By Teresa Gubbins
(September 2009)
Directed by: R.J. Cutler
Camera: Bob Richman
Featuring: Anna Wintour, Grace Coddington, Mario Testino, Sienna Miller and Vogue staff
For hardcore fashionistas, the words "September issue" are like secret code-one that filmmaker R.J. Cutler does a pretty good job of cracking in his same-named documentary about the September 2007 issue of Vogue magazine.
The September issue is meaningful not only because it serves as a primer on what kind of clothes will appear in the stores over the subsequent months - and therefore how we'll all dress - but because Vogue is the majordomo of fashion whose reach extends across other publications and into the world of pop culture.
Filmed over the course of seven months in 2007, Cutler and cameraman Bob Richman go behind the scenes to follow the publication cycle of the (then) biggest issue ever published: from sprawling photo shoots supervised by Vogue creative director Grace Coddington and shot by jet-set photographers such as Mario Testino, to the cold bottom-line decisions made by editor Anna Wintour.
The coup here is that Cutler, who produced The War Room and was co-director of A Perfect Candidate, obtained the participation of the usually inaccessible Wintour, whose cooperation they flaunt from the opening of the film with a closeup so intense, you can see the ridged edges of her front teeth. The filmmakers also had to win over Coddington who's said to have initially refused to cooperate but eventually relented.
One wonders if Wintour was more open to the idea as a chance to set the record straight after the 2006 film The Devil Wears Prada, where she was portrayed by Meryl Streep as a one-note Rhymes With Witch. The reality is that, even a participating Wintour, including one-on-one interviews and scenes with her daughter Bee Schaffer, reveals only the smallest details or shreds of personality. She still comes off as controlled and hard.
Her contrast is Coddington, whose unruly mane of red hair, deliberate lack of makeup, and democratic spirit are the definition of artist. The push-pull relationship between the two women - representing the age-old conflict between art and commerce - forms the basic, if subtly stated drama of the film. This being a documentary means that there's no convenient confrontation between the two. The closest is when they share an elevator to visit designer Jean-Paul Gaultier. The silence is one you might expect from two people who've worked together for 20 years, but for the audience it's tempting to want to read more into it.
Still, you get to see where the two came from: Wintour from a serious stiff-upper-lip British family whose siblings find her line of work (and surely the powerful role she has) to be funny; and Coddington, who grew up in Wales and was a model until she got into a car accident.
Even without a defined climax, the film is engrossing as the days wind down to the date of publication. Although it doesn't hurt to be a fan of fashion, it's not necessary. The opulent milieu, winsome music, and brisk pace give the movie an inherent appeal above and beyond the usual documentary, with its displays of vibrant clothes, wealth, fab locations, and gorgeous women. Cutler and Richman aren't afraid to simply dwell on beautiful moments without dialog, leaving lots of space for the viewer to inhabit.
They also fortuitously chose a year at which the magazine peaked. With its 840 pages, the 2008 issue may have surpassed the then-record-breaking 798 pages of 2007; but by the time the 2008 issue came out, the economy had already started to spiral down, and the 2008 issue came to represent a reminder of a good thing gone bad. By comparison, the newly-released 2009 issue has a "measly" 584 pages. We're in different times, but for now, Wintour and Coddington keep on keeping on.
Photos courtesy A&E Indie Films
Photo (top): Anna Wintour