Monday, 19 March 2012

"You're a lumberjack and here I am talking dresses to you"

Bill Cunningham New York 19/03/12
Director: Richard Press
2010
This has been on my must watch list for a while now, and has finally come round for a UK release. Well what does a documentary about a fashion photographer in New York have to offer an Englishman with practically zero interest in fashion? It turns out quite a bit. For starters Bill Cunningham isn’t ‘any’ fashion photographer, he is ‘the’ fashion photographer. He has been working in New York City for decades, and before that he was in the army, before that a hat maker in the famous Carnegie Hall. That is where we first see him, wrestling his Schwinn bicycle (his 29th, the previous 28 having been stolen) out of a closet, which he uses as a trusty steed on the packed streets of NYC.

Bill is about 80 when we meet him, but this is not slowing him down or stopping him from cutting off angry taxi drivers. He maintains two longstanding magazine columns, one where he deals with the epitome of New York status (he chooses the charity parties to attend based on merit, not guest list) and another where he snatches candid shots of people on the street (we see a girl threaten to break his camera). We hear how he likes to shoot in rain and snow because it makes people pay less attention to him, and how he wants to see people with daring and taste, not “cookie-cutter” fashion. Somewhat ironically he spots trends months before they take off, and these then become ‘normal’. He claims that instead of imposing his own views on fashion he lets the street speak to him and tries to spot themes. He is in search of a fashion truth.

This is all interesting (especially for fashion students and the like) but for me I couldn’t care less who introduced America to Jean-Paul Gaultier. However I was intrigued by the way this old man was visibly energised by his work, smiling as he clicks away with his camera. Here the film makers do a good job, they follow Bill through the streets on his bicycle and show him running from the camera mid interview so that he can photograph somebody. My heart was warmed by the way he treated wealthy New York socialites the same way as eccentric dressers he meets on the street, he is genuinely interested in the clothes and not in his own opinions.

Underneath this picture of an aging workaholic legend is the question of his personal life. Well the short answer is that he doesn’t appear to have one, living alone in his small apartment packed with old negatives. This serves to make him even more interesting. Unfortunately time I felt could have been spent delving deeper in to who he is away from his passionate editing room was spent exploring his past and time at Carnegie Hall. While this is a worthwhile endeavour I thought that in an 84 minute film the priorities should differ. I later learnt that there is in fact a full documentary based on Carnegie Hall and the struggles of its residents (including Bill) to stop from being evicted (also covered in this film), and I intend to watch it.

However there are still enough glimpses into Bill’s mind to make this a good documentary. We learn that he thinks of fashion as “the armour to survive everyday life”, which begs the question what does Bill need to be protected from? Well just before the end of this film Bill is asked 2 questions by the filmmakers, one of them provokes a little laughter and the other almost causes him to break down and cry. This is really well done, it is not vicious or exploitative, he is asked honest questions and always valued as the intelligent man that he obviously is, even though the youthful energy he possesses combined with his older face sometimes combine to make him seem innocent or simple. I think we get to know Bill pretty well, without having to have his inner thoughts dragged out of him. The film makers are kind and don’t try to twist the story, they look for truth, as does Bill in his fashion column. I got what I wanted from this documentary and recommend it.

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