It is one of those typical pieces that shows how life is for the fashion master, meaning quick scenes and a quirky tone. Here, it's hard to really focus since it jumps very quickly from scene to scene. The cuts are pretty much never longer than 5 seconds, which can be hard to follow if you're not terribly into fashion. Matt Tyraneur is a first-time director, and this documentary would be kind of a big start for a rookie (due to it's high-glam celebrities and all). But for the viewer it can be a little bit of a tedious pain. It's also quite self-indulgent, especially the lavish finale, with the Coliseum painted "Valentino Red" and dancers on wires coming from the sky. This seems to be much of the focus. I was much more interested in Valentino's inspirations. As a young boy, he went to the movies and saw the likes of Judy Garland, Lara Turner, etc. in garish dresses and decided he wanted to do more of the same. I really liked the scene where he constructed a white, asymmetrical dress with sequins that as I said before took more than two seconds to take in.
His personality is a big theme in this film as he throws small fits about, well, somewhat insignificant things. He also has a thing for pugs; he has a few and they roam free through most of his work period. This detail is somewhat of plus for such a movie. "Valentino: The Last Emperor" is any fashion lover's dream, since they'll be able to get what they like from a lukewarm doc. I understand Valentino more as a result of this film, and I believe it portrayed him well, as it shows a man keeping soul and fashion together. Valentino is a man that will seldom be less interesting than the film he doesn't want to be in. C+
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