Valentino: The Last Emperor

[geekigirl]

It's TIFF time in Toronto and I managed to get myself tickets for this Valentino documentary. I haven't seen a post about it yet, so I thought I would post the synopsis. I'm seeing the 4:15 show on Sunday, Sept 7, hopefully some other FashionSpotters will be in the audience too.

Country: USA
Year: 2008
Language: English, Italian, French
Runtime: 96 minutes
Format: Colour/35mm
Rating: G
Production Company: Acolyte Films
Executive Producer: Carter Burden
Producer: Matt Kapp
Cinematographer: Tom Hurwitz
Editor: Bob Eisenhardt
Sound: Peter Miller Principal Cast: Valentino Garavani, Giancarlo Giammetti

International Sales Agent: UTA/Submarine Entertainment

He stands vindicated as one of the great arbiters of twentieth-century design. His forty-five-year career spans the dizzying innovations and financial explosion of post-war global fashion, from his start in the French ateliers where he studied, through the meteoric rise of his line in the sixties, when Italian fashion houses came to dominate the international marketplace, and on to today, as he departs, elegant as ever. A master technician, Valentino never forgot to keep women and men beautiful in his clothes. He works free from the waves and trends of the fashion world, adhering to a more Orphic, timeless relationship between fabric, body and form. He also, not incidentally, created an entirely new interpretation of the colour red.

This documentary, spanning the period between Valentino's seventieth birthday and his final couture show, is of course concerned with showing his contributions to his field. But the film actually aims not for the head, but the heart. At the centre is a love story: the fifty-year relationship between Valentino Clemente Ludovico Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti, his business partner, lover, best friend and confidante. Older gay European couples are not exactly known for their tell-all personalities, so this careful lifting of the veil gives us a sense of the unusual strength and courage these remarkable men needed to navigate the brutal world of egos and high finance – and to do so together. Their moments onscreen are touching, joyous and heartbreaking. Their five dogs (all pugs! chic!) are a constant delight.

This emotionally rich backbone contextualizes Valentino's relationship with fame. There is no shortage of high-wattage celebrities floating through the film. It has ever been thus with him; Jackie O. herself married Onassis in a Valentino gown. But the filmmakers are careful to note that the glitterati deal with Valentino as an artist and as part of a relationship. It renders their crazy world – his house in the United Kingdom and its staff are not to be believed – that much more human and intimate.

It is perhaps such a balance that makes Valentino's couture so treasured. His pieces are objects of glamour, to be sure, yet possess an attention to detail and delicacy that speaks to a gentle, loving soul behind the scenes.
Thom Powers


Matt Tyrnauer is a New York-based writer and filmmaker. He has worked for Spy magazine and The New York Observer, and is currently Special Correspondent of Vanity Fair. His book Una Grande Storia Italiana: Valentino Garavani was published by Taschen in 2007. Valentino: The Last Emperor (08) is his first feature documentary.

image: http://tiff08.ca/filmsandschedules/films/valentinothelastempe

 

[geekigirl]

I saw the doc. Valentino was there for the screening. So damn cool. I managed to snap a couple pics of the man himself.

The movie was so great, I cried at the end being the sap I am. The audience gave a standing ovation for about 6 mins for Valentino at the end. It was incredible.

 

[verymoni]

where can I see the film?

 

[BCBG freak]

where can i see this?

 

[YEYOUSUOMENG]

where can i see this movie???

 

[Muse_Views]

CANNOT wait to see this!!!

 

[helmut.newton]

When is this going to be showing?

Heres some information about it from fashionista.com

First Look: Valentino: The Last Emperor

Oct 20, 2008 @ 9:23pm

I went to today's screening of Valentino: The Last Emperor, even though it was in the middle of the day / I don't think pugs are cute / it was way above 14th Street.
But then there was free popcorn, and Andre Leon Talley sat in the seat behind me. The movie started, and it was awesome.
The documentary opens with Valentino's Spring 06 collection, looks back on the Dolce Vita days and ends with his three day Roman blowout and retirement.
It's part love story (him and Giancarlo), and part tragic end of an era (of couturiers that simply won't exist again). It's about a man who's wants nothing more than to make women feel beautiful but who can't, or won't, find a way to fit into a changed industry, and I totally cried at the end.
But the best bits, which happen all though the movie right up until that final runway bow and Valentino's heartfelt tears, are all the hysterical Odd Couple moments between Valentino and Giancarlo. They bicker over sets, over models, over pleats, and when Giancarlo asks Valentino why he's using pink for his finale dresses instead of red, Valentino responds, disgusted, "Enough with the red! The red dresses are the most simple, the most stupid!"
Giancarlo says, "To be with Valentino as a friend, as a lover, as an employee - it's all the same. You need a lot of patience." And then he tells Valentino he's too tan, which was, I think, Andre's favorite moment.
Mine? When Karl Lagerfeld congratulated Valentino, "This is how it's done. Compared to us, all the rest are making rags!"

 

[MissMagAddict]

source | fashionweekdaily

Though the rest of New York will have to wait until March 18, Chic Report was treated to a special screening of Valentino: The Last Emperor yesterday afternoon. Funny, touching, and fascinating, the film touches on everything from the business side of Valentino (including it’s 2007 sale to Permira), to the beautiful relationship between perfectionist Val and the ever-patient Giancarlo Giammetti,plusthe designer’s beloved pugs. (At the WSJ/Tina Gaudoin-moderated discussion of the film at the New Museum last night, director Matt Tyrnauer joked that the independent movie is being marketed toward not only the fashion crowds, but to pug enthusiasts as well). Chic Report’s favorite part? When Giammetti tells Valentino that honestly, he thinks he might be a little too tan–although scenes of gorgeous archives of clothes from the ’60s to the present take close second.

 

[helmut.newton]

Here is the trailer!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TcjeDq2e_M

 

[dior_couture1245]

...as much as my moral compass says not to see this in an effort to ignore and avoid everything and anything Valentino since Alessandra's dismissal, I may just have to break down and see this.

 

[ilaughead]

^dior couture, I think my excuse is going to be that it's a fashion doc, and therefore required viewing...

 

[eternitygoddess]

"I think you look too tan."

ROFL!

 

[xhommex]

OMG!!!! i hope i can find torrent or someone uploads it on youtube

 

[reese06]

They showed quite a few clips from this documentary on Oprah today, Valentino and his partner were also there to be interviewed by her.

This looks very interesting. I'm not quite sure I would have been as interested if there wasn't the turmoil that's going on right now at this label.

 

[obsvr]

Here's his interview on The View to promote his movie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-STQnSp9--k

 

[vogue28]

What is with all these Fashion related movies coming out?

This looks interesting, I am looking forward to seeing it.

 

[gb_32]

hahaha the tan line. I luved seeing him all stormed.
great trailler! want to see it.
thank u all for info.

 

[liberty33r1b]

ah, i sooo can't wait to see this!!!! when is it coming to europe?

 

[ilaughead]

I like how he's on a show where the demographic doesn't know the meaning of vintage...

And what is with all of this 'warts and all' business? Has no one any vocabulary of their own?

 

[saann]

I can't wait to see this!

unlike other stuff on fashion this looks hilarious as hell, I like the fact that he is showing this side of him