Lagerfeld Confidential : The Movie

[SomethingElse]

^ Yes, indeed. But it is a special screening, not a release in regular movie houses or on DVD.

 

[MissMagAddict]

^ Yes, indeed. But it is a special screening, not a release in regular movie houses or on DVD.

Yes I know

Where I live we have many independent movie theatres that have such special screenings...if you live in a city that has a Landmark Theatre you'll get to see it...I'm sure of it

 

[dior_couture1245]

Do you think it'll play in Los Angeles?

 

[ilaughead]

^ I'm sure it'll play in Los Angeles.


I have a feeling it won't be showing 'round these here parts, though. (see location)

 

[MissMagAddict]

source | International Herald Tribune

Despite new French documentary, Chanel's Lagerfeld still an enigma
Friday, October 5, 2007

PARIS: A mantelpiece strewn with a dozen iPods and hundreds of chunky silver rings. Drawers are full of starched shirt collars. Piles of books stretch skyward like teetering Towers of Pisa.

This close-up look at Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld's lavish life is shown in "Lagerfeld Confidential" — a new French movie condensing two years of the ponytailed designer's frenetic activity into an hour and a half of riveting film.

But despite movie's focus on the fashion world's most enigmatic icon, Lagerfeld remains shrouded in mystery.

Like a shadow, the camera trails Lagerfeld — who also designs for Italian luxury brand Fendi and his own eponymous label — as he churns out hurried sketches, takes a victory lap on the catwalk to thundering applause, jets to Monaco and New York and shoots hunky male models clad only in strategically placed fur.

While present in nearly every shot, Lagerfeld remains distant, aloof and ultimately unknowable behind his signature dark shades.

"I don't want to be a reality in people's lives," Lagerfeld tells the camera in one scene. "I want to be a ghost."

The movie — which opens in France next week and is set for U.S. release later this month — is the product of a two-year collaboration between Lagerfeld and Rodolphe Marconi, a dashing young French director who shot more than 300 hours of footage of Lagerfeld at work and play.

Marconi said it was Lagerfeld's hard public image that drew him to the designer.

"I was sure there was a real human behind" the facade, Marconi told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "I wanted to show it."

In some scenes, Marconi just about pulls it off.

We see Lagerfeld do things that regular people do, such as chow down on his version of a TV dinner: a chef-prepared meal served in his hotel room. In another scene, the 69-year-old designer beams with childlike glee as he tries on a gold lame baseball jacket at a Christian Dior boutique.

But mostly he is impenetrable, shooting off pointed, witty remarks in his rapid-fire French to his ever-present, adoring entourage.

"Ohh! Ahh," coo the members of his inner circle in one scene, as Lagerfeld shows off his photos of a male model.

Marconi, a 31-year-old actor-turned-director behind three full-length fiction films, often comes off as yet another Lagerfeld lackey. He rushes to open the car door for Lagerfeld, guffaws loudly at his jokes and nearly drips obsequiousness toward the designer.

In their one-on-one interviews, Marconi tiptoes around the hard questions, asking Lagerfeld about his childhood and sexuality with a trepidation so palpable that on one occasion an exasperated Lagerfeld scolds him for it.
"You either see (what you want to ask) more clearly or we'll go on to another subject," he says abruptly.

Asked about his love life, Lagerfeld skirts the question and instead criticizes domestic partnership laws in France. He keeps personal revelations to a minimum, referring obliquely to a "tragedy" — Lagerfeld had a widely known relationship with a French aristocrat who died of AIDS in 1989 — but going no further.

"Lagerfeld Confidential" pounds home his motto — carpe diem — with about as much subtlety as a sledgehammer. Again and again, Lagerfeld proclaims he has no ties to the past and lives only for the present moment.

"If it was really better before, then we should all just kill ourselves right away," he says with characteristic dryness.

Marconi said when he approached Lagerfeld with his movie proposal, the designer's assistant told him "more than 100 people" had already asked permission to make such a film.

Marconi said he was not sure why Lagerfeld chose him: "Perhaps because I didn't go into it with an agenda."

Lagerfeld gained a reputation by reviving a flagging Chanel after taking over in 1982, and in 2004 designed a collection for Swedish fast-fashion retailer H&M that made his work available to customers with smaller purses. In a sign of his celebrity status, Lagerfeld released a CD of his favorite songs and a weight-loss guide — The Karl Lagerfeld Diet — filled with the secrets that allowed him to shed 80 pounds.

Lagerfeld said Marconi's film "ended up annoying me."

"Let's say that Rodolphe Marconi was able to observe and capture what I wanted to play for him," he was quoted as saying in French Vogue. "It's not that I lie, it's that I don't owe the truth to anyone. After all, I'm not facing a judge, but a director."

Asked whether he thought he had gotten to know Lagerfeld, Marconi said, "I have the feeling I know him now ... though in truth, you never really know anyone."

 

[BerlinRocks]

This seems the best subject to post this article...
even though the article is not related to the movie, this paper from Le Monde is published because of the movie of Karl being on screen in France...
and by the way, the website is open... but maybe you already know...
http://www.lagerfeldconfidentiel.com/
I didn't go yet to see it...
But maybe this week-end, if my bf wants to come... I doubt about this, but... who knows...

Karl Lagerfeld confronté à ses biographies non officielles

arl Lagerfeld aime beaucoup les livres. La preuve, il possède une bibliothèque de près de 300 000 volumes, disséminés entre ses différents pied-à-terre, Paris, Biarritz, Monaco... Mieux encore, il est propriétaire de la librairie 7L, située à deux pas de son hôtel particulier parisien, au 51, rue de l'Université. Ce qui lui permet de bénéficier des remises professionnelles sur les 400 livres d'art, de photos et catalogues d'exposition, en français, en anglais et en allemand, qu'il reçoit en moyenne par mois.
Mais ce que le créateur de mode n'aime pas du tout, ce sont les livres qui parlent de lui, sans son imprimatur. C'est le cas de deux d'entre eux. Tout d'abord, Merci Karl ! d'Arnaud Maillard, qui est paru en septembre chez Calmann-Lévy (256 p., 18 €). L'auteur a fait toute sa carrière dans l'entourage du couturier allemand. Il a commencé comme stagiaire au sein de son service de presse et a fini, quinze ans plus tard, directeur du studio de la Lagerfeld Gallery. Avant de connaître un licenciement économique, en 2005. Son ancien patron y est décrit sous toutes les coutures, mais le jugement final reste assez modéré : "Au fond, que cherche Karl ? A pouvoir créer en paix, entouré d'une équipe sur laquelle il sait pouvoir compter."
Le point de vue de l'impudent collaborateur a toutefois été soigneusement coupé au montage du documentaire consacré au styliste, Lagerfeld Confidentiel, de Rodolphe Marconi, sorti mercredi 10 octobre sur les écrans et que "l'homme au catogan" a surveillé attentivement. Pour retrouver un emploi, Arnaud Maillard a dû quitter la France et rejoindre Madrid. "On m'a dit que j'étais grillé dans le milieu de la mode et que les portes de LVMH me seront définitivement closes", affirme-t-il. On ne courrouce pas impunément le Pygmalion de Chanel !
"INTERDICTION TOTALE"
Le cas du livre d'Alicia Drake, journaliste britannique résidant à Paris, est encore plus étrange. Elle a publié, en 2006, sous le titre The Beautiful Fall, une enquête minutieuse sur les milieux de la mode des années 1950 à nos jours à Paris. Son ouvrage est paru en Grande-Bretagne, chez Bloomsbury, et aux Etats-Unis, chez Little Brown. S'appuyant sur la législation française, beaucoup plus stricte sur le respect de la vie privée, le couturier allemand a demandé "l'interdiction totale de publication et de distribution du livre" en France. Il a néanmoins été débouté en janvier par les tribunaux français.
Reste que la menace a eu un effet dissuasif. Seules deux librairies parisiennes à ce jour, Village Voice et Shakespeare & Company, ont en magasin The Beautiful Fall. Mieux, l'agent littéraire, Ania Corless (de l'agence David Higham Associates, une des plus cotées à Londres), n'a à ce jour trouvé aucun acquéreur pour les droits de traduction de l'ouvrage. Ni en France ni ailleurs en Europe. Comme le remarque un avocat : "Aucun éditeur français n'a envie de se fâcher avec Pierre Bergé", car l'enquête d'Alicia Drake, très bien documentée sur Karl Lagerfeld, aborde aussi la personnalité d'Yves Saint Laurent.


Alain Beuve-Méry

english translation :

Karl Lagerfeld confronted with its nonofficial biographies

arl Lagerfeld likes much the books. The proof, it has a library of almost 300 000 volumes, disseminated between its various pied-à-terres, Paris, Biarritz, Monaco... Better still, he is owner of the bookshop 7L, located at two steps of his Parisian private mansion, to the 51, street of the University. What enables him to profit from the professional handing-over on the 400 pounds of art, of photographs and catalogues of exposure, in French, English and German, that it receives on average per month.
But what the fashion designer does not like at all, in fact the books speak about him, without its imprimatur. It is the case of two of them. First of all, Thank you Karl! of Arnaud Maillard, who is appeared in September at Calmann-Lévy (256 p., 18 €). the author made all his career in the entourage of the German dressmaker. He started as trainee within his service of press and finished, fifteen years later, director of the studio of Lagerfeld Gallery. Before knowing a lay-off, in 2005. Its former owner is described there under all the seams, but the final judgement remains rather moderate: "At the bottom, which does seek Karl? To be able to create in peace, surrounded of a team on whom it can be able to count."The point of view of the impudent collaborator however was carefully cut to the assembly of documentary devoted to the designer, Lagerfeld Confidentiel, of Rodolphe Marconi, left Wednesday October 10 on the screens and that "the man with the catogan" supervised attentively. To find an employment, Arnaud Maillard had to leave France and to join Madrid. "It was said to me that I was roasted in the medium of the mode and that the doors of LVMH will be definitively closed to me", affirms it. One courrouce not with impunity Pygmalion of Chanel!
"TOTAL PROHIBITION"
The case of the book of Alicia Drake, journalist British residing in Paris, is even stranger. It published, in 2006, under the title The Beautiful Fall, a meticulous investigation into the mediums of the mode of the years 1950 at our days in Paris. Its work is appeared in Great Britain, at Bloomsbury, and in the United States, at Little Brown. Being based on the French legislation, much more strict on the respect of the private life, the German dressmaker asked "for the total prohibition of publication and distribution of the book" in France. He nevertheless was débouté in January by the French courts.
Remain that the threat had a dissuasive effect. Only two Parisian bookshops to date, Voice Village and Shakespeare & Company, have in store The Beautiful Fall. Better, the literary agent, Ania Corless (of the agency David Higham Associates, one of with dimensions in London), to date did not find any purchaser for the rights of translation of the work. Ni in France nor elsewhere in Europe. As a lawyer notices it: "No French editor wants to be annoyed with Pierre Bergé", because the investigation of Alicia Drake, documented very well into Karl Lagerfeld, approaches also the personality of Yves SAINT LAURENT.

Alain Beuve-Méry

 

[birdofparadise]

I can't wait to see it, I'm dying to compare the director's P.O.V. compared to what Drake dug up for The Beautiful Fall, which was interesting but poorly written to say the least...

 

[capt.charly]

I was invited for before first of the film " LAGERFELD CONFIDENTIEL" in the presence of Karl LAGERFELD! I was so happy !!!

watch my video : http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=StaYiEFfz8Y

 

[pinkcouture]

I wonder when it will be in Canada? It says 10/2007 but I can't seem to find any more information...

 

[Mojito]

Well, I'm sold.

 

[Tony Fersen]

Saw it yesterday (I'm in France).
Well, I'm a fan of him and I wasn't disapointed. I love his sense of humour and his will to present a very easy way of working, like "I'm naturally talented" ! lol.
The film just show moments of social events and intimate times, there's no explanation, no reflexion except Karl's own dialogue from different privates interview with the director. It's up to the audience to analyse a little.
What I really liked was all the making of of different shootings, in studio, in his home of Biarritz, in New York. There is many sequences with Brad Kroening on being a model whatever the hour or the cold !!! Also, works with Lily Donaldson, Carmen Kass and Gemma Ward (for KL) for models and Nicole Kidman for actress. View his homes are very interesting to me, the mess, the oppulence of books. The music is very well used, alternating between classical and pop.
What I didn't like was the poor quality of the image. Camera on the shoulder, not easy to see something really clear especially on fashion shows.

 

[ilaughead]

I really want to see his house!

 

[Symetrie]

I was invited for before first of the film " LAGERFELD CONFIDENTIEL" in the presence of Karl LAGERFELD! I was so happy !!!

I AM SO JEALOUS!!! You're so lucky to be there! I want to see the film...and Karl!!!! They better have this on DVD

 

[capt.charly]

I know that I am lucky, B)
so cried not !!!

 

[thefrancofille]

I can't WAIT to see this movie. Hope I don't have to go to NY to see it though. . .

 

[soundbelt]

IMDB seems to think it's not coming to the US!

CountryDate
Germany 10 February 2007(Berlin International Film Festival)
France 17 May 2007(Cannes Film Market)
Spain 6 June 2007(TV premiere)
France 10 October2007
UK 26 October 2007

 

[thefrancofille]

It's coming to NY starting this wednesday. I just hope it comes to more cities than NY and LA.

 

[dior_couture1245]

Anyone have any info as to when it's coming to LA?

 

[MissMagAddict]

source | nytimes
October 24, 2007

Q&A Rodolphe Marconi
Rodolphe Marconi’s new documentary on Karl Lagerfeld, “Lagerfeld Confidential,” has generated a lot of interest for his candor in interviewing Mr. Lagerfeld about his sexuality and his reputation for being cruelly unsentimental in ending relationships of which he has tired. Watching the film this weekend, I was more taken with the visual poetry of the Mr. Marconi’s imagery — he always seems to be watching the designer with awe — than I was surprised by Mr. Lagerfeld’s directness about sex and the social injustice of fashion. (“I was practicing by the time I was 13,” Mr. Lagerfeld says in the film. “I knew earlier, but it didn’t seem important. I didn’t see the issue. My half-sister was a lesbian, so it didn’t matter.”)

Mr. Marconi, in New York for the opening of the movie at Film Forum today, said the experience of spending two years with Mr. Lagerfeld changed his perception of the designer from that of an untouchable fashion icon into someone far more human. It is a revelation that comes across in the film.

“Usually when people are 70 years old with a lot of money, a career and celebrity, they stay at home with a bodyguard in a beautiful house with a swimming pool,” Mr. Marconi said. “But Karl is always in danger. He is all the time alive, curious. For me, curiosity is intelligence.”

Q: Did you find him intimidating at first?
A: If you’ve seen the film, the first scene is when I enter his bedroom. I had been waiting for two, three months before knocking on his bedroom door. I did not want him to kick me out. I was waiting for the good moment. It’s very strange. He is intimidating, but the first day when he gave me his hand to say hello, it was something wild, like I hadn’t seen him before. He was very simple, in fact. We sat at the table and had lunch. We begin to speak about fashion. We spoke and spoke and spoke, for like six hours. He gave me all his time. When he likes you, he has time for you. When he doesn’t, or you are boring, he leaves.

Q: How did you approach the process of capturing Karl on film?
A: I don’t generally like documentaries. All the documentaries are the same. It’s all the same rules. If you want to make a good documentary, you have to be political, polemical. I don’t care about that. I have no time to spend three years and a half of my life to make a film if I don’t like my subject. I like Karl. When I met Karl the first time, he said, “What kind of film do you want to do?” I said I don’t know. I don’t want to have a point of view. I don’t want to manipulate anything. During the shooting, all my friends called me and said, “Do you have what you want?” I don’t want anything. I was just shooting. I was not sure, in the end, I could make a film with the pictures, because I was never thinking about what I was doing. I was always in the sensation.

Usually, the people who make documentaries also want other persons who know Karl to say, “Oh yes, Karl is wonderful.” I don’t care about that. I just wanted to show. That was my vision, a vision with my eyes. I wanted a film, with music and pictures. When I used the Super-8 image, maybe two minutes, of Karl as the little child on the beach, for me it was important to have a moment to breath. It was like he was watching his childhood.

Q: Like the long scene when you watched him outside his bathroom window (in Biarritz)?
A: I went on the roof. It was a big house. Every morning he was in the same bathroom and this morning he was not. I woke up very earlier that day and I wandered around the house. I heard some water, and I understood he was in the bath and so I went on the roof with the camera. When I showed him the film after the editing, I thought he would want to cut this part, because he has no makeup, no sunglasses. I was very surprised he did not want to cut something. It was very chic of him.

Q: What do you think of Karl as a fashion designer? You didn’t show very much of him at work on the collections.
A: I love fashion. I love clothes. But for me, I was not fascinated by him because of the fashion, but because of the personality of the guy. He can always say funny and intelligent things, always very clear. You can ask him 100 questions. He has always a response for everything.

Q: From the fashion perspective, that might be beside the point. There’s so much focus on personality in fashion and not on the clothes. Do you have a theory as to why the personality, with Karl, becomes so important?
A: He did everything to become that. There is a very good proverb in France, which is be careful what you want because you will get it. Karl today has what he wanted from the start. He is not somebody who is calculating. In France, everybody loves Karl, when they are 12, when they are 70, when they are 40. It’s very strange. I don’t know why exactly. Maybe because he is not bourgeois and he is not politically correct. People like that. He helps people to dream, you know. He helps people to become themselves.

Q: So isn’t what he does in some ways an act?
A: I never had that impression. It’s a mistake to think Karl is acting a character. He is like that. On a Sunday afternoon, in his house, during the weekend in Biarritz, we are together, alone, in the garden in his house and he could be in a jogging suit or a sweater, but never. Always a tie, a shirt. He is like this even if he is alone. He is always like this when he speaks with you, when there are 100 persons, or when he is just alone, he is the same. Whether the camera was turned on or turned off it was the same.

Q: Why did you focus so much on Karl taking pictures of Brad Kroenig, the model? How did you feel about his relationship with Brad?
A: Brad loves to be a model on pictures. And Karl loves to do pictures. I think when Brad is with Karl, it is like a respiration. He breathes. A moment without fashion is like pleasure. And I think he can find in Brad, maybe, the face he lost, you know? Because Brad is young, Brad is beautiful, and their relationship is strange. Sometimes Karl makes pictures of Brad nude, but he always keeps a distance with Brad. It’s paradoxical.

 

[liberty33r1b]

^thanks, i really appreciate that!