Abby and the girls are in Brooklyn for my father-in-law's unveiling (and I stayed behind because when the planning was being done, we had no idea about the shape I'd be in following the surgery). And I use these times sans filles to indulge my sweet tooth for movies. So, as I was checking out what's on the big screen in my neighborhood, I found out that The September Issue was playing in Livermore, but it was closing on the Thursday nigh before the girls left on Friday. And I felt absolutely cheated. I am not a regular reader of Vogue, but I have an Immense Admiration for Anna Wintour, one of the Amazingly Great people who have worked in publishing. I admire her for her vision and her determination, energy and force of will to see her vision made manifest. She is a creative genius full stop.
And I missed viewing the documentary, The September Issue, by one day. The documentary is directed by R.J. Cutler who also directed The War Room. I was bereft.
And then, I turned to the dark side and inquired as to whether or not there might be a file of The September Issue floating around somewhere on the internets and indeed there was. I've pre-ordered the DVD on Amazon, so my conscious is a little bit clean, but I got to scratch my itch.
And it was marvelous and it surpassed my every expectation. Anna Wintour simply demands the absolute best of her staff and everyone in her orbit and she's completely right. For example, the movie includes a rather embarrassing scene at a tennis court with the fabulous André Leon Talley and his coach. Mr. Talley is a very large man by any measure and watching him stumble around the court was almost funny. But Ms. Wintour is right. Mr. Talley should indeed take better care of himself.
But the real action takes place in the relationship between Anna Wintour and Grace Coddington, Vogue's creative director. The documentary makes it very clear that Grace Coddington is an accomplished artist in her own right. Coddington is assigned two major spreads for the September issue, a '20s-themed pictorial and a pictorial on color blocking. Meanwhile Ms. Wintour is focussed on the cover of the September issue and the cover story. Ms. Wintour has decided that Ms. Sienna Miller will be the It Girl for the issue and has plotted an elaborate photoshoot in Rome led by Mario Testino. The clock is wound and the action set in motion.
Ms. Coddington delivers an absolutely stunning 20s-themed shoot, beautiful in every respect. And her shoot is laid out on the board. Ms. Wintour begins to whittle away at it to make space for what she assumes will be her own brilliant shoot by Testino. But that shoot ends up going poorly. The actress / model, Ms. Miller doesn't live up to anyone's expectations. Her hair is so much a disaster that wigs don't even help. Then the photographer doesn't get the shot that Ms. Wintour has sent him for: Ms. Miller with the Colosseum in the background. When the photographs arrive in New York, Ms. Wintour takes a look and asks, "Is that it?" Her vision of the shot in the Colosseum is missing and the best candidate for the cover shot reveals that Ms. Miller has several fillings, huge teeth and very thick eyebrows. Well, never mind that, as the miracle of digital photography can spackle over most anything, but Ms. Wintour is still faced with the problem that Testino hasn't delivered enough images for her to create the spread she had envisioned.
So, Ms. Wintour does the right thing. When all the pieces are spread out on the table, it's clear that Ms. Coddington had delivered and then some. The images that Ms. Wintour previously removed are restored and the magazine is a smashing success. --And that's that part I really like about the movie. We see Ms. Wintour put the work of the magazine ahead of everything else, including some of her own plans.
I highly recommend the movie.
PS. I found out why Anna Wintour wears those dark glasses. They are prescriptions lenses. She's as blind as a bat without them.
And I missed viewing the documentary, The September Issue, by one day. The documentary is directed by R.J. Cutler who also directed The War Room. I was bereft.
And then, I turned to the dark side and inquired as to whether or not there might be a file of The September Issue floating around somewhere on the internets and indeed there was. I've pre-ordered the DVD on Amazon, so my conscious is a little bit clean, but I got to scratch my itch.
And it was marvelous and it surpassed my every expectation. Anna Wintour simply demands the absolute best of her staff and everyone in her orbit and she's completely right. For example, the movie includes a rather embarrassing scene at a tennis court with the fabulous André Leon Talley and his coach. Mr. Talley is a very large man by any measure and watching him stumble around the court was almost funny. But Ms. Wintour is right. Mr. Talley should indeed take better care of himself.
But the real action takes place in the relationship between Anna Wintour and Grace Coddington, Vogue's creative director. The documentary makes it very clear that Grace Coddington is an accomplished artist in her own right. Coddington is assigned two major spreads for the September issue, a '20s-themed pictorial and a pictorial on color blocking. Meanwhile Ms. Wintour is focussed on the cover of the September issue and the cover story. Ms. Wintour has decided that Ms. Sienna Miller will be the It Girl for the issue and has plotted an elaborate photoshoot in Rome led by Mario Testino. The clock is wound and the action set in motion.
Ms. Coddington delivers an absolutely stunning 20s-themed shoot, beautiful in every respect. And her shoot is laid out on the board. Ms. Wintour begins to whittle away at it to make space for what she assumes will be her own brilliant shoot by Testino. But that shoot ends up going poorly. The actress / model, Ms. Miller doesn't live up to anyone's expectations. Her hair is so much a disaster that wigs don't even help. Then the photographer doesn't get the shot that Ms. Wintour has sent him for: Ms. Miller with the Colosseum in the background. When the photographs arrive in New York, Ms. Wintour takes a look and asks, "Is that it?" Her vision of the shot in the Colosseum is missing and the best candidate for the cover shot reveals that Ms. Miller has several fillings, huge teeth and very thick eyebrows. Well, never mind that, as the miracle of digital photography can spackle over most anything, but Ms. Wintour is still faced with the problem that Testino hasn't delivered enough images for her to create the spread she had envisioned.
So, Ms. Wintour does the right thing. When all the pieces are spread out on the table, it's clear that Ms. Coddington had delivered and then some. The images that Ms. Wintour previously removed are restored and the magazine is a smashing success. --And that's that part I really like about the movie. We see Ms. Wintour put the work of the magazine ahead of everything else, including some of her own plans.
I highly recommend the movie.
PS. I found out why Anna Wintour wears those dark glasses. They are prescriptions lenses. She's as blind as a bat without them.
