I was hoping for another September Issue when I brought this film up to watch. I wanted a story where you fall in love with characters and out of love with them in the same instance. Instead, this was a story about reality, long working hours and the business dealings that weigh on personal lives. Not a feel good movie by any stretch, but honest and unremitting in its details. The beauty, and at the same time tragedy, that is softly displayed in this film is that of the intimate connection of the life of fashion and the daily life of those who make it.
Dismayed within the first fifteen-minutes, I actually stopped after about twenty-minutes because I was so frustrated by the poor image quality. I've come to expect HD SLR quality documentaries these days. This appears to be shot with a 15 year old DV Handicam, or a cell-phone. The video had poor color depth, nearly no resolution and was often out of focus.
On the other hand, what the film lacked in image quality it made up for in sound. I will confess that I am a bit of a sound nerd. While this was no audiophile porn, the sound is really dynamite. It is one of the times when you don't only notice the dialog and sound, but are grateful for it. I would have to say that the capturing of some very intimate moments makes up for the lack of quality video.
Bottom line, this film really makes one imagine what it means when we think about our public image. Especially our public image as seen through fashion and the people who create it. Because we see who we often understand our own identity through the terms of someone who has already decided what it should be, it is helpful to see the real lives and issues those identity creators have. It is also nice to be reminded now and then that there are actual working craftspeople who are behind the things we wear. And they have families, long sleepless nights and have worked their butts off to get where they are. Those are things which resonate with me and make this film worth seeing.
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