By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Bent-Jorgen Perlmutt | FrédéricTcheng | Lisa Immordino Vreeland
Country: united_states
Year: 2012
Running time: 86
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2053352/
Bruce says: “Diana Vreeland is a foolproof subject for a documentary. Famous for her remark to Norman Parkinson regarding his fashion photos from a photo shoot in India , ‘I adore that pink. It’s the navy blue of India,’ Ms. Vreeland was born in Paris and raised in New York. Her family was never rich but they were very well connected. Diana had a good foundation for stardom albeit she was never a raving beauty nor highly educated. She married Reed Vreeland, a devastatingly handsome man who was a banker. After several years of marriage they moved to London where Diana started a lingerie business. When they returned to the States in 1937 Diana dazzled New York with her individuality and her European style. Carmel Snow offered her a job at Harper’s Bazaar where Ms. Vreeland remained for a quarter of century.
“The film devotes the lion’s share of its focus on Diana’s contribution to American style and fashion. Her column ‘Why don’t you?’ was a hit for her entire tenure as Fashion Editor at Harper’s. She introduced fashion influences from exotic cultures to American audiences, often with outrageous thematic layouts in the magazine. Her seal of approval established flourishing careers for many designers, models and photographers. Her forte was storytelling, giving readers a vision of the way the world could or should be. For years she was never given a raise and was never promoted to Editor of Harper’s Bazaar, so when Diana was offered the job of editor at Vogue she jumped ship. Her tenure at Vogue was rocky and her extravagant style did not mesh well with a business culture that was fixated on the bottom line and indifferent to everything above it.
“Diana was not out to pasture for long. Philipe de Montebello recognized her talent and knowledge and asked her to re-invent programming concepts for the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She curated at least a dozen shows there and attracted huge crowds, particularly the monied socialites that museums crave. It was a great match.
“Humorous clips from William Klein’s 1966 film WHO ARE YOU, MOLLY MAGOO? feature Grayson Hall as Miss Maxwell, a magazine editor based on Ms. Vreeland. The talking heads from the fashion world lavish superlatives upon her. Footage of her on The Dick Cavett Show is the only extensive interview of her on film. The quality is appallingly poor as are a few other clips of her. Audio excerpts from an extensive interview that George Plimpton used to gather material for her autobiography provide voiceovers when still photos comprise the visuals. While the film follows a cradle to grave format, it covers very little of her personal life about which she never discussed in public. Her sons and grandsons honor that tradition. Diane von Furstenberg pays Ms. Vreeland the ultimate compliment, ‘She saw things in people before they saw it themselves.’ 4 cats
“(DIANA VREELAND: THE EYE HAS TO TRAVEL screened at the 2012 Miami International Film Festival.)”