L’Amour Fou is a
documentary about French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent and his life with
Pierre Berge, his longtime lover and business partner. It was filmed after the
designer’s death in 2008. The documentary is framed by the 2009 Christie’s auction
of the priceless art collection the couple had amassed. First we see the
gorgeous apartment they lived in, then we see auctioneers packing up the art
and furniture, and then we see the sale itself, which included paintings by
Matisse.
Saint Laurent and Berge had three residences–one was a
luxuriously decorated apartment in Paris, another was a walled paradise in
Marrakesh, Morocco, and one was a home hidden away in a forest in Normandy. We
get guided tours to all three amazing homes, products of Saint Laurent’s creative
mind. I couldn’t help but think, “So this is how the other half lives!” We also
get to see snippets of fashion shows, many lovely gowns, and video clips of
Paris nightlife.
Catnip for “fashionistas” and Francophiles, L’Amour Fou is
a bit too long, and focuses a bit too much on Berge, who is extensively
interviewed. Saint Laurent began his career as a 17-year-old prodigy, and went
on to revolutionize women’s fashion. In spite of his success, he was nervous
and moody, and suffered from recurrent depression. We become conscious of the
absence of the mercurial, elusive Saint Laurent, who was the genius behind it
all–the clothes, the shows, the fabulous homes–and he remains an enigmatic
shadow throughout the film.
French with English subtitles.
To get a closer look at some of the fabulous fashions, we have the book Yves Saint Laurent by Jeromine Savignon (746.92).
