L'Amour Fou Review - Yves Saint Laurent

L’Amour Fou, Pierre Thoretton’s aesthetically refined portrait of the love-and-work partnership between the late couturier Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé, uses as its news peg the 2009 auction of the amassed art treasures collected by the couple in the course of their 50-year relationship. But the ”crazy love” in the title extends beyond the pair’s adoration of beauty to the bond between the cultured businessman and the shy, depressive, influential designer who became a star in the House of Dior at the age of 20 before launching his own legendary line in 1961. L’Amour Fou (Not Rated, 1 hr., 43 mins.) is as appropriately French and Proustian as 2009’s Valentino: The Last Emperor (about designer Valentino Garavani) is Italian and Felliniesque. It’s also just as satisfying in its insight into the relationship between creativity, temperament, and (no small consideration) wealth.

Those fou about the Saint Laurent film (which is also available on demand) should run to see Richard Press’ marvelous documentary Bill Cunningham New York (Not Rated, 1 hr., 24 mins.) and marvel at how the revered, self-effacing fashion photographer for The New York Times (still working in his 80s) pours his own crazy love for street fashion into artful, inspiring photos. L’Amour Fou: B+

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