The biopic has certainly being going through quite a popular period lately, maybe partially due to the fact that Hollywood can occasionally run out of ideas but also because some of these real life stories are just too good to pass up. On top of that, this type of film has also developed a bit of an obsession with fashion and design. We utter their names on a daily basis, they are our makeup brands or the items we aspire to own and yet, on occasion, we can know so little about the lives of the people behind them or their beginnings.
Thankfully, the film world has also woken up to the fact that there are more fashion designers than just Coco Chanel but the main problem is, will these type of films appeal to a mass audience who have no interest in actual fashion? With the fashion film comes an unspoken understanding that the fans would be more than delighted to sit there and watch collections on runways not just for two hours, but the entire day, a fact that becomes increasingly obvious throughout Yves Saint Laurent.
Revolving around the life of Yves Mathieu-Saint-Laurent, the film mainly deals with the founding of the fashion house and the personal life of the designer. Yves is presented to us as a slight recluse from a wealthy background, but someone who is just concerned with being able to draw and design. Due to his massive talent, Yves ends up as a designer for Christian Dior, eventually taking over the role as Head Designer at quite an early age after the death of the fashion legend. However, not exactly content with his lot, he wants to break free and design clothes outside of the Dior constraints.
Everything changed when Yves met Pierre Bergé, a business man who became his partner both in work and in life. With Bergé’s influence, Saint-Laurent sets up the fashion house that would have a massive impact on women’s fashion during the last century. However, along with the constant stresses of new collections, Yves delves further into a life of partying and extremity with his social anxieties presenting themselves in force.
Like we said before, this film is definitely for the fashion fans. As well as gaining a great understanding of how the House of Saint-Laurent was founded, the film also gloriously shows off all of the beautiful collections which started the Saint-Laurent name rolling, and boy are these clothes really genuinely beautiful.
The performances are pretty amazing, with Pierre Niney perfectly presenting the difficult social anxieties Saint-Laurent suffered from as well as being entirely honest about his relationship with Bergé. Honesty is a prevalent theme here; although the film is more than eager to show the impact that Yves had on the fashion world, it is also distinctly straight about the type of character he was to live and work with. On top of that, you do occasionally manage to feel sorry for the designer, even if he is incredibly rich for most of his life.
However, the length works slightly against the project and some of the scenes with the runways can become a little tedious.
Worth it for the wardrobes alone, check this out if you are a fan of the designer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ec-DQ_7EUM
