| I started the afternoon watching Captain America, lured by some good reviews, but after 10 minutes of watching people jump about bashing each other for no obvious reason, I left and walked down to the Filmhouse for this French language film.
Everyone has heard of Yves Saint-Laurent, though maybe more as a fashion brand than a real person. Here we meet the real person, convincingly played by Pierre Niney.
Slim, permanently boyish, gay, volatile, self-destructive, shy – that’s the mixture which, according to this film, made up the fashion designer. The design side of things doesn’t hold much interest for me so it was the personality I was watching.
He starts off as a protégé of Christian Dior, then branches out on his own after being dismissed from the company. He meets Pierre Berge (GuillaumeGallienne), who became his lifelong companion, and in spite of fights and arguments Pierre keeps him on the straight and narrow, as far as possible, for the rest of his life. But even he can’t prevent drink, drugs, depression and promiscuity playing their part.
The film is presented in flashback with Berge reflecting on the famous man’s life and there relationship, amongst a gaggle of extravagant models, designers and hangers on.
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