Prêt-à-porter
With Marcello Mastroianni, Sophia Loren, Kim Basinger.
US, 1994, 35mm, color, 133 min.
English, French and Italian with English subtitles.
Print source: HFA
The fashion industry is less in the director’s crosshairs than, it seems, many critics had hoped; rather, its behind-the-scenes insular cattiness is simply on facetious display. A glittering ensemble of fictive characters mixed with fashion figures and celebrities playing themselves blends unscripted, documentary moments into a half-synthetic, half-natural matrix of comic dramas erupting during Paris Fashion Week. When a leader in the fashion industry mysteriously dies, the event causes just as much of a stir as any runway splash and, in keeping with Altman’s elliptical tendencies, serves to tease more than determine the narrative arc. With a cast of actors spanning time and the Atlantic—Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni, Sally Kellerman, Tim Robbins, Anouk Aimée, Rupert Everett and Forest Whitaker among them—the whirling, star-studded tapestry, like an haute couture spread, unwittingly excites and disconcerts the dazzled eye.
PRECEDED BY
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The Model’s Handbook
Directed by Robert Altman.
With Dorian Leigh.
US, 1956, digital video, black & white, 13 min.
This promotional film provides helpful hints for aspiring models and a behind-the-scenes look at the Ford Modeling Agency, for whom it was made. Altman intended the film as the first of a weekly series, but the project never took off.
Part of film series
Screenings from this program
Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson
Vincent & Theo
Fool for Love
Prêt-à-porter
California Split
Thieves Like Us
A Perfect Couple
A Prairie Home Companion
O.C. and Stiggs
That Cold Day in the Park
Corn's-A-Poppin'
McCabe & Mrs. Miller
The Gingerbread Man
Dr. T and the Women
Come Back to the 5 and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean
