The September 2007 issue of Vogue magazine weighed nearly five pounds, and was the single largest issue of a magazine ever published. With unprecedented access, this film tells the story of legendary Vogue editor in chief Anna Wintour and her larger-than-life team of editors creating the issue and ruling the world of fashion.
Genre(s): Documentary
Runtime: 90 minutes
Rating: 7.0/10 (240 votes)
Release Date: 16 January 2009
Country: USA
Languages: English
Company: A&E IndieFilms
Sound: Dolby Digital
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for brief strong language.
Director(s): R.J. Cutler
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Producer(s):
R.J. Cutler - executive producer
R.J. Cutler - producer
Robert DeBitetto - executive producer
Eliza Hindmarch - producer
Mary Lisio - co-producer
Robert Sharenow - executive producer
Sadia Shepard - producer
Lauren Sherman - line producer
Molly Thompson - executive producer
Cast:
Anna Wintour - Herself
Music: Craig Richey
R.J. Cutler - executive producer
R.J. Cutler - producer
Robert DeBitetto - executive producer
Eliza Hindmarch - producer
Mary Lisio - co-producer
Robert Sharenow - executive producer
Sadia Shepard - producer
Lauren Sherman - line producer
Molly Thompson - executive producer
Cast:
Anna Wintour - Herself
Music: Craig Richey
Posted on: September 1, 2009
Posted in: Documentary
July 16th, 2009
I saw this documentary at the Galway Film Fleadh. The anticipation washigh, and the screening was sold out; I'm happy to report that theaudience wasn't disappointed. This doc details the run up to theprinting of the titular September issue of American Vogue magazine,which an estimated one in eight American women purchase annually. Thedocumentary style is fast-paced with out being breakneck, with one ofthe freshest soundtracks I've had the pleasure of hearing on a cinemasound system. (Ladytron, Ratatat, Cinematic Orchestra, Mark Ronson etal.) It focuses on mostly on the upper echelons of Vogue, namelyinscrutable ice queen and inspiration for "The Devil Wears Prada",editor Anna Wintour. Creative director Grace Coddington brings somewelcome levity during the more "fashion has no mercy, dahling!"moments. If you enjoyed Ugly Betty, The Devil Wears Prada, America'sNext Top Model and Project Runway, you already know that this is rightup your street; for everybody else it's a fascinating and occasionallyfunny study of an inordinately influential individual at the apex of abizarre and enthralling industry, and those that surround her.
September 8th, 2009
First, let me tell you that I am a straight man who is not at allinterested at fashion. I have never bought a Vogue September issue norhave I ever even bought a fashion magazine. After realizing this moviegot great reviews, I decided to see it. The reviews were right and Imost certainly was not disappointed. The September Issue is the rarekind of movie that is a combination of documentary with a message andelegance.
Many people know about Anna Wintour. If you seen The Devil Wears Prada,you'll know that she is pure evil. Although there may be some truth tothis statement, this movie paints her in a different light. The movieopens with her explaining that people who wear high fashion should notbe made fun of just because they were haute couture. Wintour is lookedat as more of a person with morals who gets what she wants because sheoften is right and does what is best for the magazine. She doesn'tstrive to be mean, she does it for the magazine.
The star of the movie is not Wintour. It's actually the creativedirector, Grace Coddington. Coddington is not nearly as likable asWintour ironically, but she is central to the movie and the reason itis so good. The movie's message is about how the fashion world is sosuperficial and perfect. Towards the end, the cameraman for the movieis used in a photograph, however, he is just an average person who isslightly overweight. Coddington urges people not to touch the pictureup. She says "Nobody is perfect, but models are." This is the movie'scentral idea.
Another reason I really enjoyed the movie is that it really does havesome great film-making. R.J. Cutler really does have some nice shotsincluding my favorite of a couple kissing in front of the Eiffel Tower.It has nothing to do with the movie and yet it is such a moving shot.There are quite a few establishing shots similar to this in the movieand these little things are the icing on the cake.
You don't have to be a fashion lover to love this movie. You don't haveto be a subscriber to Vogue. You don't have to be a woman. Whateveryour preconceptions about this were, ignore them. This a movie foranybody that should be seen by everybody. The September Issue openswide this weekend so make use of it and go see it.
September 12th, 2009
The most interesting thing about this movie was that it wasn't aboutfashion. The movie was about work and excellence. Vogue wouldn't be asuccess without the creativity of Grace Coddington and the businessacumen of Anna Wintour.
Grace Coddington was a revelation and her ability to tell storiesthrough still images is inspiring.
I long suspected that The Devil Wears Prada was a cruel screed againstAnna Wintour. I think in this movie we see a more accurate picture ofwho she is. While not the warmest person in the world, she comes acrossas incredibly real and she is good at what she does. That must berespected.
September 15th, 2009
Successful documentaries are those in which a third party records whathappens in a situation and fashions some sort of narrative out of theconsequent material. Well, that's more or less what happens here. Oneplot involves the title – the simply fact of a magazine deadline. Theother is much more interesting although I feel not fully investigatedby Cutler.
From a character's point of view this film is nominally about AnnaWintour, the legendary editor of American Vogue. Indeed Cutler seems tohave been given pretty good access. Yet woman and Sphynx areinseparable and her dramatic interventions are rendered more throughCutler's own editorial decisions. The emergent protagonist turns out tobe Anna Carrington, the in-house stylist and foil for Wintour'sundoubted ruthlessness. The two (British, noteworthily) women barelyhave a raised voice on screen, let alone an angry word, butCarrington's enthusiasm provides plenty of casual quotation. It isclear that for all that she is put upon she is the mercurial, creativeheart of an institution that might otherwise be characterised asreductive or simply censorious.
And yet, Cutler doesn't make the most of it. He fails to really usethis editorial dialectic to get into the psyche of Wintour, about whomwe know no more at the end than at the beginning. The story of the twowomen that he pieces together from his footage is coherent but dictatedby that footage – not by something that a more perceptive directormight perceive within it.
Other characters within the industry spice the film up with a cocktailof silly queening and malapropisms but the monotony of working at Vogueis too often just that. 3/10