THE FIRST MONDAY IN MAY
(director: Andrew Rossi; cinematographer: Bryan Sarkinen/Andrew Rossi; editors: Chad Beck, Andrew Coffman, Andrew Rossi; music: Ian Hultquist, Sofia Hultquist; cast: Andrew Bolton, Anna Wintour, Wong Kar-wai, Karl Lagerfeld, Jean Paul Gaultier, John Galliano, Baz Luhrmann, Andre Leon Talley, Harold Koda, Thomas Campbell, Maxwell K. Hearn, Douglas Dillon, Ricardo Tisci; Runtime: 91; MPAA Rating: PG-13; producer: Fabiola Beracasa/Sylvana Ward Durrett/Dawn Ostroff/Matthew Weaver /Skot Bright;Magnolia; 2016)
“The doc clearly tells us that we better believe that fashion should be viewed as art because fashion creates dreams.“
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
Andrew Rossi (“A Table in Heaven”/”Eat this New York”) gives us an entertaining but superficial insider’s look at fashion, as he leads us through the making of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s 2015 exhibition “China: Through the Looking Glass.” The show’s great success is credited to the energetic Costume Institute curator Andrew Bolton. It was attended by more than 800,000, which raised $12.5 million for New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art–making it one of the largest attended exhibits in Met history. The accessible documentary shows the merging of haute couture and celebrity at the Met Gala’s annual spring show. The event is chaired by the ‘in a good way’ control freak, the Vogue editor in chief Anna Wintour, whose taste determines what stays or goes. Such noted talents as filmmaker Wong Kar Wai and fashion designer John Galliano were two of the many guests invited behind the scenes to be consultants to the Gala. Also featured are pop icons like Rihanna, who was the headline performer and wore one of the elaborate gowns designed for the show. The doc clearly tells us that we better believe that fashion should be viewed as art because fashion creates dreams. The exhibits, from the many costumes to the porcelain to movie influences were all well-conceived, but the price to pay for the viewing was hearing the fashion folks repeatedly fawning over themselves.
REVIEWED ON 11/6/2016 GRADE: B- https://dennisschwartzreviews.com/