Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Saint Laurent (2014) New York 2014

Director Bertrand Bonello is interviewed at the NYFF press conference
Bertrand Bonello's film on Yves Saint Laurent vexes me. Its a two and a half hour film that seems to have no point.

The film largely covers the years from 1967 to 1976. Bonello at the press conference for the film says the film is not the making of the man but what it took to be the man. The cliff notes version it took tons of drugs and lots and lots of gay sex of various flavors. Occasionally he would design or dance but mostly he got stoned and got laid.

That's the film.

Well not really in the final hour (aka the third act according to Bonello) the film flashes forward so that we see an elderly Saint Laurent going through his life. Perhaps it's all the old man's memory which gets fragmented as the film goes on. I don't know I just know the film goes off the rails as things just get confused.

I have no idea what to make of the film. I really don't.

While the overlong running time was never really boring, it never seemed to have a purpose. I never could deduce what the point of the film was or is. It just rambled on and on.

I have no idea what critical reaction to the film will be, some people at the press conference professed a love of the film, however many more groaned audibly when the film seemed to be tacking on another year of Saint Laurent's film.. I laughed at the possibility of the film never ending,..

Your're on you're own with this one. While it doesn't seem to have a point, it never felt long. I don't want to see it again, but I was never sure I wanted to see it to start. I'm not a fashion guy, but then again this is really not about fashion-I don't know what this is.

You're on your own.

The film plays tonight (in a hour) and again on October 2nd (tickets here). If you want to wait for it to hit regular theaters, SOny Classics is releasing it,tentatively, in May of 2015.

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