Detrás de la alta costura: Daniel Brühl y Théodore Pellerin protagonizan la serie sobre los orígenes de Karl Lagerfeld. © Disney Plus+
Ya se han publicado el primer tráiler y póster de “Becoming Karl Lagerfeld”, la nueva serie original de Disney Plus+ ambientada en plena década de los 70 en París, Mónaco y Roma, que narra la historia de Karl antes que Lagerfeld, la compleja e icónica personalidad de la alta costura parisina, alguien a punto de convertirse en el Emperador de la moda. Esta historia es una adaptación del best-seller “Kaiser Karl” de Raphaëlle Bacqué y llega por primera vez a la pantalla con un reparto estelar.
En 1972, Karl Lagerfeld (Daniel Brühl) tiene 38 años y aún no luce su icónico peinado. Es un diseñador de prêt-à-porter desconocido para el gran público. Cuando conoce y se enamora de Jacques de Bascher (Théodore Pellerin), un joven dandi ambicioso y atormentado, el más misterioso de los diseñadores de moda,...
Ya se han publicado el primer tráiler y póster de “Becoming Karl Lagerfeld”, la nueva serie original de Disney Plus+ ambientada en plena década de los 70 en París, Mónaco y Roma, que narra la historia de Karl antes que Lagerfeld, la compleja e icónica personalidad de la alta costura parisina, alguien a punto de convertirse en el Emperador de la moda. Esta historia es una adaptación del best-seller “Kaiser Karl” de Raphaëlle Bacqué y llega por primera vez a la pantalla con un reparto estelar.
En 1972, Karl Lagerfeld (Daniel Brühl) tiene 38 años y aún no luce su icónico peinado. Es un diseñador de prêt-à-porter desconocido para el gran público. Cuando conoce y se enamora de Jacques de Bascher (Théodore Pellerin), un joven dandi ambicioso y atormentado, el más misterioso de los diseñadores de moda,...
- 4/29/2024
- by Marta Medina
- mundoCine
Disney+ has unleashed the full trailer for the upcoming Daniel Brühl-led series ‘Becoming Karl Lagerfeld’.
In 1972, Karl Lagerfeld (Daniel Brühl) is 38 and not yet wearing his iconic hairstyle. He is a ready-to-wear designer, unknown to the general public. While he meets and falls in love with the sultry Jacques de Bascher (Théodore Pellerin), an ambitious and troubling young dandy, the most mysterious of fashion designers dares to take on his friend (and rival) Yves Saint Laurent (Arnaud Valois), a genius of haute couture backed by the redoubtable businessman Pierre Bergé (Alex Lutz).
The series plunges us into the heart of the 70s, in Paris, Monaco and Rome, to follow the formidable blossoming of this complex and iconic personality of Parisian couture, already driven by the ambition to become the Emperor of fashion.
Between glamour and clashes of egos, grandiose parties and destructive passions, discover the story of Karl before Lagerfeld.
In 1972, Karl Lagerfeld (Daniel Brühl) is 38 and not yet wearing his iconic hairstyle. He is a ready-to-wear designer, unknown to the general public. While he meets and falls in love with the sultry Jacques de Bascher (Théodore Pellerin), an ambitious and troubling young dandy, the most mysterious of fashion designers dares to take on his friend (and rival) Yves Saint Laurent (Arnaud Valois), a genius of haute couture backed by the redoubtable businessman Pierre Bergé (Alex Lutz).
The series plunges us into the heart of the 70s, in Paris, Monaco and Rome, to follow the formidable blossoming of this complex and iconic personality of Parisian couture, already driven by the ambition to become the Emperor of fashion.
Between glamour and clashes of egos, grandiose parties and destructive passions, discover the story of Karl before Lagerfeld.
- 4/25/2024
- by Zehra Phelan
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Disney+ has unveiled the trailer for “Becoming Karl Lagerfeld,” the streamer’s highly anticipated original series starring Daniel Brühl as the iconic fashion designer.
Produced by Gaumont (“Lupin”) and Jour Premier, the six-part series chronicles the rise of Karl Lagerfeld through the world of 1970s Parisian high fashion. It will be available to stream on Disney+ in France and international territories, and on Hulu in the U.S., on June 7. “Becoming Karl” world premiered at Canneseries, where it received a standing ovation and warm reviews.
The lushly lensed series opens in 1972, when the 38-year-old Lagerfeld is a ready-to-wear designer, unknown to the general public. He falls in love with a sultry dandy, Jacques de Bascher (Théodore Pellerin), who inspires him to challenge himself and act on his ambition to become the world’s most famous French fashion designer. He faces off Yves Saint Laurent (Arnaud Valois), who reigned supreme with...
Produced by Gaumont (“Lupin”) and Jour Premier, the six-part series chronicles the rise of Karl Lagerfeld through the world of 1970s Parisian high fashion. It will be available to stream on Disney+ in France and international territories, and on Hulu in the U.S., on June 7. “Becoming Karl” world premiered at Canneseries, where it received a standing ovation and warm reviews.
The lushly lensed series opens in 1972, when the 38-year-old Lagerfeld is a ready-to-wear designer, unknown to the general public. He falls in love with a sultry dandy, Jacques de Bascher (Théodore Pellerin), who inspires him to challenge himself and act on his ambition to become the world’s most famous French fashion designer. He faces off Yves Saint Laurent (Arnaud Valois), who reigned supreme with...
- 4/24/2024
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
"I'm sick of not being taken seriously." Hulu / Disney+ have revealed the main official trailer for the seris Becoming Karl Lagerfeld, launching for streaming in June this summer. This French series about haute couture & the fashion industry was developed under the original title Kaiser Karl, produced by Gaumont and Jour Premier, with six episodes at launch. The infamous German fashion designer Karl Otto Lagerfeld passed away in 2019 after an illustrious & elaborate career. D+'s Becoming Karl Lagerfeld plunges viewers into the heart of the 70s, in Paris, Monaco, and Rome, to follow the formidable blossoming of this complex & iconic personality of Parisian couture, already driven by the ambition to become the Emperor of fashion. Between glamour and clashes of egos, grandiose parties and destructive passions, discover the story of Karl before Lagerfeld. Daniel Brühl stars as Karl Lagerfeld, with Théodore Pellerin as Jacques de Bascher, Arnaud Valois as Yves Saint Laurent,...
- 4/24/2024
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Hulu has released the official trailer for the upcoming drama Becoming Karl Lagerfeld, which stars Daniel Brühl as the iconic couturier. The series will premiere with all six episodes on Friday, June 7, on Hulu in the U.S. and Disney+ internationally.
In 1972, Karl Lagerfeld (Daniel Brühl) was 38 and not yet wearing his iconic hairstyle. He was a ready-to-wear designer unknown to the general public.
While he meets and falls in love with the sultry Jacques de Bascher (Théodore Pellerin), an ambitious and troubling young dandy, the most mysterious of fashion designers dares to take on his friend (and rival) Yves Saint Laurent (Arnaud Valois), a genius of haute couture backed by the redoubtable businessman Pierre Bergé (Alex Lutz).
Becoming Karl Lagerfeld plunges us into the heart of the ’70s, in Paris, Monaco, and Rome, to follow the formidable blossoming of this complex and iconic personality of Parisian couture, already driven...
In 1972, Karl Lagerfeld (Daniel Brühl) was 38 and not yet wearing his iconic hairstyle. He was a ready-to-wear designer unknown to the general public.
While he meets and falls in love with the sultry Jacques de Bascher (Théodore Pellerin), an ambitious and troubling young dandy, the most mysterious of fashion designers dares to take on his friend (and rival) Yves Saint Laurent (Arnaud Valois), a genius of haute couture backed by the redoubtable businessman Pierre Bergé (Alex Lutz).
Becoming Karl Lagerfeld plunges us into the heart of the ’70s, in Paris, Monaco, and Rome, to follow the formidable blossoming of this complex and iconic personality of Parisian couture, already driven...
- 4/24/2024
- by Mirko Parlevliet
- Vital Thrills
Cannes stood up for Daniel Brühl, as his new Disney+ show “Becoming Karl Lagerfeld” earned a 3-minute standing ovation on Sunday.
Premiering out of competition, it captures the late German designer before morphing into the instantly recognizable figure that took pop culture by storm. And, courted by young Jacques de Bascher (Théodore Pellerin), finally opening up for love.
Local viewers enjoyed the spectacle, laughing at Lagerfeld’s awkwardness or at Yves Saint Laurent’s (Arnaud Valois) clumsy attempts at romancing de Bascher. The verdict? A “fun” and “entertaining” new show, declared Canneseries audience members, happy to share their enthusiasm with Variety even despite the language barrier: “C’est genial!”
The screening, which started with a joyful fashion show similar to Lagerfeld’s collection for Chloé in the 1970s – spotlighted in the first episode – attracted just about every celebrity in town. Including “Beverly Hills, 90210” alumni Jason Priestley and “Riverdale’s” Vanessa Morgan,...
Premiering out of competition, it captures the late German designer before morphing into the instantly recognizable figure that took pop culture by storm. And, courted by young Jacques de Bascher (Théodore Pellerin), finally opening up for love.
Local viewers enjoyed the spectacle, laughing at Lagerfeld’s awkwardness or at Yves Saint Laurent’s (Arnaud Valois) clumsy attempts at romancing de Bascher. The verdict? A “fun” and “entertaining” new show, declared Canneseries audience members, happy to share their enthusiasm with Variety even despite the language barrier: “C’est genial!”
The screening, which started with a joyful fashion show similar to Lagerfeld’s collection for Chloé in the 1970s – spotlighted in the first episode – attracted just about every celebrity in town. Including “Beverly Hills, 90210” alumni Jason Priestley and “Riverdale’s” Vanessa Morgan,...
- 4/7/2024
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Daniel Brühl has recalled the time he swerved a Karl Lagerfeld cover shoot two decades before playing him in the eponymous Disney+ series that airs out of competition at tonight’s Canneseries.
The BAFTA-nominated Rush star met the fashion icon in the early noughties but it has had a long lasting effect on him, and he was later to discover that this was true in the reverse.
Speaking to Deadline on the day of the Becoming Karl Lagerfeld premiere, the German-Spanish actor detailed how he was taking part in a photo shoot at the Berlinale right after announcing himself on the world stage with his critically-acclaimed performance in Wolfgang Becker’s Good Bye, Lenin!.
“There was this Karl Lagerfeld photo shoot and all the German actors were stood together cramped like sausages and my Spanish pride kicked in, and I just thought, ‘This is embarrassing’,” Brühl explained. “But [Lagerfeld] saw it...
The BAFTA-nominated Rush star met the fashion icon in the early noughties but it has had a long lasting effect on him, and he was later to discover that this was true in the reverse.
Speaking to Deadline on the day of the Becoming Karl Lagerfeld premiere, the German-Spanish actor detailed how he was taking part in a photo shoot at the Berlinale right after announcing himself on the world stage with his critically-acclaimed performance in Wolfgang Becker’s Good Bye, Lenin!.
“There was this Karl Lagerfeld photo shoot and all the German actors were stood together cramped like sausages and my Spanish pride kicked in, and I just thought, ‘This is embarrassing’,” Brühl explained. “But [Lagerfeld] saw it...
- 4/7/2024
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Daniel Brühl is starring in a first look at the upcoming Hulu series Becoming Karl Lagerfeld!
The 45-year-old actor is portraying the late designer Karl Lagerfeld in the series, which is adapted from the book “Kaiser Karl” by Raphaëlle Bacqué.
A first look teaser trailer and stills have just been released by Hulu, along with the premiere date!
Keep reading to find out more…
Here’s a synopsis: In 1972, Karl Lagerfeld (Brühl) is 38 and not yet wearing his iconic hairstyle. He is a ready-to-wear designer, unknown to the general public. While he meets and falls in love with the sultry Jacques de Bascher (Théodore Pellerin), an ambitious and troubling young dandy, the most mysterious of fashion designers dares to take on his friend (and rival) Yves Saint Laurent (Arnaud Valois), a genius of haute couture backed by the redoubtable businessman Pierre Bergé (Alex Lutz).
The series “plunges us into the heart of the 70s,...
The 45-year-old actor is portraying the late designer Karl Lagerfeld in the series, which is adapted from the book “Kaiser Karl” by Raphaëlle Bacqué.
A first look teaser trailer and stills have just been released by Hulu, along with the premiere date!
Keep reading to find out more…
Here’s a synopsis: In 1972, Karl Lagerfeld (Brühl) is 38 and not yet wearing his iconic hairstyle. He is a ready-to-wear designer, unknown to the general public. While he meets and falls in love with the sultry Jacques de Bascher (Théodore Pellerin), an ambitious and troubling young dandy, the most mysterious of fashion designers dares to take on his friend (and rival) Yves Saint Laurent (Arnaud Valois), a genius of haute couture backed by the redoubtable businessman Pierre Bergé (Alex Lutz).
The series “plunges us into the heart of the 70s,...
- 3/17/2024
- by Just Jared
- Just Jared
"Nobody wants me to succeed." Hulu / Disney+ have revealed a flashy first look teaser trailer for the titled Becoming Karl Lagerfeld, arriving for streaming (worldwide) right in the middle of the summer. This French series about haute couture & the fashion industry was developed under the original title Kaiser Karl, produced by Gaumont and Jour Premier, with six episodes arriving to watch in June. The infamous German fashion designer Karl Otto Lagerfeld passed away in 2019 after an illustrious and elaborate career. Becoming Karl Lagerfeld plunges viewers into the heart of the 70s, in Paris, Monaco, and Rome, to follow the formidable blossoming of this complex and iconic personality of Parisian couture, already driven by the ambition to become the Emperor of fashion. Between glamour and clashes of egos, grandiose parties and destructive passions, discover the story of Karl before Lagerfeld. Daniel Brühl stars as Karl Lagerfeld, with Théodore Pellerin as Jacques de Bascher,...
- 3/15/2024
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Disney+ has dropped a teaser trailer for the upcoming Daniel Brühl-led series ‘Becoming Karl Lagerfeld.’
In 1972, Karl Lagerfeld (Daniel Brühl) is 38 and not yet wearing his iconic hairstyle. He is a ready-to-wear designer, unknown to the general public. While he meets and falls in love with the sultry Jacques de Bascher (Théodore Pellerin), an ambitious and troubling young dandy, the most mysterious of fashion designers dares to take on his friend (and rival) Yves Saint Laurent (Arnaud Valois), a genius of haute couture backed by the redoubtable businessman Pierre Bergé (Alex Lutz).
The series plunges us into the heart of the 70s, in Paris, Monaco and Rome, to follow the formidable blossoming of this complex and iconic personality of Parisian couture, already driven by the ambition to become the Emperor of fashion.
Between glamour and clashes of egos, grandiose parties and destructive passions, discover the story of Karl before Lagerfeld.
In 1972, Karl Lagerfeld (Daniel Brühl) is 38 and not yet wearing his iconic hairstyle. He is a ready-to-wear designer, unknown to the general public. While he meets and falls in love with the sultry Jacques de Bascher (Théodore Pellerin), an ambitious and troubling young dandy, the most mysterious of fashion designers dares to take on his friend (and rival) Yves Saint Laurent (Arnaud Valois), a genius of haute couture backed by the redoubtable businessman Pierre Bergé (Alex Lutz).
The series plunges us into the heart of the 70s, in Paris, Monaco and Rome, to follow the formidable blossoming of this complex and iconic personality of Parisian couture, already driven by the ambition to become the Emperor of fashion.
Between glamour and clashes of egos, grandiose parties and destructive passions, discover the story of Karl before Lagerfeld.
- 3/13/2024
- by Zehra Phelan
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Disney+ has unveiled a proper first look of German-Spanish actor Daniel Brühl as the titular iconic designer in the new show Becoming Karl Lagerfeld, produced by leading French film and TV company Gaumont.
Rush, Good Bye, Lenin! and Captain America: Civil War actor Brühl is shown sporting Lagerfeld’s trademark ponytail and black tailored suit of his later years.
Disney+ has also released a first subtitled trailer for the show.
The new images – which follow a silhouetted image teased by Disney+ in January – were released in unison with the announcement that the show will premiere at the Canneseries TV festival in April.
Gaumont produced the drama with Jour Premier for Disney+, which will launch the six-part bio-series on June 7. The series will be available in the U.S. on Hulu from that same date.
Adapted from Raphaëlle Bacqué’s best-seller ‘Kaiser Karl’, the series stars follows Lagerfeld’s ascension to...
Rush, Good Bye, Lenin! and Captain America: Civil War actor Brühl is shown sporting Lagerfeld’s trademark ponytail and black tailored suit of his later years.
Disney+ has also released a first subtitled trailer for the show.
The new images – which follow a silhouetted image teased by Disney+ in January – were released in unison with the announcement that the show will premiere at the Canneseries TV festival in April.
Gaumont produced the drama with Jour Premier for Disney+, which will launch the six-part bio-series on June 7. The series will be available in the U.S. on Hulu from that same date.
Adapted from Raphaëlle Bacqué’s best-seller ‘Kaiser Karl’, the series stars follows Lagerfeld’s ascension to...
- 3/12/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Anatomy of a Fall French producer Marie-Ange Luciani put in a flying appearance at the Berlinale this week with Claire Burger’s coming-of-age drama Langue Étrangère which received a warm reception in competition.
With the Berlin premiere taking place the day after the Baftas in London (where Anatomy of a Fall won Best Screenplay) and eight days before the January 27 voting deadline for this year’s Academy Awards, Luciani was also in the thick of the awards campaign.
She co-produced the Oscar hopeful with David Thion at Les Films Pelléas under the banner of her Paris-based banner Les Films de Pierre, the company created by Yves Saint Laurent’s long-time business and life partner Pierre Bergé which she acquired on his death in 2018.
New production Langue Étrangère is a bittersweet coming-of-age tale starring Lilith Grasmug as French teenager Fanny who travels to Germany on language exchange trip. Her German counterpart...
With the Berlin premiere taking place the day after the Baftas in London (where Anatomy of a Fall won Best Screenplay) and eight days before the January 27 voting deadline for this year’s Academy Awards, Luciani was also in the thick of the awards campaign.
She co-produced the Oscar hopeful with David Thion at Les Films Pelléas under the banner of her Paris-based banner Les Films de Pierre, the company created by Yves Saint Laurent’s long-time business and life partner Pierre Bergé which she acquired on his death in 2018.
New production Langue Étrangère is a bittersweet coming-of-age tale starring Lilith Grasmug as French teenager Fanny who travels to Germany on language exchange trip. Her German counterpart...
- 2/23/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Daniel Brühl is rocking the Karl Largerfeld ponytail in the first look image from Kaiser Karl (working title), the upcoming Disney+ biopic series which sees the German star embody the late fashion designer and style icon.
The Captain America: Civil War and All Quiet on the Western Front actor plays Largerfeld in 1972, when the 38-year-old up-and-coming German designer was living in Paris and struggling to break through in the world of high fashion. After meeting and falling in love with Jacques de Bascher (Théodore Pellerin), he finds himself in competition with French fashion giants Yves Saint Laurent (Arnaud Valois) and Pierre Bergé (Alex Lutz). Agnès Jaoui (Singing Jailbirds) plays Gaby Aghion, the founder of the Chloé fashion brand, one of the first to recognize Lagerfeld’s talent.
The Disney+ blurb for the series calls the story a “mix of romance, ambition and a tireless quest for recognition.”
The series was...
The Captain America: Civil War and All Quiet on the Western Front actor plays Largerfeld in 1972, when the 38-year-old up-and-coming German designer was living in Paris and struggling to break through in the world of high fashion. After meeting and falling in love with Jacques de Bascher (Théodore Pellerin), he finds himself in competition with French fashion giants Yves Saint Laurent (Arnaud Valois) and Pierre Bergé (Alex Lutz). Agnès Jaoui (Singing Jailbirds) plays Gaby Aghion, the founder of the Chloé fashion brand, one of the first to recognize Lagerfeld’s talent.
The Disney+ blurb for the series calls the story a “mix of romance, ambition and a tireless quest for recognition.”
The series was...
- 1/11/2024
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Saint Laurent is getting into the movie making business after Hollywood stars have commandeered the red carpet in Cannes and elsewhere wearing creations from the legendary fashion house.
Saint Laurent Productions, a division of the iconic design house, will be led by house creative director Anthony Vaccarello. The move also follows film directors and actors long being part of glitzy fashion shows, whether by sitting in the front row or making grand entrances on runways with top designers.
Now Saint Laurent’s new film production banner will launch in Cannes with its first production, Pedro Almodóvar’s Strange Way of Life. The short sees Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal play two middle-aged gunslingers with a deep connection who meet up again after a 25-year separation.
And the luxury brand’s film production arm also has two projects involving David Cronenberg and Paolo Sorrentino in the works. “These directors never fail to open my mind and,...
Saint Laurent Productions, a division of the iconic design house, will be led by house creative director Anthony Vaccarello. The move also follows film directors and actors long being part of glitzy fashion shows, whether by sitting in the front row or making grand entrances on runways with top designers.
Now Saint Laurent’s new film production banner will launch in Cannes with its first production, Pedro Almodóvar’s Strange Way of Life. The short sees Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal play two middle-aged gunslingers with a deep connection who meet up again after a 25-year separation.
And the luxury brand’s film production arm also has two projects involving David Cronenberg and Paolo Sorrentino in the works. “These directors never fail to open my mind and,...
- 4/14/2023
- by Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The six-part series is currently shooting in France, Monaco and Italy
Daniel Brühl will star as Karl Lagerfeld in Disney+ series Kaiser Karl, which charts the rise of the iconic fashion designer.
The six-part series is currently shooting in France, Monaco and Italy.
Set in Paris during the 1970s, it will follow Lagerfeld as he competes with fellow designers Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé and rises up the ranks of high fashion.
Alongside Brühl, the cast includes Theodore Pellerin, Arnaud Valois, Alex Lutz and Agnes Jaoui.
Kaiser Karl is a co-production between Disney+ and French outfits Gaumont and Jour Premier.
Daniel Brühl will star as Karl Lagerfeld in Disney+ series Kaiser Karl, which charts the rise of the iconic fashion designer.
The six-part series is currently shooting in France, Monaco and Italy.
Set in Paris during the 1970s, it will follow Lagerfeld as he competes with fellow designers Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé and rises up the ranks of high fashion.
Alongside Brühl, the cast includes Theodore Pellerin, Arnaud Valois, Alex Lutz and Agnes Jaoui.
Kaiser Karl is a co-production between Disney+ and French outfits Gaumont and Jour Premier.
- 3/9/2023
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
Start fitting Daniel Brühl for a pair of big black sunglasses and a ponytail. The German star has signed on to play the late fashion designer, and style icon, Karl Lagerfeld in the new Disney+ series, Kaiser Karl, Disney announced Thursday.
Brühl, most recently seen in Edward Berger’s nine-time Oscar nominated All Quiet on the Western Front for Netflix, will play the young Lagerfeld in the series, which tracks his rise in the French fashion world in the early 1970s.
Arnaud Valois (Bpm (Beats per Minute)) and Alex Lutz (Vortex) will play Lagerfeld’s fashion rivals Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé, with Quebec actor Théodore Pellerin (Never Rarely Sometimes Always) playing Largerfeld’s love interest Jacques de Bascher. Agnès Jaoui (Singing Jailbirds) plays Gaby Aghion, the founder of the Chloé fashion brand, one of the first to recognize Lagerfeld’s talent.
Gaumont and Jour Premier are producing the six-part series for Disney+ France.
Brühl, most recently seen in Edward Berger’s nine-time Oscar nominated All Quiet on the Western Front for Netflix, will play the young Lagerfeld in the series, which tracks his rise in the French fashion world in the early 1970s.
Arnaud Valois (Bpm (Beats per Minute)) and Alex Lutz (Vortex) will play Lagerfeld’s fashion rivals Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé, with Quebec actor Théodore Pellerin (Never Rarely Sometimes Always) playing Largerfeld’s love interest Jacques de Bascher. Agnès Jaoui (Singing Jailbirds) plays Gaby Aghion, the founder of the Chloé fashion brand, one of the first to recognize Lagerfeld’s talent.
Gaumont and Jour Premier are producing the six-part series for Disney+ France.
- 3/9/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Daniel Brühl has form playing real-life people, including Niki Lauda in Rush and Daniel Berg in The Fifth Estate. He's back on the reality train for a new Disney+ series, which will see him embodying fashion icon Karl Lagerfeld.
According to Variety, the six-part series will chronicle the rise of Karl Lagerfeld through the world of 1970s Parisian high fashion. In 1972, a 38-year-old Karl Lagerfeld aspired to become the most famous French fashion designer, at a time when Yves Saint Laurent reigned supreme. Lagerfeld went on to become the head designer and creative director of Chanel, Fendi and his own label. The show will also explore the rivalry between Lagerfeld and Yves Saint Laurent’s partner Pierre Berge, as well as his love story with Jacques de Bascher.
French director Jérôme Salle is credited as the "artistic mastermind" on this one, and has launched the show by directing the first,...
According to Variety, the six-part series will chronicle the rise of Karl Lagerfeld through the world of 1970s Parisian high fashion. In 1972, a 38-year-old Karl Lagerfeld aspired to become the most famous French fashion designer, at a time when Yves Saint Laurent reigned supreme. Lagerfeld went on to become the head designer and creative director of Chanel, Fendi and his own label. The show will also explore the rivalry between Lagerfeld and Yves Saint Laurent’s partner Pierre Berge, as well as his love story with Jacques de Bascher.
French director Jérôme Salle is credited as the "artistic mastermind" on this one, and has launched the show by directing the first,...
- 3/8/2023
- by James White
- Empire - TV
Daniel Brühl is set to star as late fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld in “Kaiser Karl,” the anticipated Disney+ original series which Gaumont (“Lupin”) is currently producing. The show is currently shooting in France, Monaco and Italy.
The six-part series will chronicle the rise of Karl Lagerfeld through the world of 1970s Parisian high fashion. In 1972, a 38-year-old Karl Lagerfeld aspired to become the most famous French fashion designer, at a time when Yves Saint Laurent reigned supreme. Lagerfeld went on to become the head designer and creative director of Chanel, Fendi and his own label.
The series will also explore the rivalry between Lagerfeld and Yves Saint Laurent’s partner Pierre Berge, as well as his love story with Jacques de Bascher.
Along with depicting the clan rivalries and ego battles of the high fashion world, the series will also portray the epic partying and decadence, tragic love affairs and...
The six-part series will chronicle the rise of Karl Lagerfeld through the world of 1970s Parisian high fashion. In 1972, a 38-year-old Karl Lagerfeld aspired to become the most famous French fashion designer, at a time when Yves Saint Laurent reigned supreme. Lagerfeld went on to become the head designer and creative director of Chanel, Fendi and his own label.
The series will also explore the rivalry between Lagerfeld and Yves Saint Laurent’s partner Pierre Berge, as well as his love story with Jacques de Bascher.
Along with depicting the clan rivalries and ego battles of the high fashion world, the series will also portray the epic partying and decadence, tragic love affairs and...
- 3/8/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Disney Plus has greenlit Kaiser Karl, a six-episode drama series about the famed fashion designer from Paris-based Lupin producers Gaumont. Jan Koeppen, president of Disney Emea, announced the show during his Series Mania keynote this morning.
The project is based on the biography of the same name by Raphaëlle Bacqué who is attached to the series alongside writers Isaure Pisani-Ferry (Vampires) and Jennifer Have (Unfaithful).
The story begins in the summer of 1972 and traces Lagerfeld’s quest to become successor of Coco Chanel, who died the year prior, and the most successful French couturier at a time when Yves Saint Laurent was the biggest fashion personality. The rivalry between Lagerfeld and Pierre Bergé (Yves Saint Laurent’s partner) as well as Lagerfeld’s love story with Jacques de Bascher will also be central to the series.
“We are now entering the golden age of European content,” said Koeppen today during his address.
The project is based on the biography of the same name by Raphaëlle Bacqué who is attached to the series alongside writers Isaure Pisani-Ferry (Vampires) and Jennifer Have (Unfaithful).
The story begins in the summer of 1972 and traces Lagerfeld’s quest to become successor of Coco Chanel, who died the year prior, and the most successful French couturier at a time when Yves Saint Laurent was the biggest fashion personality. The rivalry between Lagerfeld and Pierre Bergé (Yves Saint Laurent’s partner) as well as Lagerfeld’s love story with Jacques de Bascher will also be central to the series.
“We are now entering the golden age of European content,” said Koeppen today during his address.
- 8/31/2021
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
Is your at-home streaming slowing down now that everyone else in your neighborhood is also at home, streaming? May we suggest good old, reliable physical media?
New Indie
We need to stop acting surprised when Adam Sandler gives a powerful performance, as he does in the Safdie brothers’ “Uncut Gems” (Lionsgate); great work pops up throughout his career, from “Punch-Drunk Love” to “The Meyerowitz Stories.” Granted, whereas some movie stars take a “one for them, one for me” approach to balancing popcorn fare with arthouse titles, Sandler is more “ten for them, one for me”; if a great Sandler performance needn’t elicit shock anymore, it should bring up a touch of sadness for the career that might have been.
If you haven’t seen “Good Time” or other earlier Safdie movies, you might not be prepared for their brand of anxious, cinematic-panic-attack filmmaking. “Uncut Gems” will make you uneasy,...
New Indie
We need to stop acting surprised when Adam Sandler gives a powerful performance, as he does in the Safdie brothers’ “Uncut Gems” (Lionsgate); great work pops up throughout his career, from “Punch-Drunk Love” to “The Meyerowitz Stories.” Granted, whereas some movie stars take a “one for them, one for me” approach to balancing popcorn fare with arthouse titles, Sandler is more “ten for them, one for me”; if a great Sandler performance needn’t elicit shock anymore, it should bring up a touch of sadness for the career that might have been.
If you haven’t seen “Good Time” or other earlier Safdie movies, you might not be prepared for their brand of anxious, cinematic-panic-attack filmmaking. “Uncut Gems” will make you uneasy,...
- 3/31/2020
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
Zombi Child director Bertrand Bonello on what happened after Jacques Tourneur's I Walked With A Zombie: "And then the Zombi becomes something very different. Like in the trilogy by George Romero.” Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
In the second half of my conversation with Bertrand Bonello on Zombi Child, shot by Yves Cape (Leos Carax’s Holy Motors) featuring Mackenson Bijou, Louise Labèque, Wislanda Louimat, Katiana Wilfort, Adelé David, Ninon François, Mathilde Riu, and Patrick Boucheron, the director notes the change in the genre from Victor Halperin’s White Zombie to George A Romero’s trilogy in response to my comment about Jacques Tourneur's I Walked With A Zombie.
Bertrand Bonello on Zombi Child: “The construction is very precise.”
The director/screenwriter of Nocturama; Saint Laurent; House Of Tolerance (with Adèle Haenel and Jasmine Trinca); Ingrid Caven: Music And Voice; and Tiresia has included Brian De Palma’s Carrie; Richard Donner’s [film id=19857]The.
In the second half of my conversation with Bertrand Bonello on Zombi Child, shot by Yves Cape (Leos Carax’s Holy Motors) featuring Mackenson Bijou, Louise Labèque, Wislanda Louimat, Katiana Wilfort, Adelé David, Ninon François, Mathilde Riu, and Patrick Boucheron, the director notes the change in the genre from Victor Halperin’s White Zombie to George A Romero’s trilogy in response to my comment about Jacques Tourneur's I Walked With A Zombie.
Bertrand Bonello on Zombi Child: “The construction is very precise.”
The director/screenwriter of Nocturama; Saint Laurent; House Of Tolerance (with Adèle Haenel and Jasmine Trinca); Ingrid Caven: Music And Voice; and Tiresia has included Brian De Palma’s Carrie; Richard Donner’s [film id=19857]The.
- 1/16/2020
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Olivier Meyrou with Anne-Katrin Titze on Saint Laurent director Bertrand Bonello and screenwriter Thomas Bidegain: "He wanted to see Celebration for the last part of the movie." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
The morning before going to the new Pace Gallery in Chelsea for David Hockney’s La Grande Cour, Normandy exhibition and meeting with Bacurau directors Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles and with Sônia Braga at Cinetic Media, Olivier Merou, the director of Celebration joined me for a conversation at Film Forum on his long-awaited Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé documentary.
It's shot by Jean-Marc Bouzou and Florian Bouchet over three years starting in 1998 with a terrific score by François-Eudes Chanfrault (Clément Cogitore’s Neither Heaven Nor Earth) and sound production by Yolande Decarsin and Ludovic Escallier, and we see Catherine Deneuve, Loulou De La Falaise, Katoucha Niane, and Laetitia Casta, among others, interact with the master. With style and flair,...
The morning before going to the new Pace Gallery in Chelsea for David Hockney’s La Grande Cour, Normandy exhibition and meeting with Bacurau directors Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles and with Sônia Braga at Cinetic Media, Olivier Merou, the director of Celebration joined me for a conversation at Film Forum on his long-awaited Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé documentary.
It's shot by Jean-Marc Bouzou and Florian Bouchet over three years starting in 1998 with a terrific score by François-Eudes Chanfrault (Clément Cogitore’s Neither Heaven Nor Earth) and sound production by Yolande Decarsin and Ludovic Escallier, and we see Catherine Deneuve, Loulou De La Falaise, Katoucha Niane, and Laetitia Casta, among others, interact with the master. With style and flair,...
- 11/1/2019
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
This amazingly candid documentary reveals the designer in a terrible decline as he rules his studio like a latter-day Sun King
Most fashion documentaries are pretty sycophantic. Not this one. The long-delayed release of Olivier Meyrou’s Yves Saint Laurent: The Last Collections – alternatively (and ironically) titled Celebration – gives us an amazingly candid and rather shocking study of the legendary fashion designer, and his apparent physical and mental deterioration at the age of 60, as he was preparing his final show in 1999 as an independent designer in the old style, before selling the Ysl brand to Gucci.
The film was originally shown in 2007, but then withdrawn under legal pressure from Saint Laurent’s business and personal partner Pierre Bergé, who emerges from the film as callous, cynical, manipulative and cruel, calling Saint Laurent a “sleepwalker” who depends on his “anxieties”. Bergé is shown all but mocking what appears to be Saint...
Most fashion documentaries are pretty sycophantic. Not this one. The long-delayed release of Olivier Meyrou’s Yves Saint Laurent: The Last Collections – alternatively (and ironically) titled Celebration – gives us an amazingly candid and rather shocking study of the legendary fashion designer, and his apparent physical and mental deterioration at the age of 60, as he was preparing his final show in 1999 as an independent designer in the old style, before selling the Ysl brand to Gucci.
The film was originally shown in 2007, but then withdrawn under legal pressure from Saint Laurent’s business and personal partner Pierre Bergé, who emerges from the film as callous, cynical, manipulative and cruel, calling Saint Laurent a “sleepwalker” who depends on his “anxieties”. Bergé is shown all but mocking what appears to be Saint...
- 10/31/2019
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
The designer and his partner Pierre Bergé are seen at the height of their success, but permission to screen it was refused
In 1998 a young filmmaker called Olivier Meyrou was invited by Pierre Bergé, the long-term partner of Yves Saint-Laurent, to film the pair at the height of their success. He spent three years capturing the most intimate moments of their everyday lives, forming a close circle of trust. But when the film found a distributor Bergé insisted the footage never be seen, despite not having seen any of it himself.
In 2015, two years before his death, Bergé finally gave permission for it to be shown and now, nearly two decades after filming was wrapped up, 11 years after Saint-Laurent died, Yves Saint-Laurent: The Last Collections will be released in cinemas this week. Despite what he calls an “ugly fight”, Meyrou insists there is no bad blood.
In 1998 a young filmmaker called Olivier Meyrou was invited by Pierre Bergé, the long-term partner of Yves Saint-Laurent, to film the pair at the height of their success. He spent three years capturing the most intimate moments of their everyday lives, forming a close circle of trust. But when the film found a distributor Bergé insisted the footage never be seen, despite not having seen any of it himself.
In 2015, two years before his death, Bergé finally gave permission for it to be shown and now, nearly two decades after filming was wrapped up, 11 years after Saint-Laurent died, Yves Saint-Laurent: The Last Collections will be released in cinemas this week. Despite what he calls an “ugly fight”, Meyrou insists there is no bad blood.
- 10/27/2019
- by Scarlett Conlon
- The Guardian - Film News
Zombi Child director Bertrand Bonello on Olivier Meyrou's Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé documentary Celebration: "It's beautiful. A beautiful film." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
The last time I spoke with Bertrand Bonello, it was on Nocturama at the Rendez-Vous with French Cinema luncheon in 2017, hosted by uniFrance at Robert De Niro's Locanda Verde in Tribeca. The event was also attended by Django director Étienne Comar and Reda Kateb (who portrays Django Reinhardt), Film at Lincoln Center's Director of Programming Dennis Lim, along with numerous members of the French film delegation.
This time around, Bertrand and I met at the Hudson Hotel the morning before the New York Film Festival Us Premiere at Alice Tully Hall of his latest film, Zombi Child, with Mackenson Bijou, Louise Labèque, Wislanda Louimat, Katiana Wilfort, Adelé David, Ninon François, Mathilde Riu, and Patrick Boucheron. This is not Jim Jarmusch's The Dead Don't Die.
The last time I spoke with Bertrand Bonello, it was on Nocturama at the Rendez-Vous with French Cinema luncheon in 2017, hosted by uniFrance at Robert De Niro's Locanda Verde in Tribeca. The event was also attended by Django director Étienne Comar and Reda Kateb (who portrays Django Reinhardt), Film at Lincoln Center's Director of Programming Dennis Lim, along with numerous members of the French film delegation.
This time around, Bertrand and I met at the Hudson Hotel the morning before the New York Film Festival Us Premiere at Alice Tully Hall of his latest film, Zombi Child, with Mackenson Bijou, Louise Labèque, Wislanda Louimat, Katiana Wilfort, Adelé David, Ninon François, Mathilde Riu, and Patrick Boucheron. This is not Jim Jarmusch's The Dead Don't Die.
- 10/10/2019
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
“I was 32, Yves was 26. Everything seemed wonderful. Later, you’re less easily satisfied. At first, you create art from nothing. Then, little by little, things start getting complicated,” says Pierre Bergé, the business partner, former lover, and longtime companion of French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent. His words play over a scene in Olivier Meyrou’s Celebration, where Bergé stands against a large, decadent window while the blinds get lifted. His right profile gets clearer and clearer as more and more light fill up the screen. From 1998 to 2001, Bergé had given Meyrou unlimited access to film Ysl’s final couture collection before the fashion house of Yves Saint Laurent got taken over by Gucci. As the takeover drew closer, Bergé executed some grand swan songs for the fashion house, of which the Yves Saint Laurent parade at the Stade de France before the end of the 1998 France-Brazil Football World Cup was the grandest.
- 9/30/2019
- MUBI
Director Olivier Meyrou spent nearly three years embedded in the world of fashion icon Yves Saint Laurent as he was preparing what would be his final show. The resulting documentary premiered at the 2007 Berlin Film Festival, but was then suppressed after its only public screening, blocked by Pierre Bergé, business partner and occasional romantic partner to the legendary designer. Now, a decade after Laurent’s death and a few years after Bergé has passed away, the film–titled Celebration–has been reworked and will finally get a release.
With the relationship at the center between Yves Saint Laurent and Bergé said to have been an inspiration for Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread–specifically Daniel Day-Lewis and Lesley Manville’s characters–the film provides a fascinating real-life peek into this high fashion world and the dynamics within it. Set to open at Film Forum on October 2 and expand in the...
With the relationship at the center between Yves Saint Laurent and Bergé said to have been an inspiration for Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread–specifically Daniel Day-Lewis and Lesley Manville’s characters–the film provides a fascinating real-life peek into this high fashion world and the dynamics within it. Set to open at Film Forum on October 2 and expand in the...
- 9/18/2019
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
In 1998, French filmmaker Olivier Meyrou filmed Yves Saint Laurent as he prepared what would be his final collection before the top-tier fashion brand sold to Gucci the following year. It was the end of an era, as Saint Laurent was already the last of the great French designers to operate his own house, and this would be his “Celebration” — although the man Meyrou observed was far different from what his legend suggested: reclusive, irritable, virtually silent, and, perhaps most shockingly, quite inelegant.
Ironic title notwithstanding, “Celebration” feels less like hollow adulation than some kind of macabre autopsy conducted on a still-living specimen. Saint Laurent died a full decade later, but seems barely there in this often contradictory portrait, which is simultaneously respectful of his genius and perturbed by the twitching, tragic creature Saint Laurent has become. Still, what kind of monster is cooed over by supermodels and treated like royalty by his staff?...
Ironic title notwithstanding, “Celebration” feels less like hollow adulation than some kind of macabre autopsy conducted on a still-living specimen. Saint Laurent died a full decade later, but seems barely there in this often contradictory portrait, which is simultaneously respectful of his genius and perturbed by the twitching, tragic creature Saint Laurent has become. Still, what kind of monster is cooed over by supermodels and treated like royalty by his staff?...
- 11/22/2018
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Author: Stefan Pape
Back in January we were fortunate enough to spend a weekend in Paris, interviewing some of the biggest names in French cinema (Isabelle Huppert Ftw) – but none were quite as enjoyable to meet than Guillaume Gallienne. “Do you have a spare fag?” he asked when I walked in – in a near-perfect English accent I had perceived to be a piss-take, mimicking my dialect ahead of our time together. But it wasn’t, for Gallienne is a classically trained theatre act-or – part of La Comédie Francaise – who even spent time living in Britain. His English, at times, was even better than mine.
“I was in England between the ages 13-16, I took my O-Levels there in a boarding school in Hampshire,” he said. “I had English nannies before when I was young. One of them forbid me from running in the rain. Very strange. She found it very common,...
Back in January we were fortunate enough to spend a weekend in Paris, interviewing some of the biggest names in French cinema (Isabelle Huppert Ftw) – but none were quite as enjoyable to meet than Guillaume Gallienne. “Do you have a spare fag?” he asked when I walked in – in a near-perfect English accent I had perceived to be a piss-take, mimicking my dialect ahead of our time together. But it wasn’t, for Gallienne is a classically trained theatre act-or – part of La Comédie Francaise – who even spent time living in Britain. His English, at times, was even better than mine.
“I was in England between the ages 13-16, I took my O-Levels there in a boarding school in Hampshire,” he said. “I had English nannies before when I was young. One of them forbid me from running in the rain. Very strange. She found it very common,...
- 4/12/2017
- by Stefan Pape
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Guillaume Gallienne: "The script had all the elements, the love and trust of Danièle." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Danièle Thompson's Cézanne Et Moi, starring Guillaume Gallienne as Paul Cézanne and Guillaume Canet as Émile Zola, had its New York premiere on Wednesday, hosted by Diane von Furstenberg and Barry Diller at The Whitby Hotel, where I had spoken to Wilson director Craig Johnson, screenwriter Daniel Clowes, Woody Harrelson, Laura Dern, Judy Greer and Isabella Amara.
The women in Cézanne's life were his mother Anne-Elisabeth (Sabine Azéma) and wife Hortense (Déborah François also in Claude Lelouch's latest Chacun sa vie). For Zola, his mother Émilie (Isabelle Candelier), wife Alexandrine (Alice Pol -Lelouch's Un + une), and mistress Jeanne (Freya Mavor). Guillaume Gallienne, who played Pierre Bergé in Jalil Lespert's Yves Saint Laurent gave some clarity into his vision of Cézanne, his relationship to Zola, and the women around them.
Déborah François...
Danièle Thompson's Cézanne Et Moi, starring Guillaume Gallienne as Paul Cézanne and Guillaume Canet as Émile Zola, had its New York premiere on Wednesday, hosted by Diane von Furstenberg and Barry Diller at The Whitby Hotel, where I had spoken to Wilson director Craig Johnson, screenwriter Daniel Clowes, Woody Harrelson, Laura Dern, Judy Greer and Isabella Amara.
The women in Cézanne's life were his mother Anne-Elisabeth (Sabine Azéma) and wife Hortense (Déborah François also in Claude Lelouch's latest Chacun sa vie). For Zola, his mother Émilie (Isabelle Candelier), wife Alexandrine (Alice Pol -Lelouch's Un + une), and mistress Jeanne (Freya Mavor). Guillaume Gallienne, who played Pierre Bergé in Jalil Lespert's Yves Saint Laurent gave some clarity into his vision of Cézanne, his relationship to Zola, and the women around them.
Déborah François...
- 3/26/2017
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
In the case of the rivaling Yves Saint Laurent biopics, Bertrand Bonello’s “Saint Laurent” is the show-offy stepchild of the two. Bonello’s film covers more decades in the iconic fashion designer’s life, boasts the glitzier cast, and, most importantly, was named France’s Oscar submission for the most recent Foreign Language Film category. Still, it’s last year’s “Yves Saint Laurent,” directed by Jalil Lespert, that’s won the support of Pierre Bergé, the deceased designer’s longtime business partner and sometimes lover. Bergé loaned Lespert’s production dozens of ensembles from the fashion house’s vintage collections,...
- 5/8/2015
- by Inkoo Kang
- The Wrap
Once again, Make it the Same Only New
With this biopic on the great French fashion icon Yves Saint Laurent, Bertrand Bonello streamlines for himself a reputation as one of contemporary cinema’s keenest voices on the concept of time. Coming off his Palme d’Or-contending masterpiece, House of Tolerance – a film concerned with the dichotomy between slow and rapid evolutions of people, places, and culture – Bonello once again sweeps across years of a life in a startlingly arrhythmic procession. The central theme in this case is re-materialization, namely, Saint Laurent’s propensity for reinvigorating the status quo by injecting it with the new. Unfortunately, one of the prime examples in Saint Laurent’s life of this trait was in his reliance on various mind-altering drugs – a chapter of his life that consumes and befouls roughly a full hour of the lengthy, two-and-a-half hour dalliance.
Chalk that up to the...
With this biopic on the great French fashion icon Yves Saint Laurent, Bertrand Bonello streamlines for himself a reputation as one of contemporary cinema’s keenest voices on the concept of time. Coming off his Palme d’Or-contending masterpiece, House of Tolerance – a film concerned with the dichotomy between slow and rapid evolutions of people, places, and culture – Bonello once again sweeps across years of a life in a startlingly arrhythmic procession. The central theme in this case is re-materialization, namely, Saint Laurent’s propensity for reinvigorating the status quo by injecting it with the new. Unfortunately, one of the prime examples in Saint Laurent’s life of this trait was in his reliance on various mind-altering drugs – a chapter of his life that consumes and befouls roughly a full hour of the lengthy, two-and-a-half hour dalliance.
Chalk that up to the...
- 5/4/2015
- by Blake Williams
- IONCINEMA.com
Here’s the final entry in my annual assessment of movies that have a chance to pass the first stage of the Foreign Language Oscar race. We expect the shortlist to come out tomorrow and I’m expecting a number of the films I’ve profiled below, and here and here, will make the grade. I spoke with the directors of the films about their inspirations and expectations and I also checked in with the U.S. distributors about why they bought the movies. Below is a look at the final five titles that have generated serious buzz over the past several weeks of screenings, Q&As and consulate lunches (and there are also a handful of special mentions). The films are in no particular order:
Wild Tales (Argentina), U.S. Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
A runaway success at home in Argentina, Wild Tales is director Damián Szifrón’s third feature.
Wild Tales (Argentina), U.S. Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
A runaway success at home in Argentina, Wild Tales is director Damián Szifrón’s third feature.
- 12/18/2014
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline
Approaching the end of Bertrand Bonello‘s Saint Laurent, the entire city of Paris is abuzz with rumor. Yves Saint Laurent might be dead. The year is 1977. The audience, of course, knows this to be false (the legendary fashion designer actually died in 2008), yet within the film everyone is taken by gossip, contemplating his life and how to write the obituary. It is one of the few moments in Saint Laurent in which the artist himself is not present. Another is a business meeting about halfway through the biopic’s florid two and a half hours, in which his longtime partner Pierre Bergé (Jeremie Renier) argues over the Ysl branding with American investors. A deadpan interpreter relays these important but dull discussions between French and English, highlighting the energy and beauty of Saint Laurent’s art by way of its absence from the conference room. Both of these sequences approach the undefinable identity of a great artist...
- 10/6/2014
- by Daniel Walber
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
Film to receive Us premiere at New York Film Festival on Sept 30.
Bertrand Bonello’s Saint Laurent, exploring the life of late French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent, has been selected as France’s Foreign-Language Oscar submission.
The picture is set to premiere in the Us at the New York Film Festival on Sept 30. Sony Pictures Classics is handling its Us release.
It will hit French cinemas on Wednesday (Sept 24), distributed by EuropaCorp.
The film stars Gaspard Ulliel as the iconic designer with support from Jeremie Renier as his long-time partner Pierre Bergé and Lea Seydoux as model and muse Loulou de la Falaise.
It focuses on the period 1967 to 1976 when the designer was at the height of his powers but also battling with drink, drugs and depression behind the scenes.
It was produced by Eric and Nicolas Altmayer of Paris-based Mandarin Cinema and EuropeCorp with support from co-producers Arte Cinema and Orange Studio.
Ironically, the film...
Bertrand Bonello’s Saint Laurent, exploring the life of late French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent, has been selected as France’s Foreign-Language Oscar submission.
The picture is set to premiere in the Us at the New York Film Festival on Sept 30. Sony Pictures Classics is handling its Us release.
It will hit French cinemas on Wednesday (Sept 24), distributed by EuropaCorp.
The film stars Gaspard Ulliel as the iconic designer with support from Jeremie Renier as his long-time partner Pierre Bergé and Lea Seydoux as model and muse Loulou de la Falaise.
It focuses on the period 1967 to 1976 when the designer was at the height of his powers but also battling with drink, drugs and depression behind the scenes.
It was produced by Eric and Nicolas Altmayer of Paris-based Mandarin Cinema and EuropeCorp with support from co-producers Arte Cinema and Orange Studio.
Ironically, the film...
- 9/22/2014
- ScreenDaily
The selection of the Foreign Language Oscar entry from France has been one of the more interesting to follow this year given all the controversy surrounding 2013’s ultimate decision. The committee that chooses the picture that will represent France has gone with Bertrand Bonello’s biopic Saint Laurent, which will premiere next week in the U.S. at the New York Film Festival.
Saint Laurent, which Sony Pictures Classics acquired ahead of its Cannes premiere in competition this year, stars Gaspard Ulliel as the fashion icon and Jérémie Renier as his lifelong partner Pierre Bergé. The film is set during the period 1965-1976 and EuropaCorp and Mandarin Cinema are producers. It is the second Saint Laurent biopic to hit screens this year after The Weinstein Co’s Yves Saint Laurent, which had Pierre Niney starring and Jalil Lespert directing. That one premiered in June in the U.S. and has made $20.3M worldwide.
Saint Laurent, which Sony Pictures Classics acquired ahead of its Cannes premiere in competition this year, stars Gaspard Ulliel as the fashion icon and Jérémie Renier as his lifelong partner Pierre Bergé. The film is set during the period 1965-1976 and EuropaCorp and Mandarin Cinema are producers. It is the second Saint Laurent biopic to hit screens this year after The Weinstein Co’s Yves Saint Laurent, which had Pierre Niney starring and Jalil Lespert directing. That one premiered in June in the U.S. and has made $20.3M worldwide.
- 9/22/2014
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline
Chicago – Fashion is art, and the canvas is provided by the wearer of that fashion. The designer biography depicted in “Yves Saint Laurent” is one of tortured genius, as Saint Laurent influenced and commodified the world of clothing and accessory creation for over 50 years.
Rating: 3.5/5.0
The focus of this French film biography is in the portrayal of Pierre Niney as Saint Laurent, following him from 20-year-old assistant to Christian Dior in 1950s Paris, to international private label superstar through the 1970s. Along the way the truths of his intense work ethic and ability to figure out the next trend is tied into his psychological problems and relationships, especially with his lover and business partner, Pierre Bergé. For lovers of fashion and design history, this is a must see. For the rest of us, it provides a glimpse into a business and art form that eventually filters down into the clothing...
Rating: 3.5/5.0
The focus of this French film biography is in the portrayal of Pierre Niney as Saint Laurent, following him from 20-year-old assistant to Christian Dior in 1950s Paris, to international private label superstar through the 1970s. Along the way the truths of his intense work ethic and ability to figure out the next trend is tied into his psychological problems and relationships, especially with his lover and business partner, Pierre Bergé. For lovers of fashion and design history, this is a must see. For the rest of us, it provides a glimpse into a business and art form that eventually filters down into the clothing...
- 9/1/2014
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
As biopics go, Yves Saint-Laurent is one of the shortest in contemporary film, clocking in at a mere 106 minutes. Despite the running time though, the debut from French actor-turned-director Jelil Lespert achieves much. It shows us how Saint-Laurent changed the world of fashion while the new fashions of social life changed his life. By the end of the biopic, he is a multifaceted figure full of contradictions and complexities – although he is still more of an icon that a character.
The film chronicles about 30 years of the famed fashion designer’s life, beginning at his early tutelage under Christian Dior. While more of an episodic biography than a film where the artist is motivated by a central goal, Yves Saint-Laurent does try on many of the (figurative) clothes the designer wore during his stint as the head of France’s premiere fashion house (and later his own establishment). Saint-Laurent was a repressed homosexual,...
The film chronicles about 30 years of the famed fashion designer’s life, beginning at his early tutelage under Christian Dior. While more of an episodic biography than a film where the artist is motivated by a central goal, Yves Saint-Laurent does try on many of the (figurative) clothes the designer wore during his stint as the head of France’s premiere fashion house (and later his own establishment). Saint-Laurent was a repressed homosexual,...
- 8/7/2014
- by Jordan Adler
- We Got This Covered
This biopic of “fashion’s little prince” offers all the elegant precision of a fashion shoot — it’s beautiful, and cold — but lacks a lot of necessary context. I’m “biast” (pro): nothing
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
I have not read the source material
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
Legendary designer Yves Saint Laurent “revolutionized women’s fashion” in the 1960s and 70s, this French biopic informs us right at its very very end. Which it perhaps deems a necessary tidbit to drop on us, because there hasn’t been the least hint a grand influence of “fashion’s little prince” in the preceding hour and 45 minutes. I say this not to slander the designer — who actually was quite an important figure in the history of draping women’s bodies in fancy clothes — but to wonder just what the heck director (and coscreenwriter...
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
I have not read the source material
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
Legendary designer Yves Saint Laurent “revolutionized women’s fashion” in the 1960s and 70s, this French biopic informs us right at its very very end. Which it perhaps deems a necessary tidbit to drop on us, because there hasn’t been the least hint a grand influence of “fashion’s little prince” in the preceding hour and 45 minutes. I say this not to slander the designer — who actually was quite an important figure in the history of draping women’s bodies in fancy clothes — but to wonder just what the heck director (and coscreenwriter...
- 7/29/2014
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
A fragile genius once described as having been "born with a nervous breakdown," Yves Saint Laurent who died of brain cancer in 2008 at 71, transformed trends, popularizing the peacoat and the pantsuit, now considered basics. Says his business and one-time romantic partner Pierre Bergé, "He invented the modern women's wardrobe." Now six years after his death, a new biopic, Yves Saint Laurent in select cities nationwide, reveals more of the decadence behind the glamour. Plagued by depression, Saint Laurent abused alcohol and cocaine for many years. As he said at the time of his retirement in 2002, "I have been through sheer hell.
- 7/18/2014
- by Liz McNeil
- PEOPLE.com
A fragile genius once described as having been "born with a nervous breakdown," Yves Saint Laurent who died of brain cancer in 2008 at 71, transformed trends, popularizing the peacoat and the pantsuit, now considered basics. Says his business and one-time romantic partner Pierre Bergé, "He invented the modern women's wardrobe." Now six years after his death, a new biopic, Yves Saint Laurent in select cities nationwide, reveals more of the decadence behind the glamour. Plagued by depression, Saint Laurent abused alcohol and cocaine for many years. As he said at the time of his retirement in 2002, "I have been through sheer hell.
- 7/18/2014
- by Liz McNeil
- PEOPLE.com
They Came Together
R, 1 Hr., 23 Mins.
Rom-com tropes like the ”meet-cute” are so tired that you can’t just spoof them – you have to spoof the spoofs, which this winking David Wain-Michael Showalter parody mostly succeeds at doing. Molly (Amy Poehler) and Joel (Paul Rudd) tell the story of how they fell in love to another couple (Ellie Kemper and Bill Hader), repeating that it’s ”just like a romantic comedy.” Cue the clichés: an aerial shot of Manhattan, a costume-party encounter, a You’ve Got Mail subplot about a candy conglomerate devouring Molly’s indie sweetshop. Most...
R, 1 Hr., 23 Mins.
Rom-com tropes like the ”meet-cute” are so tired that you can’t just spoof them – you have to spoof the spoofs, which this winking David Wain-Michael Showalter parody mostly succeeds at doing. Molly (Amy Poehler) and Joel (Paul Rudd) tell the story of how they fell in love to another couple (Ellie Kemper and Bill Hader), repeating that it’s ”just like a romantic comedy.” Cue the clichés: an aerial shot of Manhattan, a costume-party encounter, a You’ve Got Mail subplot about a candy conglomerate devouring Molly’s indie sweetshop. Most...
- 6/27/2014
- by EW staff
- EW - Inside Movies
Elegant innovation wrapped in painful vices defined the life and career of the iconic French designer Yves Saint Laurent. Becoming the Christian Dior’s creative successor at 21-years-old was merely a hint of his groundbreaking vision. Fashion was an obsessive force that tortured him and saved him from despair in several occasions. In Jalil Lespert’s biographical film, Saint Laurent is played by Pierre Niney , who sports a striking resemblance to him. Paying homage to the artists wearable artistry, the garments are often at the center of action; however, Lespert’s focus is the turbulent romance between Pierre Bergé (played by Guillaume Gallienne) and the drug-addicted genius. As unflattering as the portrayal can seem at times, the intent is to portray truth. It never diminishes the magnificent works Yves Saint Laurent envisioned, but it also doesn’t try to hide the perpetual distress and instability that marked his existence.
Director Jalil Lespert talked to us from New York about his relationship with fashion, turning icons into mortals, and his choice of making the designer’s romantic life the driving force for his project.
Aguilar: How did you get involved with Yves Saint Laurent’s story, where you always a interested in fashion to some degree?
Lespert: I’m Parisian so I know about fashion. I know a lot of people who work in fashion. My wife, for example, she used to be a model, so I’m very close to fashion. However, I was not fascinated by fashion, but I really wanted to make a great French story. I was wondering if it was going to be fictional or a biopic but I didn’t know. While looking for a great story I suddenly realized that fashion was quite interesting to me. It is well known almost everywhere in the world that Paris is the fashion capital. I don’t know why, but I though about Yves Saint Laurent and realized that nobody had done a narrative movie about him before. I read everything about him, I saw all the documentaries on him and I realized that it was the movie I wanted to make and the story I wanted to tell. I just dove into it.
Aguilar: Your approach is not that of a traditional "cradle-to-grave" biopic. Why did you decide to depict such a specific side of Yves Saint Laurent's life?
Lespert: First of all, I decided to only deal with the first 20 years of his career because for me it was the most interesting period of his career. I really wanted it to end with the runway because I knew that I wanted to talk about creation and I wanted to show his masterpieces. I realized that these 20 years of work were also the 20 years of love with Pierre Bergé. The combination of both was the foundation for my script. I wanted to talk about Yves Saint Laurent through Pierre’s eyes and memory.
Aguilar: How difficult was to obtain access to the designer’s archives in order to research for the project?
Lespert: I needed to talk to Pierre Bergé because their relationship was the foundation of the script. We met and I had to ask him. I didn’t know if it was Ok for me to say, “Hello, I’m a young director, I want to make a movie about Yves Saint Laurent and it’s going to talk about your love story too. And, by the way, I will need to work with you and the foundation because I need to show the dresses, the drawings, everything. Therefore I need full access to the archives.” He said, “Yes,” so I was very lucky [Laughs]
Aguilar: How did the process of choosing the particular dresses you wanted to use work? Did you have a team that helped you select them, or a certain point of reference, or was it your intuition?
Lespert: No, I worked with Madeline Fontaine , she is my costume designer. I’ve worked with her in all of my films. She is a fantastic costume designer. She has worked in many great films; for example, she has been Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s costume designer as well. She knows a lot about fashion history. We did research, and we worked in collaboration with the foundation. We chose the most important pieces like the Mondrian or the tuxedos. I wanted to include a few runways, and it was important that each one told something about the story, and my movie is a love story. I wanted to talk about the couple through the runways.
At the beginning we have the first runway that Yves Saint Laurent did as designer. He created a style and he met Pierre, it represents the meeting between the two. In the second one he unveils his first collection for his brand Ysl. At this time it is all a big mess, they are all a bit hysterical. They are just like a young couple that is trying to show that they can be a great pair if they succeed. The last runway, which is an achievement, for me is his best collection. Because at this time Yves was really bad very tired and very sick, Pierre and Yves almost ate each other, they break up, and finally they find each other again thanks to creation of this collection. I really wanted to show this because it’s the truth.
Aguilar: Looking at pictures of the real life Yves Saint Lauren and comparing them with Pierre Niney in the film, the resemblance is uncanny. What drew you to him enough to believe he could pull off such a captivating performance?
Lespert: I was very lucky. Before the first time I saw Pierre Niney, I had heard about him because I love actors, and I know who the important young actors in Paris are. Then I saw a picture of him in a magazine, and I knew there was something there because he was wearing glasses and he had this sort of elegance to him. I asked my casting director to show me some readings he had done for another movie, and after thirty seconds I knew he had the role. He was able to bring life to this movie because he is a smart actor. He could be very funny like Yves Saint Laurent was, and he has a dark side like him as well. He is very smart. It was important to have an actor who is already very smart because you can’t play being smart if you are not [Laughs]. I knew I needed an actor who would be able to play a genius, which means a lot. I had this kind of crush with him immediately.
Aguilar: As a director, what was the process with your actors to create versions of these characters that felt human and relatable?
Lespert : The first thing I did with both of the main actors, Guillaume Gallienne and Pierre Niney, was do readings during two weeks. We were very involved already because the script was not so bad [Laughs], and some scenes were very moving. It was important to be able to break the ice and to understand that they were human beings just like you and I. We were talking about real feelings and they were not perfect people. We had to break everything apart to make our own story, our own movie. We were able to bring emotion and make a real movie not something out of a wax museum or a Wikipedia movie. That was not the purpose.
Aguilar: Did Pierre Bergé get to see the film? What was his reaction?
Lespert: He was very moved actually. I showed him the movie when it was not completely finished. I was terribly scary for me, it was worse than having stage fright. To show my film to someone that is still alive, it was really weird. I was very lucky that someone like him trusted me enough to give me the responsibility of talking about his own life, his love story, and the person that he was in love with for 50 years. He was simple a human being who saw his life and his companion on screen. It was a very special moment, a wonderful moment.
Aguilar: Did you talk to any other fashion personalities that could give you more insight on Yves Saint Laurent's life? People like Karl Lagerfeld perhaps?
Lespert: Not really. I met several people who worked with Yves Saint Laurent, but mostly people from his work family like Betty Catroux or Dominique Deroche who was his closest assistant for over 40 years, as well as some seamstresses. I didn’t want to use too many people. For example, for Karl Lagerfeld, it would have been difficult to explain deeply the meaning of my film and the fact that I wanted to talk about Jacques de Bascher . It was a touchy subject, so I preferred to read from the biographies, for example one called The Beautiful Fall by an American journalist. He talks a lot about Yves and Karl, but I didn’t meet everybody unfortunately.
Aguilar: Now that you’ve finished the film and after getting to know Yves Saint Laurent through your research, what image of him do you have?
Lespert: For me, Yves Saint Laurent is a hero because he fought his whole life against illness. Maybe the only way to fight this illness for him was to make it positive with creation. Otherwise he would have been lonely or in the hospital. He had so many issues with alcohol, drugs, and everything, this explains a lot about his necessity to create. Great creators like Yves Saint Laurent or Jimmi Hendrix; they are people who are so smart and so sensitive. They have such a sharp vision of life that everyday life is complicated for them. They are moved and shocked with so many things that they have to make it positive with creation.
Director Jalil Lespert talked to us from New York about his relationship with fashion, turning icons into mortals, and his choice of making the designer’s romantic life the driving force for his project.
Aguilar: How did you get involved with Yves Saint Laurent’s story, where you always a interested in fashion to some degree?
Lespert: I’m Parisian so I know about fashion. I know a lot of people who work in fashion. My wife, for example, she used to be a model, so I’m very close to fashion. However, I was not fascinated by fashion, but I really wanted to make a great French story. I was wondering if it was going to be fictional or a biopic but I didn’t know. While looking for a great story I suddenly realized that fashion was quite interesting to me. It is well known almost everywhere in the world that Paris is the fashion capital. I don’t know why, but I though about Yves Saint Laurent and realized that nobody had done a narrative movie about him before. I read everything about him, I saw all the documentaries on him and I realized that it was the movie I wanted to make and the story I wanted to tell. I just dove into it.
Aguilar: Your approach is not that of a traditional "cradle-to-grave" biopic. Why did you decide to depict such a specific side of Yves Saint Laurent's life?
Lespert: First of all, I decided to only deal with the first 20 years of his career because for me it was the most interesting period of his career. I really wanted it to end with the runway because I knew that I wanted to talk about creation and I wanted to show his masterpieces. I realized that these 20 years of work were also the 20 years of love with Pierre Bergé. The combination of both was the foundation for my script. I wanted to talk about Yves Saint Laurent through Pierre’s eyes and memory.
Aguilar: How difficult was to obtain access to the designer’s archives in order to research for the project?
Lespert: I needed to talk to Pierre Bergé because their relationship was the foundation of the script. We met and I had to ask him. I didn’t know if it was Ok for me to say, “Hello, I’m a young director, I want to make a movie about Yves Saint Laurent and it’s going to talk about your love story too. And, by the way, I will need to work with you and the foundation because I need to show the dresses, the drawings, everything. Therefore I need full access to the archives.” He said, “Yes,” so I was very lucky [Laughs]
Aguilar: How did the process of choosing the particular dresses you wanted to use work? Did you have a team that helped you select them, or a certain point of reference, or was it your intuition?
Lespert: No, I worked with Madeline Fontaine , she is my costume designer. I’ve worked with her in all of my films. She is a fantastic costume designer. She has worked in many great films; for example, she has been Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s costume designer as well. She knows a lot about fashion history. We did research, and we worked in collaboration with the foundation. We chose the most important pieces like the Mondrian or the tuxedos. I wanted to include a few runways, and it was important that each one told something about the story, and my movie is a love story. I wanted to talk about the couple through the runways.
At the beginning we have the first runway that Yves Saint Laurent did as designer. He created a style and he met Pierre, it represents the meeting between the two. In the second one he unveils his first collection for his brand Ysl. At this time it is all a big mess, they are all a bit hysterical. They are just like a young couple that is trying to show that they can be a great pair if they succeed. The last runway, which is an achievement, for me is his best collection. Because at this time Yves was really bad very tired and very sick, Pierre and Yves almost ate each other, they break up, and finally they find each other again thanks to creation of this collection. I really wanted to show this because it’s the truth.
Aguilar: Looking at pictures of the real life Yves Saint Lauren and comparing them with Pierre Niney in the film, the resemblance is uncanny. What drew you to him enough to believe he could pull off such a captivating performance?
Lespert: I was very lucky. Before the first time I saw Pierre Niney, I had heard about him because I love actors, and I know who the important young actors in Paris are. Then I saw a picture of him in a magazine, and I knew there was something there because he was wearing glasses and he had this sort of elegance to him. I asked my casting director to show me some readings he had done for another movie, and after thirty seconds I knew he had the role. He was able to bring life to this movie because he is a smart actor. He could be very funny like Yves Saint Laurent was, and he has a dark side like him as well. He is very smart. It was important to have an actor who is already very smart because you can’t play being smart if you are not [Laughs]. I knew I needed an actor who would be able to play a genius, which means a lot. I had this kind of crush with him immediately.
Aguilar: As a director, what was the process with your actors to create versions of these characters that felt human and relatable?
Lespert : The first thing I did with both of the main actors, Guillaume Gallienne and Pierre Niney, was do readings during two weeks. We were very involved already because the script was not so bad [Laughs], and some scenes were very moving. It was important to be able to break the ice and to understand that they were human beings just like you and I. We were talking about real feelings and they were not perfect people. We had to break everything apart to make our own story, our own movie. We were able to bring emotion and make a real movie not something out of a wax museum or a Wikipedia movie. That was not the purpose.
Aguilar: Did Pierre Bergé get to see the film? What was his reaction?
Lespert: He was very moved actually. I showed him the movie when it was not completely finished. I was terribly scary for me, it was worse than having stage fright. To show my film to someone that is still alive, it was really weird. I was very lucky that someone like him trusted me enough to give me the responsibility of talking about his own life, his love story, and the person that he was in love with for 50 years. He was simple a human being who saw his life and his companion on screen. It was a very special moment, a wonderful moment.
Aguilar: Did you talk to any other fashion personalities that could give you more insight on Yves Saint Laurent's life? People like Karl Lagerfeld perhaps?
Lespert: Not really. I met several people who worked with Yves Saint Laurent, but mostly people from his work family like Betty Catroux or Dominique Deroche who was his closest assistant for over 40 years, as well as some seamstresses. I didn’t want to use too many people. For example, for Karl Lagerfeld, it would have been difficult to explain deeply the meaning of my film and the fact that I wanted to talk about Jacques de Bascher . It was a touchy subject, so I preferred to read from the biographies, for example one called The Beautiful Fall by an American journalist. He talks a lot about Yves and Karl, but I didn’t meet everybody unfortunately.
Aguilar: Now that you’ve finished the film and after getting to know Yves Saint Laurent through your research, what image of him do you have?
Lespert: For me, Yves Saint Laurent is a hero because he fought his whole life against illness. Maybe the only way to fight this illness for him was to make it positive with creation. Otherwise he would have been lonely or in the hospital. He had so many issues with alcohol, drugs, and everything, this explains a lot about his necessity to create. Great creators like Yves Saint Laurent or Jimmi Hendrix; they are people who are so smart and so sensitive. They have such a sharp vision of life that everyday life is complicated for them. They are moved and shocked with so many things that they have to make it positive with creation.
- 6/26/2014
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Sydney's Buzz
If the clothes of Yves Saint Laurent were groundbreaking, the designer's mystique was as subtle as the curve of an invisibly molded sleeve. Those who have picked up just a little Saint Laurent lore may know about his beginnings at the House of Dior in the late 1950s, and his subsequent firing, in 1960, as he lay in a French military hospital after suffering a post-conscription nervous breakdown. With the help of Pierre Bergé — played here by Guillaume Gallienne — his partner in both life (until 1980) and in business (until the designer's death in 2008), he launched his own house and forever changed the way women dress. He popularized the tuxedo as a garment for modern women; he brought couture vision to the more democratic world of ready-to-wear. In the late '60s and...
- 6/25/2014
- Village Voice
Directed by Jalil Lespert off a screeplay by Marrie-Pierre Huster, Jalil Lespert and Jacques Fieschi, Yves Saint Laurent tells the true story of one of the 20th century's most revered fashion icons. Synopsis: In January 1958, Yves Saint Laurent (Pierre Niney) – aged merely 21 – was unexpectedly called upon to oversee the great Paris fashion house established by the recently deceased Christian Dior. All eyes turned to this very young assistant as he presented his first haute couture collection for Dior. During the highly successful and groundbreaking show, Saint Laurent met Pierre Bergé (Guillaume Gallienne), patron of the arts, future love of his life and lifelong business partner. Three years later, they created the Yves Saint Laurent Company, which would soon become one of the most...
- 6/11/2014
- by Pietro Filipponi
- The Daily BLAM!
Begin Again
Formerly known as Can a Song Save Your Life?, writer-director John Carney’s latest film marks a return to the New York music scene in an uplifting tale of reinvention and rediscovery. Keira Knightley stars as Greta, an amateur singer-songwriter left heartbroken in the Big Apple after her douchebag musician boyfriend Dave (Adam Levine) gets his big break and trades their 5-year relationship for the rich rock-star lifestyle. A chance meeting between Greta and washed-up producer Dan (Mark Ruffalo) leads to an unforgettable summer of music-making and redemption. At times frustratingly twee, like when two characters wander through the city’s nightscape listening to “As Time Goes By” via headphone splitter, Begin Again ultimately wins the audience over with its strong performances and rich visual homage to NYC.
The Two Faces of January
From esteemed screenwriter Hossein Amini comes this stylish adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s novel, The Two Faces of January.
Formerly known as Can a Song Save Your Life?, writer-director John Carney’s latest film marks a return to the New York music scene in an uplifting tale of reinvention and rediscovery. Keira Knightley stars as Greta, an amateur singer-songwriter left heartbroken in the Big Apple after her douchebag musician boyfriend Dave (Adam Levine) gets his big break and trades their 5-year relationship for the rich rock-star lifestyle. A chance meeting between Greta and washed-up producer Dan (Mark Ruffalo) leads to an unforgettable summer of music-making and redemption. At times frustratingly twee, like when two characters wander through the city’s nightscape listening to “As Time Goes By” via headphone splitter, Begin Again ultimately wins the audience over with its strong performances and rich visual homage to NYC.
The Two Faces of January
From esteemed screenwriter Hossein Amini comes this stylish adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s novel, The Two Faces of January.
- 5/8/2014
- by Misa Shikuma
- SoundOnSight
Of course the trailer for the Yves Saint Laurent biopic is elegant.
At times it’s also free-spirited and dark, offering a glimpse at the fashion icon’s highs and lows. Directed by Jalil Lespert, Yves Saint Laurent stars Pierre Niney as the revolutionary designer whose fabulous, jet-set life is marred by nervous breakdowns and drug use. “Genius comes at a price,” the trailer tells us:
Guillaume Gallienne plays Ysl’s lover and business partner, Pierre Bergé. The film is based in part on Bergé’s book Letters to Yves and his reflections on his life with the designer.
Yves Saint Laurent...
At times it’s also free-spirited and dark, offering a glimpse at the fashion icon’s highs and lows. Directed by Jalil Lespert, Yves Saint Laurent stars Pierre Niney as the revolutionary designer whose fabulous, jet-set life is marred by nervous breakdowns and drug use. “Genius comes at a price,” the trailer tells us:
Guillaume Gallienne plays Ysl’s lover and business partner, Pierre Bergé. The film is based in part on Bergé’s book Letters to Yves and his reflections on his life with the designer.
Yves Saint Laurent...
- 4/17/2014
- by Amber Ray
- EW - Inside Movies
Pierre Niney is a dead ringer for the fashion designer, but this is a lifeless account of his career
France has every reason to be smug about its cultural heritage, but the nation has developed a terribly pious way of commemorating its great and good in biopics. This portrait of Ysl, the man behind the monogram, is another luxury embalming job, with the great man's flaws and agonies displayed in the same immaculately shined, refrigerated vitrine as his glories. Humourlessly gorgeous, Jalil Lespert's film makes even the Versailles-like intricacies of the haute-couture world seem humdrum.
Nevertheless, Yves Saint Laurent can be tender and insightful when focusing on the relationship between the designer and his lover and business partner Pierre Bergé. In the title role, Pierre Niney, a dead ringer in horn-rims, is persuasively vulnerable as a trembling greyhound of fragile genius. But he's ever so discreetly upstaged by Guillaume Gallienne's Bergé – a terrific,...
France has every reason to be smug about its cultural heritage, but the nation has developed a terribly pious way of commemorating its great and good in biopics. This portrait of Ysl, the man behind the monogram, is another luxury embalming job, with the great man's flaws and agonies displayed in the same immaculately shined, refrigerated vitrine as his glories. Humourlessly gorgeous, Jalil Lespert's film makes even the Versailles-like intricacies of the haute-couture world seem humdrum.
Nevertheless, Yves Saint Laurent can be tender and insightful when focusing on the relationship between the designer and his lover and business partner Pierre Bergé. In the title role, Pierre Niney, a dead ringer in horn-rims, is persuasively vulnerable as a trembling greyhound of fragile genius. But he's ever so discreetly upstaged by Guillaume Gallienne's Bergé – a terrific,...
- 3/23/2014
- by Jonathan Romney
- The Guardian - Film News
Handsomely produced but baffling – I longed for a commentary from Stanley Tucci's wry character from The Devil Wears Prada
Fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent is the subject of a film that has the glossy sheen of an impossibly expensive promotional video. Even the title feels like the restatement of brand identity. This is pure corporate self-endorsement, handsomely produced. Pierre Niney impersonates Saint Laurent (left): the delicate, shy, bespectacled aesthete who became the boy wonder of Paris fashion in the late 1950s. He has a nervous breakdown through overwork and hostile press reaction to his dismissive remarks about military service, but survives to found his own fashion house with the help of his lover and business partner, Pierre Bergé (Guillaume Gallienne), who supplies an incessant, elegaic voiceover. As the 60s and 70s wear on, Bergé puts on a concerned/disapproving face as Laurent risks his talent with destructive dabbling in drink,...
Fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent is the subject of a film that has the glossy sheen of an impossibly expensive promotional video. Even the title feels like the restatement of brand identity. This is pure corporate self-endorsement, handsomely produced. Pierre Niney impersonates Saint Laurent (left): the delicate, shy, bespectacled aesthete who became the boy wonder of Paris fashion in the late 1950s. He has a nervous breakdown through overwork and hostile press reaction to his dismissive remarks about military service, but survives to found his own fashion house with the help of his lover and business partner, Pierre Bergé (Guillaume Gallienne), who supplies an incessant, elegaic voiceover. As the 60s and 70s wear on, Bergé puts on a concerned/disapproving face as Laurent risks his talent with destructive dabbling in drink,...
- 3/21/2014
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Made with what looks like the full seal of approval from the late designer’s fashion empire (he passed away in 2008), Yves Saint Laurent isn’t quite the fawning hagiography it could have so easily been, yet it’s not the most stimulating and probing portrait, either. It’s a handsome-looking, if sedate affair, which benefits immensely from the fantastic lead performance by Pierre Niney and an equally strong turn by his co-star, Guillaume Gallienne (who plays Yves’ lover and business partner, Pierre Bergé).
The film begins towards the end of the 1950s (via the present day introduction of Bergé recounting his ex-lover’s life) which finds the reserved and meek Yves growing up in the blissful surroundings of Oran, French Algeria. It’s not long before he’s rising up the ranks as Christian Dior’s assistant and beginning a fraught, if initially loving and supportive, relationship with Bergé,...
The film begins towards the end of the 1950s (via the present day introduction of Bergé recounting his ex-lover’s life) which finds the reserved and meek Yves growing up in the blissful surroundings of Oran, French Algeria. It’s not long before he’s rising up the ranks as Christian Dior’s assistant and beginning a fraught, if initially loving and supportive, relationship with Bergé,...
- 3/19/2014
- by Adam Lowes
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
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