COUTURE – Review by Lois Alter Mark
When you hear the title, Couture, it’s easy to envision a fast-paced film filled with gorgeous clothes and larger than life characters, like a Coco Chanel or Diana Vreeland documentary or even a fictional blockbuster like The Devil Wears Prada.
But Couture is neither.
Alice Winocour’s French film takes place during Paris Fashion Week and follows the stories of four female characters: indie horror film director Maxine (Angelina Jolie), who has been tasked with creating a short film to introduce a famous fashion house’s runway show; newbie model, Ada (Anyier Anei), who has been recruited from Sudan and feels totally out of place among her European colleagues; makeup artist Angèle (Ella Rumpf), an aspiring writer who is told her book about the industry doesn’t ring true; and Christine (Garance Marillier), a seamstress responsible for sewing the show’s opening dress.
Although the characters’ paths do cross, the moving story at the heart of the film belongs to Maxine. Jolie gives a quiet, vulnerable and deeply personal performance as the director who just wants to do her work but is dealing with a divorce, a moody teenage daughter and, out of the blue, a devastating health report. We get the sense that her usually controlled exterior belies the depth of emotion underneath it; that’s what her graphic vampire films are for.
Couture is more about the human beings of the fashion world rather than the fashion itself – and that’s what makes it so interesting even though it moves slowly and all of its elements don’t always work together. It’s refreshing to see that, even in an industry as glamorous as fashion, people are still just people, trying to do their jobs, sometimes messing up and often getting help from others.
Unlike many movies about haute couture, this one doesn’t focus on divas or mean girls or any other derogatory female stereotypes and the fact that there’s no snarky banter is truly a breath of fresh air. Instead, it’s a colorful patchwork of people trying to do their best, getting knocked down and, with the support of others, getting up again. Like the best of fashion, hopefully it will start a trend.
