Valentino: The Last Emperor (2008)

A look at the life of legendary fashion designer Valentino.

Director:

Matt Tyrnauer

Stars:

Valentino Garavani, Giancarlo Giammetti, Nati Abascal

2 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Valentino Garavani	...	Himself
Giancarlo Giammetti	...	Himself
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Nati Abascal	...	Herself (as Naty Abascal)
Giorgio Armani	...	Himself
Jeannie Becker	...	Herself
Marisa Berenson	...	Herself
Matthew Broderick	...	Himself
Michael Caine	...	Himself
Joan Collins	...	Herself
Alessandra Facchinetti	...	Herself
Dante Ferretti	...	Himself
Tom Ford	...	Himself
Anne Hathaway	...	Herself
Elizabeth Hurley	...	Herself
Jacqueline Kennedy	...	Herself (archive footage)

Storyline

A story of friendship, a retrospective, and a look at haute couture as business: we watch Valentino Garavani (1932- ) and partner Giancarlo Giammetti from preparation for the 2006 Spring/Summer Collection in Paris to a July 2007 retrospective of Valentino's 45-year career, which included dressing Jacqueline Kennedy. The film documents a year of work, shows, business changes, and decisions. We follow a creation from sketch to runway: he's always in pursuit of beauty. We're in Paris, Rome, and Venice. He receives the French Legion of Honor medal; his acceptance speech brings tears. Reporters ask when he'll retire. Is the Roman retrospective his career's finale? Cue Puccini.

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Plot Keywords:

fashion | character name in title

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Genres:

Documentary

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some nudity and language

Details

Official Sites:

MySpace page Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian French

Release Date:

20 November 2009 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Valentino

Filming Locations:

Milan, Lombardia, Italy

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$21,762 (USA) (20 March 2009)

Gross:

$1,755,134 (USA) (28 August 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Acolyte Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min 96 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

As told to Elvis Mitchell on KCRW's The Treatment (May 6, 2009), Director Matt Tyrnauer recounted that the film almost never made it to a commercial release. Both Giancarlo and Valentino hated the film on first viewing during a private screening in London and "were completely in shock". Although Tyrnauer had final cut, it took him over five months of negotiations before finally showing the film at the Venice film festival. At Venice the entire audience stood and gave a standing ovation to Valentino after the screening and Valentino apparently now loves the film.

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Goofs

In the closing credits, the archival footage from ZIEGFELD GIRL is credited as a "Warner Brothers" movie. It was an MGM movie but is released on home video by Warner Home Video.

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Quotes

scenographer: Well, we don't want to have nasty rails do we?

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Connections

Features La Dolce Vita (1960)

User Reviews

Really good movie that sneaks into Valentino's world of "Haute Couture"

I really had a great time during the screening. More than a view of the back shop of Valentino's Haute Couture company, the film gives a very unique and interesting point of view of the relation between Valentino and his friend Giancarlo. This let us understand how the complex mix of their talent has let them build their empire. At the same time, the film is not just a panegyric portrait of Valentino, its tracking him even in his tantrums and incoherences. This leads to many humorous moments during which you can't know if Valentino is aware or not of the image he gives of himself. Finally the last aspect I have really liked is that with the retirement of Valentino a very specific way of comprehending "haute couture" is fading away. The film witnesses the interference of finance in fashion companies which is particularly interesting in the case of the Valentino Group.