Saint Laurent

Description

From 1968 to 1976, Yves Saint Laurent was synonymous with European fashion, crafting elegant dresses and boho chic looks that set the runways on fire. Along with his partner Pierre Bergé, he created an empire that helped sell pret-a-porter to the general public. The man in the giant glasses and well-tailored suits was also a dedicated creature of the night, with a weakness for cruising, clubbing, high cheekbones and cocaine. All that hot-to-trot hedonism eventually impacted the YSL house’s haute couture output, as well as Laurent’s mental stability. When the party started to get out of control, things got surreal for the jet-setter, but not before he staged a comeback with a “Moroccan” collection that wowed the fashion world. Forget those other biopics about legendary designers: Betrand Bonello’s look at the man, the myth and hot mess that was Saint Laurent throws the usual great-man-cometh clichés out the window. Like his previous narrative feature House of Tolerance (2011), the enfant terrible filmmaker is as interested in conjuring up a sensual experience and recreating a freewheeling era as he is in relating an icon’s ups and downs, freely moving from catwalk to discotheque to sexual encounter with a gorgeous fluidity. Featuring Gaspard Ulliel as the enigmatic Laurent and a who’s who of French cinema stars (Jérémie Renier, Léa Seydoux, Louis Garrel, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi), this portrait of an artist as an anything-goes dynamo fits its subject to a T. —David Fear

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