McQueen (2018) Reviews

• Everything you want a documentary to be

  rocknrollparty2018-07-22

  So sad and so beautiful. Just like he was. A wonderful insight into the beauty and brutality that made his work what it was. A very emotional piece. And considering how the man himself said he wanted people to walk away from his shows with emotion, even though this wasn't a work of his (even though it was about him), I'd consider this a resounding success for just that reason. You walk away from the theater very emotional. Go see it. Yesterday.

• An excellent tribute to a true artist

  bbewnylorac2018-11-15

  I am not into fashion and I imagined Alexander McQueen as a posh, sleek, fashion industry cliche. In fact, as this doco explains, he was a shy London taxi driver's son, who learned tailoring from the ground up, getting ahead due to his sheer hard work and talent. He was very much a visual and performance artist, as well as a fashion designer. His famous association with his extraordinary patron and muse Isabella Blow is detailed. She really was a fascinating and powerful personality. Also interviewed are lovers, relatives, models, and fashion assistants. The directors choose to focus on his amazing rise from East End studios to the haut couture Paris studios and catwalks of Givenchy and Gucci. It's very sad to realise how much pressure, behind the glamour, that McQueen was ultimately under. He was expected to produce an unending cycle of impeccable avant garde collections, without a break. He told friends he felt he could not afford to stop, because so many people relied on him. And sadly the death of his mother, his great supporter, tipped him over the edge and he took hus own life. This documentary is a fitting memorial to a talent who blazed across the industry for such a short time, but who touched so many lives. I love, at tbe end of each catwalk show, how he'd look so bashful but happy as he'd step out to take the applause. This is a lovingly made and affectionate tribute to a true artist.

• A Powerful Documentary

  JesseWaugh2018-06-13

  PipAndSqueak makes some strong points, but I'm not sure what he's saying about people's (lack of) grief at McQueen's passing -- that McQueen was a control freak and therefore not cared about in the end? I don't know what PipAndSqueak is referring to with "LAM" - does anyone know? I was actually wondering if PipAndSqueak might be Detmar Blow - but no evidence for that. PipAndSqueak titled his (?) essay "Sacrificial LAM" - that's what I was just thinking -- that Alexander McQueen functioned in his life, and functions now, as an 'Art Christ' similar to van Gogh - but for the 21st century. Considering the disposability of males to most species including the human species, it's disturbing to contemplate that McQueen may actually serve as a type of human sacrifice for the art and beauty craving masses, during this era of ugliness and chaos. Perhaps his extreme creative honesty and ability to transmute ugliness into beauty filled the massive cultural chasm we are currently suffering. This documentary is pretty much on par with the documentary put out about Alexander McQueen in 2011. It offers us a lot of new information, for which I am grateful, and it is entertaining. I've found just as much value in watching interviews with McQueen on YouTube. But this movie presents a concise - if not complete - picture of his career and art. I greatly appreciate that this film was made, and I hope we can learn from it and advance ourselves further given the knowledge it affords to us.

• The most beautiful documentary I have ever seen.

  artandjoe2018-06-18

  This film moved me like I had never been moved before. I hadn't the highest of hopes on being informed that the film would be produced by Lionsgate, a production company who are somewhat reputable for some bad films (Wings), however this was simply incredible. I am not in the least interested in fashion design (being your generally typical teenage boy), however this is simply a piece of art that must been seen.

• I knew literally nothing about LAM before watching this, nor anything about High Fashion

  adrian-4432018-12-09

  I was vaguely aware of LAM being a designer, I didn't know that he had died. I pay very little attention to the news and indeed fashion. My first thoughts during the documentary were; how odd these people seemed to be. But I think the same of people who watch football, which I think says more about me than them. It's evocative and drew me into an interest in something, that I've in all honesty believed both vacuous and narcissistic. This changed that, I was moved I even began to see the genius and value in the expression of exceptional skill. I didn't know the story behind the people and was saddened to learn of the deaths of both Lee and Isabella. All in all I was extremely impressed and thoroughly enjoyed it, glad I stuck with it. I went from disdain to joy to sadness.