IRIS

(director: Albert Maysles; cinematographer: Albert Maysles/Nelson Walker III/Sean Price Williams; editor: Paul Lovelace; music: Steve Gunn/Justin Tripp; cast: Carl Apfel, Iris Apfel; Runtime: 79; MPAA Rating: PG-13; producers: Laura Coxson/Rebekah Maysles/Jennifer Ash Rudick; Magnolia Pictures; 2014)

“The last documentary by the late great documentarian Albert Maysles.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

The last documentary by the late great documentarian Albert Maysles(“Gimme Shelter”/”In Transit”/”Salesman”). One 87-year-old films another senior citizen in her nineties, as fashion icon Iris Apfel is the subject of Maysles’ latest. Dressed in her signature flamboyant wardrobe, the pic is all smiles and charm. The ill-effects of old age are kept off screen for the most part, except for a few kvetches from the lady. The elegant lady leaves us with the messages that ‘it’s better to be happy than to be well dressed’ and that ‘one must be true to oneself,’ as she joyfully escorts us around her spacious Park Avenue digs and her less gaudy Florida digs. She also comments on her happy long marriage to Carl, whom she married in 1948.

The pic’s centerpiece centers on a 2005 museum exhibition of Iris’ collection of clothing and accessories, which opened its traveling tour at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

REVIEWED ON 11/5/2015 GRADE: B-   https://dennisschwartzreviews.com/