Matt Kapp Movies
One of the world's most celebrated fashion designers, Valentino Garavani developed an interest in design as a teenager and entered the world of haute couture in the early '50s, working under Jacques Fath, Balenciaga and Jean Desses. In 1959, Valentino opened his own house of fashion in Rome, and he soon became one of the leading lights in European design, known for his trademark shade of red and his clean, stylish lines. With Giancarlo Giammetti, who has been Valentino's business partner and significant other since 1960, the designer built an empire that remained one of the most prestigious in the fashion world until Valentino announced his retirement in the fall of 2007. Filmmaker and journalist Matt Tyrnauer, who has written about Valentino for Vanity Fair, examines the public and private lives of the fashion icon in his documentary Valentino: The Last Emperor. Granted unprecedented access to Valentino's home and office, the film offers an unusual look at his relationship with Giammetti, how his creations are made, his lavish lifestyle, and how changes in the world of haute couture have impacted him. Featuring an original score by Nino Rota, Valentino: The Last Emperor received its North American premiere at the 2008 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Valentino Garavani, Giancarlo Giammetti, (more)
- 2003
Always his own best audience, celebrated author, social critic, and self-described political "nag" Gore Vidal also proves the ideal master of ceremonies (via film clips from an extended interview) for this biographical documentary. From the vantage point of his villa in Ravello, Italy, Vidal recalls his own tempestuous life and career, all the while dispensing caustic barbs aimed at the country of his birth, "The United States of Amnesia." The author's most famous literary works are touched upon, notably his Broadway plays Visit to a Small Planet and The Best Man; his iconoclastic historical novels Burr and Lincoln; and, of course, his once-scandalous best-seller Myra Breckenridge. Also given ample airspace are Vidal's many plunges into the political arena (a natural outgrowth of his heritage, coming as he did from a long line of Tennessee public servants), including his unsuccessful run for office; his ceaseless verbal assaults on the nation's Founding Fathers ("hucksters who were posing for history"); his shocking comments on the Kennedy clan during a 1973 telecast of The Dick Cavett Show; and his notorious 1968 TV confrontation with William F. Buckley, which degenerated into a vicious name-calling session, a lawsuit, and a public apology from Buckley. Several of Vidal's friends, associates, and admirers appear on camera, notably actors Eli Wallach, Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Tim Robbins, and Susan Sarandon, all of whom read passages from his novels. All in all, this is a fascinating glimpse into the psyche of a man described by one associate as a "nasty, witty, shrewd, contemptible fellow," and by other acquaintances as a warm, personable, caring gentleman. Previewed at the Sundance Film Festival January 20, 2003, The Education of Gore Vidal made its TV debut six months later as part of PBS' American Masters anthology. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gore Vidal, Anne Jackson, (more)
