From the man whose moniker provides the film’s title, to the prestigious fashion house he took over at the young age of 21, a number of revered names earn repeated references in Yves Saint Laurent. In the biopic built with immense affection for such influential figures and brands, it is admiration and idolatry that drives the slow, stately portrait. Exquisite imagery provides a handsome canvas for the life and times of one of the industry’s icons to play out upon; however there’s little that otherwise exceeds the standard in an effort perhaps best at offering something nice to look at.
Born Yves Mathieu-Saint-Laurent before he abbreviated his surname, Yves (Pierre Niney, It Boy) is painted as a most atypical candidate for the world he would inhabit and the impact he would leave on it. In youth, he was sombre in appearance and demeanour, had an aversion to drinking, and preferred his family’s company to going out partying. Time alters the designer – time largely spent with companion and business partner Pierre Bergé (Guillaume Gallienne, Me, Myself and Mum), setting up his own eponymous line, before succumbing to the trappings of his fame. With the passing of the decades comes the changing of styles, moods, preferences and lovers, but Saint Laurent still has drawing dresses firmly on his mind.
When he leaves his post at Christian Dior to forge his own path, first to acclaim, then to creative malaise and back again, of course criticism comes his way. He is charged with nonchalant elegance and steadfast meticulousness, both of which apply to writer/director Jalil Lespert’s (Headwinds) enactment of his experiences. There’s no sign of incompetence in a lushly staged and richly performed effort, but there’s also no sign of overcoming the expected, either. To show Saint Laurent’s existence as one of beauty, brilliance, refinement and resonance troubled by tough times, hard choices and manic-depressive episodes isn’t a difficult feat, but to do so with complexity evidently is.
Yves Saint Laurent is based on the book of the same name by Laurence Benaïm, as adapted by Lespert, co-scribes Jacques Fieschi (Going Away) and Marie-Pierre Huster (Amitiés sincères), and first-time collaborating writer Jérémie Guez, and it is the feel of prose from the page that laps at the film’s edges. Everything follows in order and is aptly described, but inserting liveliness is left to the viewer. The signposting of every major development, the bland dialogue, and the anticlimactic concluding act does little to conjure up the feature’s own sense of energy – and the strange filtering of intermittent narration by Gallienne as Bergé’s older self is similarly ill-suited.
It is in the performances that something special is added to the luxurious surroundings and lingering looks at gorgeous gowns, as afforded ample prominence by cinematographer Thomas Hardmeier (Do Not Disturb) within production designer Aline Bonetto’s (Micmacs) exquisite creations. Niney evokes the necessary mystique not offered by the script, growing into Saint Laurent’s stardom just as Bergé shows his character’s increasing weariness. In their efforts, the love between the two flickers but never fades, all while adding to Saint Laurent’s enigma. Lespert obviously hopes audiences will become as lost in their tumultuous yet tender bond as in the picturesque presentation that accompanies it; however perceptive portrayals and pretty pictures can’t cure all the film’s inertia.
Rating: 2 ½ out of 5 stars
Yves Saint Laurent
Director: Jalil Lespert
France, 2014, 106 mins
Release date: June 26
Distributor: eOne
Rated: M
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