McQueen, 2018.
Directed by Ian Bonhôte and Peter Etedgui.
Featuring Alexander McQueen, Isabella Blow, Jodie Kidd, Alice Smith.
SYNOPSIS:
An intimate portrayal of the rags-to-riches story of East-End boy done good, Alexander McQueen, who took the fashion industry by storm with his provocative and game-changing shows, only for the world he helped to shape ultimately end up consuming him.
Much like vaunted docs Senna and Amy, this look at the tragedy of genius focuses on enfant terrible of the fashion world, Alexander McQueen, and makes a somewhat alien world completely accessible to anyone who doesn’t know their Bobbi Hilson from their Romeo Gigli, resulting in a moving documentary for everyone.
Introduced as an affable opportunist who would knock on Savile Row doors, Lee Alexander McQueen was“a sweet boy from the East End” who had an almost superhuman ability to measure up suits with little more than a look, and manifest stunning creations from a soul that would become increasingly heavy from the weight of expectation and the toll that took.
Structured in five chapters named after his most groundbreaking shows, archive footage, accompanied by the recognisible sounds of his personal in-house composer, Michael Nyman, McQueen charts the embryonic stages of his iconic career, from his family funded MA graduation show, right through to his final ‘Plato’s Atlantis’ spectacular.
Along the way we get contributions from colleagues, friends, and family, all with their own unique take on his complexities as an artist and man. There’s a strong narrative thread that sheds light on his friendship with Isabella Blow, who’s credited with discovering McQueen, although this became a point of contention that contributed to their eventual fall out, and another layer of sadness to add to his story.
However, despite chest thudding moments, such as his former art-school friend reacting to news of his death with a strained “How did that happen?”, McQueen is probably at its most insightful when we’re shown glimpses of its subject stripped of the excess and flamboyance of the landscape he helped shape. There’s a lovely moment where the camera catches his reaction to one of his own shows, slightly out-of-focus and off-stage, but his obvious joy is such an uplifting shard of light in a tale that gets incrementally darker the more successful he becomes.
Courting controversy with shows such as the infamous ‘Highland Rape’ collection, and the flack he received for his rock-star tenure at the world famous house of Givenchy in Paris, the doc gives Lee McQueen an inspirational aura, one of a man who didn’t shirk a challenge, who stood by everything he created, and in defending his own work he probably offers up the best summary of Bonhôte and Etedgui’s retrospective film. “If you leave without emotion, then I’m not doing by job properly”. Rest assured, there’s no chance of that.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie ★ ★ ★ ★
Matt Rodgers
