Ofthem films devoted to the personality of Saint Laurent this year. Where the movie of Jalil Lespert was a classical confounding, that of Bertrand Bonello clearly marks an artistic freedom and an excess of personality on the part of the director. The film follows a non-linear fashion the journey of Yves Saint Laurent, between 1962 and 1976.
Bertrand Bonello control its staging. It is for him, in SAINT LAURENT , as was already the case in the fabulous The APOLLONIDE – SOUVENIRS DE LA MAISON CLOSE, an observation of the body language of the characters evolving in an environment to the character and functioning complex.
So this SAINT LAURENT seemed the perfect subject matter for both his career and his personality espouse the point of view of the filmmaker.
I am convinced that the viewer must always make its own opinion of the film and the role of the critic is not to tell about the plot, nor even give his opinion, but rather to provide clues to the viewer, and allow them to apprehend, understand, and then judge.
A method, which usually works quite well, is to describe a specific element of the film, and to stretch the meaning to be able to decrypt the movie.
For SAINT LAURENT, more than a trailer or a scene from the film, this is the beautiful poster of the film that seems to best explain the film by Bertrand Bonello.
So this poster shows us, Gaspard Ulliel, blackface Yves Saint Laurent.
The pose that adopts Ulliel says a lot of things. These are not the words that matter to him, but of attitudes. Saint Laurent, incidentally, is a man of few words. The storyline focuses, moreover, ever on the characters, twining, like Louie, or Pierre Bergé. These characters only serve to give depth to the universe, also described with precision, of high fashion.
Thus, it should not seek any character of sulphur in the illustration. Not really scenes shock in the film) as has been suggested. The attitude of the characters tells a much more specific way what he come to do, what he is about to do.
An original way to exploit the talent of its actors.
On the poster, Saint Laurent is lit to the right and to the left, but the center of his face is still very dark. This indicates, cumulative to the simplicity with which is written the title of the film, that he will observe the evolution of this character, constantly under the spotlight of its status as a master of the seam, but that will keep one hand conscious of her status as master, his power over men, over women. A character vampire who seeks to suck out the happiness of other people to build. It is this that indicates this grin demonic, associated with its installation, ultra distinguished.
The particular lighting brand, an aesthetic bias ; not that the film is dark. Rather, we should see that Yves Saint Laurent is dependent on its overall mood, very dark, because of constantly lack. Affection, recognition, or challenge, or as a provider of inspiration, lack purely physical here.
This makes a character with two lives, an impressive, to-day, or it is time to achieve, to create, and a night, or suck anything that allows him to exist.
The work of the director and so or express his talent, it is when it comes to connect a creative vision to all of the technical elements of the film, the direction of actors framing in photography, or the soundtrack. Bertrand Bonello excels on that side. The photography in the film is obviously fitting, both to the naturalist, when it comes to observe work sessions of Saint Laurent and his entourage, the negotiations various. It changes radically when one embraces the world of the night. The night scenes have that in common : a true search for beauty, a sense of framing, to the tracking shots, slow and hypnotic on these movements of body…
The other protagonists in the film all seem to be prey. For Saint Laurent, a character between vulture and spider (as suggested once again, this awesome poster), observes.
His personality disorder indicates that these are not his closest, Pierre Bergé (Jérémie Rénier), or Loulou (Léa Seydoux) who are the objects of his desires. Those are completely désexualisés, in contrast to Jacques de Bascher (Louis Garrel), lover’s domineering indomitable or Betty Catroux (Aymeline Valade), double female physique of the designer.
Their encounter with Yves Saint Laurent is the subject of the scenes are particularly haunting, both in the observation of the movements and attitudes of the body, and then in the way in which Bonello form a space completely enclosed or the characters are like magnetized to each other.
This gives rise to many beautiful scenes, seduction, or simply observation.
“SAINT LAURENT is a film of great artistic richness, but the pace of which does not fit in with the master and the formal freedom.”
Level setting the scene, so we see the grandiose.
By contrast, the pace of the film, this work of uptake of the body is not at all accompanied by the narration.
It proposes to observe through a narrative structure non-linear Saint Laurent in a period when all the arts are in a phase of intense creative (1962 – 1976), to which Saint Laurent confronts as much as it participates in it, as evidenced by the excellent soundtrack of the film, or are interactions indirect, between Saint Laurent and other artists such as Warhol…
Except that Bonello, him, and puts his scenario, prefers to stretch the moments he explores the soul of its subject, a track much more inner. It adopts a point of view almost musical, in the sense that it is the sensory and enticing.
All his film offers a formal freedom, and is a proposal for a cinema really fascinating, as you get bored.
Bonello chose to split his movie between the moments purely naturalistic, and the moments when Saint Laurent gives in vampirism sensual.
Level pace, this represents a break too violent between a state of almost hypnotic and a documentary accuracy. Especially when two-thirds, the film adopts a narrative rather in the form of a loop that repeats several scenes were different in substance but similar in their sensitivity. A second part which is more of hypnosis, so interesting in itself, but which also enterrine the distance, presented from the outset with this character decidedly singular.
SAINT LAURENT de Bertrand Bonello, is therefore an exciting film that is actually to capture something intimate in the way that this emblematic figure of an era was internally in the grip of a drought that only the drug and the sensuality corrupt other could mop up. Only, in terms of cinema, this proposal proves to be too strong and influenced by his author to allow for the accession of the viewer.
A masterpiece without doubt too personal, in sum.
• Achievement : Bertrand Bonello
• Screenplay : Thomas Bidegain, Bertrand Bonello
• Main actors : Gaspard Ulliel, Léa Seydoux, Jérémie rénier, Louis Garrel, Aymeline Valade, Amira Casar
• Country of origin : France
• Released : October 01, 2014
• Duration : 2h30mn
• Distributor : Europa Corp
• Synopsis : the journey of The great couturier Yves Saint Laurent, between 1962 and 1976, between career and private life, his passion, his love