Biopic looks like stylish fun
‘Saint Laurent’ trailer review by Metro Crew
A look into the life of famed designer Yves Saint Laurent, the film focuses on the peak of his career — and all of the sex, drugs and neuroses that came with it, not to be confused with Yves Saint Laurent, the more tempered biopic that was released last fall, this one has been criticized for being less historically accurate (at least if saint Laurent’s former lover and long-time business partner threatening to sue the film’s director is any indication), but we’re not sure we care. Saint Laurent looks like stylish, decadent fun coupled with an exploration into the creative process.
Saint Laurent opens at Kahala Theater June 19.
JAIMIE: I would like to see this film. But probably not in theaters. This looks like the kind of movie perfect for watching in bed on a rainy day with a glass of wine and an animal curled up next to you.
CHRISTINA: This movie looks so pretty — the clothes, the cinematography, the way the music lines up in the trailer. The dialogue also seems so poetic.
NICOLE: I love the language, I love the visuals, I love the colors and the beautiful people. But I’m not sure if I really think this is a movie. It seems like … an advertisement for a new brand.
PAIGE: The movie looked interesting, but at the same time I felt like it was also patting itself on the back a little too much, so that was a turnoff.
JAMES: There are some nice lines in there that are juxtaposed with some funny imagery. “By day he’s fine. But at night, he’s a lunatic … He tried to kill me. To kill me!” Cut to Yves Saint Laurent raising the head of a Greek sculpture, ready to lower the boom on someone. And, “Don’t listen to the rubbish people say, he works a lot, but he’s in great shape. Yves is perfectly fine.” Cut to scene of Yves swatting a small glass off an end table. It tinkles delicately along the carpet.
CHRISTINA: I’ve read a couple things that suggest it’s not really all that accurate, but it looks entertaining and fun, and I know nothing about him anyway.
JAIMIE: The way they are portraying him comes across as childlike, which seems fascinating to me — though I don’t know if that’s a true representation of him as a person. I like childish successful people. They are much more fun to watch.
JAMES: I once saw a documentary about an architect who crumpled a piece of paper, stared at it and said, “Ah. Perfect.” And then they showed the building and it was basically a scaled-up crumpled piece of paper. That’s a slight exaggeration, but I love stuff like that. I don’t know anything about Yves Saint Laurent, but seems like the movie is all about him being an enfant terrible. Pretty entertaining.
PAIGE: Some movies are so serious about being decadently over the top they be come comical, like The Wolf of Wall Street. So my brain was trying to find the comedy here. I read all the subtitles with an exaggerated French accent in my head. I was somehow, by the end, expecting Zoolander to just tear through the curtains and drop a Blue Steel. When none of this happened, I felt strangely let down.
