It is a shame that the creative genius of this consummate artist and craftsman is so shabbily depicted. We are given tantalizing glimpses of the man himself as well as his chief advocator, promoter and friend, Isabella Blow. We are presented odd interviews with people who had been present at certain points in McQueen's life. In fact, there is little other than the actual filmed footage that we could not have read about in the catalogues and articles published for the posthumous shows that have been staged of his work since. We are not taken, visually or in discussion, to the very down at heel East London where he grew up. The connection with Isabella's wearing of McQueen's creations as day-wear and the fact she wore the heels down on her designer shoes seems never to be noticed. She 'inhabited' McQueen's designs to such an extent that McQueen's devastation on her suicide (referenced in this film as death from illness) is almost as inevitable as his own death. If you have LAM initials (Lee Alexander McQueen) and you go into a trade noted for its ephemeral, disposable products, you won't find the idea of nihilism and self-destruction much of a surprise. McQueen tattooed mannequin hand-arm lines on his wrists - come on, he's telling you everything and you still miss it! McQueen said he wanted to empower women - by giving them armor. We know he did this in several ways, sometimes literally with breast-plates. What the clips in this film do show, however, is slightly at odds with the narrative. It is claimed his focus, once working with a garment was 100%. Well, look out for the clip where he is working on alterations to a piece worn by a model whose bottom half is naked. McQueen is conscious of where the camera is being directed and looks quickly to camera to tell the cameraman to move the focus up....that is, to protect the female model's modesty. That, more than anything else, tells you the nature of the man and, why the people connected to him interviewed in this presentation are still hurting with grief.
Review of McQueen
