By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2 cats
Director: Craig Teper
Country: japan, united_states
Year: 2010
Running time: 90
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1649433/
Diane says: “I caught this at the Boston Jewish Film Festival, where another patron complained justifiably that the movie wasn’t Jewish enough. We see Sassoon in a synagogue with his kippe at the start of the film, then a very short ‘early life’ section includes a stint in the Israeli army, but the impact of his war experience is neglected, and his religion becomes more universal.
“How many mothers would say they had a premonition that their little boy was going to be a hairdresser? She apprenticed him to a master hairdresser when he was 14 years old. The film is subtitled ‘How One Man Changed the World with a Pair of Scissors.’ A bit presumptuous, no? We learn about Sassoon’s earth-shattering ‘five-point cut’ (think Mia Farrow in ROSEMARY’S BABY) and how contemporary architecture influenced the geometry of his hair design. My sister said that the way Sassoon really changed the world was by using blowdryers–I think she may be right.
“The bad stuff is jumped over (divorce from Beverly, buyout by Proctor and Gamble…), so this is mostly hagiography. The only talking heads are family and complimentary colleagues. Good for a bit of education in this field, but not a very good film. 2 cats”