16 November 2018

When Art Meets Fashion: Interview with Marguerite Bartherotte

Interview with Marguerite Bartherotte

Artist Marguerite Bartherotte, in her atelier in Cap Ferret

 
I believe in style. But I believe in style in a bigger context. Because style is something that permeates every aspect of our life. And I want to highlight originality and individuality and expressivity.

G.Kero, founded by brother and sister Phillipe and Marguerite Bartherotte, is the kind of brand that harnersses that singular beauty vibe that makes the difference between fashion and style. The kind of brand that creates clothes as to showcase unique beings (the wearers) in the world, who live life as a conscient choice. The kind of brand that likes to push boundaries, while embracing comfort and beauty. The kind of brand that keeps its artistic perspective and only makes limited edition collections.

In this world of mass consumption and impulse buying, G.Kero stands apart through its commitment to true style, mankind and the planet. It reminds us that we need to educate ourselves and redefine our concepts of need and desire. That we’d rather spend our time tending to happiness than chasing and replacing fast fashion.

Whilst searching for a fresh alternative to traditional gallery canvases, artist Marguerite Bartherotte turned her hands to fashion. She makes fashion that lasts (the fact that G.Kero carries a permanent collection says a lot in this regard), fashion that makes a statement not only through creativity but also through the message it seems to carry: follow your convictions and instinct, not the trends, be yourself – that woman who likes to wear an original drawing or painting on her shirt instead of a pattern.

I have recently talked to Marguerite about the brand, the artist, how she discovered art as a kid and her favourite film.
 
Interview with Marguerite Bartherotte - G Kero
 
 

”The biggest challenge is also to refuse
to get rich as a goal in itself.”

 
 
Tell me a little bit about the story behind your brand. How did it come to be? How did you start merging art with fashion?
I was already a painter/drawer when I was young. I grew up doing that. When I was 21, I was studying cartoon at La Cambre in Brussels because I found out that movement in art was very attractive. I escaped school at 22 and started G.Kero. I had had enough with it. At that time, my brother Philippe was in Rio and asked me to do some drawings to print his own t-shirts. He spent months there and he was always wearing a simple t-shirt. He was frustrated because as it was his daily outfit, he couldn’t find one right for him. As for me, the idea was to escape from the virtual world and jump into the real one. My drawings will not be seen behind a screen but on people. It’s like a revenge for me.

If you could capture the essence of G.Kero in one sentence, how would you describe it?
G.Kero is an artistical reaction to the environment.

Who do you design for? Who is the G.Kero woman?
I design for everybody, cats and dogs. The G.Kero woman can be found in one of them, she looks free from what’s going on in the fashion world.
 

 
The book “Adieu l’Afrique” by Mirella Ricciardi was your first source of inspiration, at a very early age. Are there any other books/artists that have influenced you along the way? How did you continue to pursue your interest in art?
Of course there are lots of books or paintings or whatever, even if not consciously. I was a kid. Picasso, Matisse, Miro, Rembrandt, Walt Disney’s characters, such as Mowglie, Basquiat, my mother’s photographs of us, and my older brothers’ and sisters’ drawings. I was crazy about them. I have never reached a stronger emotion regarding art since discovering their drawings when I was 6, hahaha! When you are bitten as a kid, I guess you open the art channel for life so it goes on and on and on with every different artist you meet on your way.

You paint directly on fabric. How difficult was it to master this technique?
It was first easy when it was just black and white drawings, a line on a t-shirt with a pencil. I found more difficulties when it eventually became a painting with details and different layers, etc. Painting on fabrics needs lots of patience, but as I don’t like complicated things, I think I kept it simple enough. I simplify what I would do on paper. In time, I’ve developed a painting style which is done for clothes. But, you know, I mostly print my artwork, I paint or draw on paper and then it is printed all over the fabric. It is very interesting because I don’t know where it will actually end up. I try not to control to make magic happen.

The G.Kero clothes are made of cotton, cashmere or silk and are crafted in the best family workshops in Portugal. What’s the biggest challenge of a socially conscious fashion brand?
The biggest challenge would eventually be to still exist in a hundred years. When you spend more money than you win with a little brand, you can’t stay on forever. If you bring beauty into this world, you will have to fight; on the contrary, if you make business, there is always a place for you. We have to be able to make both art and business to make art exist. It would be to create clothes that last for years, too. It is to be the contrary of Zara or H&M. You can give your shirt to your daughter years after because the quality is good.

The biggest challenge is also to refuse to become rich as a goal in itself. I’d like success to let us go that way. It is bound to bring quality to this world.
 

 
 

”To me, beautiful living is to create …
or to be free to do what you want to do.
To be able to think. Lots of people are sheep
and seem to ignore it. It’s scary.”

 
 
The textile industry and its products have shaped the contemporary world more than anything else. The disposal of textile waste is one of the biggest preoccupations we have at the moment. How do you see the future of fashion? Do you think there is a significatly increased interest in the locally-made, in craftsmanship and mindful shopping or do you think it will take mass action to curb our addiction to mass-produced, cheap products? And what do you think is the first thing every individual should do in order to address this issue, any tip that may help someone else just starting out on their sustainable journey?
I think that the future of fashion will be paradoxal as the reflexion of our society. On one hand, you’ll see more and more shops of the kind of Zara opening, and they steal the original ideas of young creators like me, and, on the other hand, you will see new locally made or small production little brands like us. I think that, unfortunately, the bad education and this massive monster which is consummerism will lead us to the end. I think that people should only buy clothes that last and that are produced in factories where poor people are not exploited to increase rentability. That way, Zara, Topshop and H&M would close soon.

The clothes you design have a carefree, joyous, distinctive attitude, an attitude that’s transmitted through your campaigns as well. They remind me of the fashion of the late 80s-early 90s, when designers, models and people still had fun with fashion, when women wore the clothes, not the other way around, when individuality still mattered. Have women stopped having fun with fashion?
Of course not! I can see lots of women around me happy to meet G.Kero. Maybe they have a reaction to the boring propositions they are surrounded by. Sometimes there is a contre-pieds to the massive tendency. It’s enough for us to live on.
 

 
We live in a hectic world and more and more people are trying to go back to basics, to find a balance, to live mindfully. Your art and your clothes seem to carry this message of living simply and expressing yourself freely. What does beautiful living mean to you?
It’s a big question! To me, beautiful living is to create … or to be free to do what you want to do. To be able to think. Lots of people are sheep and seem to ignore it. It’s scary.
It can also be just to do things in a positive mood, whatever you do.
I think that your life is beautiful when what you do brings you lucky things.
We can see the whole life like a giant picture, and see if there is harmony and colours in it… I do this often. When you keep on exchanging with people, when you travel to see and hear and feel different cultures, you enlarge your world and make it flamboyant.

Speaking of a multicultural background, you grew up in Cap Ferret in France, went to school in Belgium and have lived in Paris. How has each place informed you creatively?
Very, very differently, but in a logical continuation. Cap Ferret was the most important one because it was simple: to draw in my room and to read were my only temptation. No cinéma, no Disneyland, no music, no football, no zoo, etc.

My mother had 7 children and we grew up quite free. If you got bored because you didn’t find any activity, no one was finding it for you. Once I came to my mother to tell her I had nothing to do, and she answered: “you can work in the garden… “. From that day I preferred to invent stories in my room. She sent me to Rome when I was 18 after the bacc and I was painting a lot. Afterwards I entered a school in Brussels for 2 years and it changed me a lot. I didn’t want to enter the gallery world anymore because it’s not fun. I needed my art to be more entertaining and more involved in the concrete life. It’s fun that my brother asked me to make some t-shirts at that moment. I was more than ready to create G.Kero… And he gave me the kick to do it.

What advice would you give someone with their own idea or dream?
Flow with your deeper energy. If you crash, it’s no big deal!
 
 

”The last good movie I’ve watched was The Kid
by Charlie Chaplin. It’s the most poetic and cutest thing
that’s happened to me at the cinema.”

 
 
What does style mean to you?
Style happens when the elegance in you looks like yours and it will never be boring to look at you. Fashion passes, style stays.

You feel your best dressed in:
Whatever… If I feel good when my body’s feels good. I like comfortable clothes. But I can’t go out if I have no style! Let’s do both.
I’m happy we don’t wear corsets anymore!
I usualy wear high-size pants and a long coat in winter, with a colourful silk scarf.
The best in summer would be something very light: short pants and a large blouse attached au dessus de la taille. Happy when the wind enters my shirt …
When I have the colours that match together…
Lots of possibilities, that’s why it’s very hard to answer briefly.
 

 
What is your one favourite thing to do in Cap Ferret/Paris and which you would miss if you lived anywhere else in the world?
If I left Cap Ferret, I would miss the direct communication with all G.Kero fans that come to my atelier. The beautiful place I got. If I left Paris, I would miss all those crazy healthy food places.

One thing you can not start the day without:
I need some light! When the sky is blue, it helps!

So where would we find you when not working?
Ooh, travelling everywhere, all the time! As much as possible. In the nature, of course, and as often as possible. I like Bidart (South-West coast, France), Portugal, Italy, Sicily …

I am a film lover and I have to ask: do you have a favourite movie? What about the latest good film you’ve watched?
Les enfants du Paradis. Because the French poet Jacques Prévert wrote the dialogue and it’s brilliant. The actors are something that doesn’t exist anymore. It’s very tasty and deep. It’s art.

The last good movie I’ve watched, and I’m happy you asked, was The Kid by Charlie Chaplin. It’s a masterpiece of cinema muet for me. The way Chaplin and the kid move in that film is so talented and amusing that it brings a sensation of fulfillment. It’s the most poetic and cutest thing that’s happened to me at the cinema. It made me happy for many days.

I completely agree with you, Marguerite, about Les enfants du Paradis, and about The Kid, too. The artistic part is something very rare in cinema today and that’s why I will probably always favour classic films over contemporary films. The values were different back then, too. In this time and age, what do you wish people appreciated more?
Elegance and taste. And expressivity!

What makes you happy at the end of the day?
To share something with a friend or somebody I like. For example, that movie!
 

gkero.fr | Instagram: @gkeroparis

 
photos: courtesy of G.Kero

Posted by classiq in Crafts & Culture, Fashion, Interviews | | 2 Comments
12 November 2018

Favourite Film: Lost in Translation

“Lost in Translation” (2003) | Focus Features

 

Some of my favourite creatives and cinephiles share a favourite movie experience:
the film that left a mark on them, that changed them, that influenced them
personally, creatively or both.

 

Words by: Heidi Wellington

 
 
Film: Lost in Translation (2003)
Written & Directed by Sofia Coppola
Starring Scarlett Johansson, Bill Murray and Giovanni Ribisi
 
 
Watching Lost in Translation has always been comforting. There is something soothing about Sofia Coppola’s story of two lost souls in a foreign land, meeting as strangers and parting as friends. It has always tempted my curiosity for travelling alone and stepping outside my comfort zone in a far-off place. It is a film I turn to whenever I want to return to that feeling.

The friendship formed between the two lost souls, Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson) and Bob (Bill Murray) is serendipitous, they are both searching for some kind of change in their lives but are not sure what that is. Both seem disappointed, even depressed with where they’re at, as if standing on the edge of a cliff and yet unable to jump.

Charlotte is a young American college graduate, travelling with her work-obsessed photographer husband John (Giovanni Ribisi), also an American. Charlotte and Bob, both struggling with insomnia, meet one night in the bar of the hotel they are both staying in. Bob too is American, a successful actor and is much older than Charlotte. He is in Tokyo to film a lucrative advertising commercial for Suntory Whiskey.

Lost in Translation is what I like to describe as “a quiet movie”. Coppola included scenes with no musical score, just the sounds of the scene, and we linger with Charlotte or Bob as if we are voyeurs, creating a deep sense of intimacy. Each time I watch it, I am left wanting more from my own life, and it leaves me with a sense of wanderlust. The film conveys a sense of reality, with both the acting and the writing, maybe because it doesn’t follow the lines of a typical story arc. This originality struck a chord with critics which led to Coppola’s Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay (she was also nominated for Best Director).

People don’t often “get” this movie (in my experience), they say “there’s no point to it, nothing happens”. It’s true, it’s subtle and uncomplicated, even though sometimes we’re not really sure what’s going on in a scene because of the language barrier since Coppola has chosen not to use subtitles. The actors convey their frustration so well that we feel it too. Bob speaks no Japanese and his experience with both the Japanese director and the inept translator when he is filming the Suntory Whiskey commercial is perfect, it conveys everybody’s confusion with the language barrier and because there are no subtitles, we too wonder what was left unsaid by the translator. It’s awkward, but incredibly funny.

Charlotte is beautifully played by Scarlett Johansson. Her husky voice, her softness and vulnerable youth as she braves the Tokyo subway, exploring the city and finding her way to a temple, observing the locals living their day-to-day lives.

The soundtrack is typical Sofia Coppola, each song has been thoughtfully chosen and they remain with you long after the movie ends. In the final scene, Bob hugs Charlotte and whispers something to her before they part. We are not privy to the words he speaks, we are not meant to hear what is said. They part and go their separate ways. Are they changed from their brief Tokyo friendship? I think so, although we’ll never know what Bob whispered to Charlotte but whatever he said, I think it gave her hope.
 
 

Heidi Wellington is a mother, wife, yoga teacher and writer.
She is a coffee and chocolate lover, she likes reading memoirs and is a film enthusiast,
with an interest in Old Hollywood history. Her biggest goal in life is to travel often to
far-off places. At the moment, Heidi is working on a memoir of her year-long yoga
teacher training experience. She lives on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia,
with her husband and two teenage daughters. You can subscribe to Heidi’s newsletter,
When the Schnecken Beckons, here, and you can find her on Instagram here.

 

Posted by classiq in Film | | Leave a comment
9 November 2018

Time for Tweed: Julie Christie in “Don’t Look Now”

Fashion and fiction intertwine.

Julie Christie in “Don’t Look Now | Casey Productions, Eldorado Films

 
“Eschewing the normal rules of commercial entertainment, Roeg’s films deal in raw emotion, shaking our preconceptions about civilisation and cinema. His aesthetic is founded on a masterly montage of time and space and elliptical narratives through which his character’s are cut adrift from their usual moral and physical surroundings,” writes Jason Wood in the introduction to his interview with director Nicolas Roeg, included in the book Talking Movies: Contemporary World Filmmakers in Interview. Here is a director who has never story-boarded anything, who likes the idea of chance, who likes to do things differently and who believes in the audience, in their coming to the movies with an open mind.

Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now (1973) remains the template for using decaying Venice as metaphor for the psychological disintegration of its characters. Venice has never looked more melancholic and alienating. Often regarded as one of the best British films of all time, Nicolas Roeg’s tragedy, set in off-season Venice, works with grief just as acutely as it works with supernaturally charged thriller elements, to devastating effect.
 

Julie Christie in “Don’t Look Now | Casey Productions, Eldorado Films

 
In 1967, Times Magazine observed of Julie Christie, “what Julie Christie wears has more real impact on fashion than all the clothes of the ten best-dressed women combined.” I like to say the same thing about films: you can find more inspiration in movies than in what the best dressed women of the moment wear. Julie Christie’s style, on and off screen, has remained ingrained in the collective imagination just as much her memorable roles (“the most poetic of actresses,” is how Al Pacino called her). She made a first huge impact with a passing appearance in Billy Liar (1963) and was immediately catapulted to Vogue style status. She soon found stardom with her roles in Dr Zhivago (1965) and Far from the Madding Crowd (1967). Few films have had a comparable influence on fashion as David Lean’s Dr Zhivago. It was the 1960s, the heyday of the mini skirt and frilly, feminine shapes, and yet, the maxi coats, the longer hemlines and the sober, military tailoring were rushed into fashion as a result of Lara’s wardrobe in the film.
 

Julie Christie in “Don’t Look Now | Casey Productions, Eldorado Films

 
In Don’t Look Now, Julie Christie’s Laura Baxter wears so many timeless pieces and the film marks one of those rare moments when the female character’s clothes have dated so much better than her male counterpart’s (played by Donald Sutherland) and that is an accomplishment in itself. Naturally, Christie’s clothes, in dark tones and heavy fabrics worn one on top of another, are a reflection of her character, the surroundings and of what she is going through. It’s late autumn and everything is grey and misty and on the edge of frost, and Laura has suffered an unimaginable loss. Roeg uses dark earth tones entirely, but precisely introduces bright red splashes now and then throughout the plot, from a glass of red wine spilled on the table, to a shawl, a scarf, a poster on the wall or Julie’s red boots – colour becomes a link between past and future. It’s a startling visual effect accomplished entirely through a masterful use of colour. “I can’t think how anyone can become a director without learning the craft of cinematography,” the director says in the conversation with Jason Wood, and, watching Don’t Look Now, his words kept coming back to me. Being able to shoot their own film, that should be an intrinsic part of a director’s job.
 

Julie Christie in “Don’t Look Now | Casey Productions, Eldorado Films

 
The appeal of Julie Christie’s dress code however surpasses the film. The most timeless A-line skirts, knitted sweaters, cardigans, and especially the coats, from the trench to classic tweed blazers and outerwear pieces, whether in earthy plaid, black and white checks or herringbone, that she wears. But it is tweed that has never looked better in these late autumn days. Tweed coats have, in fact, never gone away. It’s an item you can wear over a blouse, rollerneck or knitted sweater, just as Laura does, over skirts, jeans or trouser suits. It’s elegant, but versatile and practical, too, it can be Ivy League-inspired, but I favour the British countryside-look. There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing, the saying goes. I agree. It’s time to embrace the cold season and layer upon layer of tweed, do up all the buttons, flip up the collar and brave the worst weather that nature can throw at you.

Posted by classiq in Style in film | | Leave a comment
5 November 2018

November Playlist

The music I’ve been listening to on repeat lately, from the soundtrack of one of the best films of the year to some of my all-time favourite songs.


 

1. Ed Sheeran – One / 2. Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga – Shallow (from the “A Star Is Born” soundtrack) / 3. The The – This Is the Day / 4. New Order – Temptation / 5. Dire Straits – So Far Away / 6. The Lumineers – Ho Hey / 7. Patti Smith – Dancing Barefoot / 8. David Bowie – Heroes / 9. Nirvana – The Man Who Sold the World / 10. U2 – I Still Haven’t Found what I’m Looking For / 11. The Goo Goo Dolls – Iris / 12. The Smiths – How Soon Is Now / 13. College and Electric Youth – A Real Hero / 14. Nina Simone – Feeling Good / 15. Roxy Music – More Than This


 

Posted by classiq in Crafts & Culture | | 1 Comment
1 November 2018

“A Star Is Born” through the Times

Bradley Cooper on the set of “A Star Is Born” (2018) | photo by Peter Lindbergh

 
After seeing the latest A Star Is Born, directed by Bradley Cooper, I wanted to watch all three previous versions of the movie. I did and, not surprisingly, the modern version still stands firm, and my skepticism about remakes almost went out the window. This is that very rare remake that works. But I am not particularly interested in ranking the four films. I would rather talk about each one in part, because I don’t think it’s fair to dismiss so easily the less good versions, especially that all earlier films informed in one way or another this latest telling of the fable.

The main story of A Star is Born is the same in each iteration: A famous, alcoholic man’s career goes into decline right as the career of the woman he loves blossoms. The only thing that changes is the industry: the first two films are about actors, and the most recent versions are about musicians. But, and this is a considerable but, regardless of how good or not so good each of these films is, none of them lays bare the drama of a performer amid or at great personal loss. None of these films, nor any other for that matter, comes as close to this theme as Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s The Red Shoes (1948) or John Cassavetes’ Opening Night (1977).
 

”A Star Is Born” (1937) | Selznick International Pictures

 
A Star Is Born (1937), starring Janet Gaynor and Fredric March

William Wellman co-wrote (with Robert Carson, and Dorothy Parker was subsequently brought in for the screenplay) and directed the original film, with Janet Gaynor and Fredric March in the leading roles. Janet Gaynor is Esther Blodgett, the daughter of a North Dakota farm family. She is an aspiring actress attracted to the nascent movie industry. Her family is against her ambitions; only her grandmother, Lettie (May Robson), is sympathetic and helps Esther leave for Hollywood and try to make something of her dream. Fredric March is Norman Maine, a fading movie star, who helps Esther launch her career.

The film taps into the behind-the-scenes of Hollywood and into the corrupt and soulness business that the movie world was already becoming. But the film remains restrained. It doesn’t get very close to either the male lead, Norman Maine (Fredric March), who badly lacks a strong sense of character, nor to Esther’s own art, and what drives her forward. It’s more focused on the glamour than on the inner personal struggles.
 

”A Star Is Born” (1954) | Warner Brothers

 
A Star Is Born (1954), starring Judy Garland and James Mason

George Cukor’s A Star Is Born is classic Hollywood making. A lavish production, with considerable focus on the entertainment part, but one in which the personal drama is at all times dominating the story. Moss Hart was the screenwriter. Esther is played by Judy Garland and her character is no longer a wanna-be artist, just starting out, she is a singer in a popular band and a skilled performer and her career has been modestly successful so far. But she dreams bigger. And Norman Maine (James Mason), a hard-drinking, brilliant, but has-been actor, is the one who sees she has the potential to become even a greater star than what she is dreaming about. She could be a movie star. And he does everything he can to make that happen, step by step building her to stardom.

Cukor was a great director, one who could do drama, but who excelled at comedy, too, and, as François Truffaut said, “it’s easier to make people cry than to make people laugh”. And in A Star Is Born, his skills are perfectly attuned to his actors’. James Mason, one of the most talented and underrated actors in my opinion, is as tender as he is tormented, and his presence on screen keeps you watching. As for Garland, she undoubtedly gives one of her best performances, a triumphal return to the screen after an absence of four years. She bursts onto the screen in both explosive performances – although some of her numbers are no more than Hollywood musical clichés and the film does feel at times that it was intended to be a showcase for its leading lady – and agonizing moments.

A very disappointment fact is that the movie was severely cut soon after its initial release (the film didn’t meet the studio’s expectations and they made a shorter version, by 30 minutes, and melted the negative from the cuts) and every format available now includes reconstructions of sequences that were cut, with dialogue playing over still images in several scenes.
 

”A Star Is Born” (1976) | Warner Brothers

 
A Star Is Born (1976), starring Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson

The 1976 A Star Is Born stars Barbra Streisand as struggling singer Esther Hoffman, and Kris Kristofferson as the alcoholic rock star John Norman Howard. Joan Didion was brought in to co-write the script (John Gregory Dunne and Frank Pierson were the other writers). The film takes on a different perspective, placed in a different world, the music business, but unfortunately director Frank Pierson misses the opportunity of truly taking the film into a new direction. Barbra Streisand is a talented actress and a fantastic singer, but what the film does so wrong is that it ends up resembling too much a Streisand concert, molding on its leading actress rather than on her character. Not only does she outshine by far Kristofferson, but the singing outshines the inner side of her character, too. Everything seems just for the sake of the show. Furthermore, while the most famous line in the previous versions is that when the female lead declares herself “Mrs. Norman Maine”, thus claiming her husband, in Streisand’s film her character keeps her maiden name when she is introduced as “Mrs. Esther Hoffman Howard”. Kristofferson’s character gets even more played down. I was glad that Bradley Cooper kept the idea of the first films, especially in the view of the current feminist movement, not steering away from what’s relevant for the plot.

Reportedly, Streisand originally wanted John Cassavetes to direct the film, after she had seen a screening of A Woman under the Influence. Cassavetes turned her down, but the original A Star Is Born (1937) was one of his favourite films and as far back as 1968 he had had the idea of doing a backstage drama, which would turn out to be Opening Night (1977). I can not help thinking what a huge impact it would have had on the outcome if Cassavetes had directed Streisand’s A Star Is Born. Cassavetes, who made so many sacrifices in order not to compromise his work and his artistic vision, a filmmaker who lived for his art.
 

”A Star Is Born” (2018) | Warner Brothers

 
A Star Is Born (2018), starring Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper

One of the things that make this such a good film is the fact that it is honest and grounded. Bradley Cooper makes the story new and fresh and current. The characters are contoured very well, especially Cooper’s, Jackson Maine, a hard drinking country musician. Far from being a vanity reel (Bradley Cooper co-wrote the script with Eric Roth and Will Fetters), it is a very well written and well performed part, and although Lady Gaga (Ally) is very good in her first major role, for the first time (and this is what is so badly missing from the previous stories), this felt very much like an artists’, an actors’ duet. They are in this together, they are both in love not only with each other but with each other’s talent and that’s the beautiful part, that’s why the film stands apart.

But the female lead part seems a bit underdeveloped. That’s one of the few weak points of the film. The character of Ally is beautifully built up until the point when she finds success by starting to sing superficial, shallow pop songs. The film gives in too easily, her character gives up too easily the values she stands by at the beginning of the film, and which she had refused to break in the past when she had been told that she had to look a certain way and sing a certain way in order to succeed. It is not very plausible that she gives in to compromise. Or maybe it is, if you realise that it is this turn to pop singing that starts the rift between Ally and Jackson.

Apart from that, all the other music sequences and songs are brilliant. Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper transmit such energy and passion when they are on stage, it’s extraordinary and overwhelming the way the film captured the fantastic atmosphere of the best kind of live music. Not for once, though, does the spectacle overshadow the characters, and that’s another reason why this film is so good. And it’s because of these two characters, their chemistry and the fact that this story could really happen nowadays that I felt connected to this film more than with the others. After all, watching a movie is a personal experience.

Posted by classiq in Film | | 1 Comment