tuesday.
By Albert Tam
You know the name, you know the dresses, but do you know the man?
Valentino: The Last Emperor is a surprisingly insightful and beautiful look at a man’s career that spawned nearly 5 decades. It chronicles the last year of his career focusing primarily on his relationship with his partner Giancarlo Giammetti and how they both deal with each other, the fashion shows, and corporate takeover – fashion aficionados will get their fill for sure, but this is a film that will involve you more than you think.
Me? I’m not particularly cultured when it comes to clothing (jeans and a t-shirt does the trick for me) but there is something absolutely eye-grabbing with Valentino’s fashion. More than once I found myself watching models walk by on the screen in front of me and I was simply stunned at the art and meticulousness of each piece. “I want to make women beautiful,” says Valentino. You make’em beautiful alright. Cancel that, you make them mesmerizing.
But beyond the jaw-dropping qualities of his designs, there is his story, his solitude and the shell he seems to hide himself in. This is a man who lives his life with a childish whimsy but never forgets what’s important – how to look good. He is human and he argues, yells, loves, has 5 pugs, and he knows that reality is consistently trying to catch up with him. It does at some point and when this man cries, it isn’t because of the thunderous applause, but because he knows he will have to leave that child’s imagination behind and grow.
In many ways this film is quite self-indulgent but the more I consider this a flaw, the more I realize that that’s what haute couture fashion is. Its entire purpose is to attract the human eye and make the viewer so mesmerized that the world around them just disappears and for whatever reason, the movie does this. Director Matt Tyrnauer’s camera obsesses over the fashion and over Valentino himself but it never outstays its welcome; the closing sequence for one has to one of the most beautiful closing shots I’ve ever seen in a documentary.
The movie opens with some audience members crying and at first, I didn’t understand why. “It’s just clothes,” I thought. It seems I was wrong. It’s not just clothes. It’s the story of a man, of his love, and of the unique and unforgettable beauty he creates. After the movie was over, I understood why they would cry – everything is just so damn gorgeous and we’ll never see anything like it ever again. So shed a tear. I know I wanted to.
Note: Plenty of nudity here so if you're a sensitive parent, you might not want to take your 5-year old to see this PG picture.
Director: Matt Tyrnauer
Starring: Valentino Garavani, Giancarlo Giammetti
Canadian Rating: PG
3.5 stars out of 4 (Very Good)
Valentino: The Last Emperor hits DVD retail/rental shelves this upcoming Tuesday.
By Albert Tam
You know the name, you know the dresses, but do you know the man?
Valentino: The Last Emperor is a surprisingly insightful and beautiful look at a man’s career that spawned nearly 5 decades. It chronicles the last year of his career focusing primarily on his relationship with his partner Giancarlo Giammetti and how they both deal with each other, the fashion shows, and corporate takeover – fashion aficionados will get their fill for sure, but this is a film that will involve you more than you think.
Me? I’m not particularly cultured when it comes to clothing (jeans and a t-shirt does the trick for me) but there is something absolutely eye-grabbing with Valentino’s fashion. More than once I found myself watching models walk by on the screen in front of me and I was simply stunned at the art and meticulousness of each piece. “I want to make women beautiful,” says Valentino. You make’em beautiful alright. Cancel that, you make them mesmerizing.
But beyond the jaw-dropping qualities of his designs, there is his story, his solitude and the shell he seems to hide himself in. This is a man who lives his life with a childish whimsy but never forgets what’s important – how to look good. He is human and he argues, yells, loves, has 5 pugs, and he knows that reality is consistently trying to catch up with him. It does at some point and when this man cries, it isn’t because of the thunderous applause, but because he knows he will have to leave that child’s imagination behind and grow.
In many ways this film is quite self-indulgent but the more I consider this a flaw, the more I realize that that’s what haute couture fashion is. Its entire purpose is to attract the human eye and make the viewer so mesmerized that the world around them just disappears and for whatever reason, the movie does this. Director Matt Tyrnauer’s camera obsesses over the fashion and over Valentino himself but it never outstays its welcome; the closing sequence for one has to one of the most beautiful closing shots I’ve ever seen in a documentary.
The movie opens with some audience members crying and at first, I didn’t understand why. “It’s just clothes,” I thought. It seems I was wrong. It’s not just clothes. It’s the story of a man, of his love, and of the unique and unforgettable beauty he creates. After the movie was over, I understood why they would cry – everything is just so damn gorgeous and we’ll never see anything like it ever again. So shed a tear. I know I wanted to.
Note: Plenty of nudity here so if you're a sensitive parent, you might not want to take your 5-year old to see this PG picture.
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