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Subversive and sly

Mollie Graham | California, USA | 02/09/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I read the reviews first before seeing the film. I understand the frustration viewers have with this film. It is an infuriating film that only reveals a very small bit, piece by piece, and only at the pace that the filmmaker sets. Its spare style offers little context, unlike traditional film form which is typically rich with imagery. Spare sets; talking heads. If you can get past the first half, you are drawn in. It's getting used to the film's format that is the challenge. The cast is extraordinary; the range of performances truly astounding. Watching Jude Law in drag is worth it alone! A blogger uses his phone camera to interview a range of characters involved in the production of a fashion show. Each interviewee has their own point of view. Collectively, they represent the cast of characters both behind and in front of the camera. Each character is only a part of a whole; each interview is a piece of a puzzle. At first, it is your typical low-production-value documentary. But as events unfold, the interviews take on more layers of meaning, more complexity. Slowly, with each ensuing interview, a picture emerges of what actually took place off camera. By the end of the film, we come to understand the pivotal role of the interviewer/ blogger -- how media, however amateurish and non-mainstream, influences art and outcomes. This is a sly film. It obliges us to reflect deeply on the nature of popular culture, popular media, and the emerging role of non-mainstream media, e.g., teenage bloggers."