What do you suppose was the impetus for Vogue editor Anna Wintour to agree to an insider documentary about the magazine—and ostensibly herself?Did the parade of merciless dragon-lady knockoffs of her by an increasing list of actresses—topped by Meryl Streep's in The Devil Wears Prada—finally get to her? Did she want to set the record straight on her legendary hard-as-nails, take-no-prisoners persona? Have the opportunity to outdo her imitators?
One can only guess at Wintour's motives. For the Anna Wintour "revealed" in The September Issue, R.J. Cutler's documentary, isn't much different than the silent, regal Anna Wintour that sits season in, season out in her trademark pageboy and Jackie Kennedy sunglasses at the couture shows, rarely cracking a smile and carefully offering her observations to obsequious members of the fashion media.
The movie, which details the staff putting together Vogue's largest yearly issue ( the 2007 one is shown here ) , doesn't so much contain a portrait of Wintour as it does another tissue thin layer. She's so guarded and obviously was so parsimonious with her time ( all the talking head stuff with her seems to come from one or two interviews ) that the director's inclusion of much of the footage of her seems a kindness rather than a necessity because it's not even remotely interesting. We don't even get to see one of her icy tantrums or get any sense of an inner life. The movie confirms that Streep's galvanizing, fictional portrayal has eclipsed interest in the real woman.
So with this powerful but boring subject as the centerpiece of his movie what does director Cutler do? Cutler, who has approached documentary filmmaking from a creative stance in the past ( especially in American High ) looks further a field, into Wintour's staff and luckily finds a camera subject so compelling, humorous and filled with heart, that one willingly sits through the rest of the bla-bla-bla Wintour fashion musings and the tired Andre Leon Talley big ole queen melodramatics to get back to Grace Coddington.
"Thank God for Grace Coddington," Cutler must have thought after encountering Vogue's creative director ( who started at the magazine the same day as Wintour ) . This grand dame of fashion, gliding around the narrow halls through the rows of designer dresses and accessories, muttering witty retorts under her breath in her precise British accent and rolling with the punches as her impossibly and beautifully styled shoots are cut from the issue, is the secret weapon the movie needs.
The portrait of Coddington—who began as a model herself during the Mod 60s—and her travails with the magazine ( read: Anna ) is so pervasive that quickly she becomes the reason for the movie. Finally, even Wintour is forced to acknowledge Coddington's genius and her importance to the magazine. Wintour, the easily parodied face of Vogue has certainly been essential to the magazine's continuing success but as The September Issue reveals, without the creative Coddington toiling away in the background her reign has meant nothing—and that's something worth seeing.
Speaking of fashion, Valentino: The Last Emperor, out director Matt Tyrnauer's richly entertaining look at the retired fashion designer and life/business partner Giancarlo Giammetti, is out on DVD with several special features, including a more extensive look into the couple's lavish homes. To celebrate the release, a signature red Valentino couture gown giveaway sweepstakes is going on until the end of the year. Visit www.valentinomovie.com .
Married couple Laura Cohen and Joe Winston, Chicago residents who had dabbled in filmmaking, felt so passionately about Thomas Frank's 2004 best-seller What's the Matter with Kansas? that they optioned the rights from him in order to make a movie of it. Traveling through the ultra conservative Kansas, a bastion of the right wing, with the author on a book signing tour the couple ( Cohen as producer, Winston as director ) ended up filming a series of interviews with residents of the state and eventually focused on portraits of three conservatives that form the basis of the movie.
What emerges is less a filmed version of the book—which attempts to answer how Kansas, once a home to progressive liberals has become a seemingly proud land of right wingers and religious zealots—but, rather, a sort of sequel which continues to explore Frank's original thesis and proceeds to capture the waning influence of conservatives on politics ( signified by the 2006 midterm elections ) and on social issues.
The filmmakers do a good job of humanizing their subjects but eventually the rigidness of the evangelical mindset and the two primary hot button social issues that drive it along ( abortion, gay marriage ) cancel out any common bond liberals ( yours truly included ) might feel. As always, I wonder after watching a documentary about these folks what happened to true Christian values which don't seem to have much to do with the evangelical movement and certainly not the conservative one. One of the camera subjects, M.T. Liggett, a good ole boy and sculpture artist summed up my feelings exactly when expressing his opinion about the conservative opposition to abortion and gay marriage when he opines, "Who gives a shit!"
What's the Matter with Kansas? is having its Chicago premiere at the Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State, Sept. 18-24. Winston, Cohen and Frank will be present for audience discussion on Sept. 18-19 at 8:15 p.m. See www.siskelfilmcenter.org .
Film notes:
—Queer Cinema 102, the five-film series that focuses on offbeat camp "classics" chosen and hosted by queer film critics continues Monday, Sept. 14, with Roger Vadim's 1968 camp sci-fi extravaganza Barbarella. Jane Fonda, David Hemmings and hunk du jour John Phillip Law star in this comic-book camp fantasia. The screening, hosted by Time Out Chicago film section editor and critic Hank Sartin, will take place in the Hoover-Leppen Theatre at the Center on Halsted, 3656 N. Halsted, at 7 p.m. Admission is a suggested donation of $5 at the door and an audience Q&A will follow the screening. HannahFree.com is helping to sponsor the series; see www.queerfilmsociety.org .
—The Boy with the Sun in His Eyes, an ultra-low-budget queer-themed movie partly shot in Paris, Milan and Berlin by director Todd Verow ( who will appear at the film's Sept. 11 screening ) is part of the 16th Annual Chicago Underground Film Festival which features an assortment of experimental features, documentaries and shorts. The fest runs from September 10-17 from at the Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State; see www.siskelfilmcenter.org .
Check out my archived reviews at www.windycitytimes.com or www.knightatthemovies.com . Readers can leave feedback at the latter Web site.
