By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Rodolphe Marconi
Country: france
Year: 2009
Running time: 89
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0809439/
Bruce says: “The Lagerfeld name elicits different thoughts from different people: many view him as a fashion god; others think of him as the greatest contemporary dandy; some think he is a poser, a vacuous self-promoter; some think he is just plain lucky to have been in the right place at the right time.
“LAGERFELD CONFIDENTIAL begins with Lagerfeld starting out his day from his Rue de Babylone apartment which is in a surprising state of disarray. A grove of iPODs stands near trays of silver rings. Drawers contain waves of Lagerfeld’s trademark white starched collars. Books are stacked everywhere. This is a man who likes to be surrounded by the things he loves.
“While it took Lagerfeld longer to hit the big time than it did for his rival and contemporary Yves St. Laurent, he has a more complete sense of the fashion business than St. Laurent who was satisfied to sit in an ivory tower and sketch. When Lagerfeld was designing an early collection he needed a press kit and what was given him was totally unacceptable so he quickly did his own photography and put a new kit together. To this day he carries his camera around and snaps away as the mannequins model his creations. For Lagerfeld fashion is not about being a star as much as it is about hard work. In documenting his work ethic and following his workaday routines, the film makes that perfectly clear.
“In addition to his business career, the film covers his personal life or at least what Lagerfeld wants the public to believe, since he is notorious for presenting conflicting facts about his family and early years growing up near Hamburg. He began practicing homosexuality at the precocious age of thirteen. While he claims he is ill-suited for the conjugal life, he had a well-documented long lasting affair with Jacques de Boucher, a young man whose favors he shared with St. Laurent. On that subject he is particularly tight-lipped.
“Lagerfeld is a man of vision who has made sacrifices in lieu of compromises. He refutes all the clichés about loneliness, stating ‘solitude is victory.’ Lagerfeld is a fascinating subject who remains slightly enigmatic even when speaking candidly to the camera. He appears not to be at total ease with the filmmaker as he says ‘blunt and primitive, the nature of your questions.’ He remains one of the more colorful characters in spite of his self-absorbed, studied demeanor. 4 cats”
Barbara says: “Watching these TYSON and LAGERFELD CONFIDENTIAL within a day of each other was an interesting experience. The one attribute that the two subjects seem to share is self awareness although Tyson came by his after just about ruining his life.
“LAGERFELD CONFIDENTIAL was, understandably, much easier on the eyes to view. I found him to be as captivating as he is self possessed. His comment regarding tension being necessary for relationships (he thinks the term friendships is trivial) to work would lead one to believe that he should have many relationships when, in fact, he prefers to be alone and detests people who cannot be by themselves. He is a man of several seemingly contradictions but that is everyone else’s problem, not his. 4 1/2 cats”