• VALENTINO: THE LAST EMPEROR

    It is always a pleasure to peek into the lives of the rich, successful and good-looking. Better still if they're talented; better yet if they're strange. Valentino Garavani, a star Italian fashion designer (couturier is the more appropriate term) of the past 45 years and the subject of Matt Tyrnauer's documentary, "Valentino: The Last Emperor", delivers on all counts.

    It's easy to see why Tyrnauer, a special correspondent for Vanity Fair, alighted on his subject. Valentino––who looks like Michael Douglas baked at 450º for three hours--oozes "icon" from every pore. There's the coppery helmet of hair, the baronial manner, the villas and chateaux and ski trips in Gstaad. There is the quintet of pugs, the yacht, and the penchant for aphorism. "I love beauty," Valentino explains in an early moment of the film. "Is not my fault."

    The film's purview extends beyond the designer's personality quirks, of course. If Valentino is imperious and unabashedly snobbish, he is also one of the last men to know the ins and outs of haute couture. Karl Lagerfeld--who makes an appearance in the film--is another one of these dwindling creatures. When they go, couture as high art will go with them.  read more »


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