Movie Review: The September Issue

This was one of those "tweener" movies for me. Too interesting to dismiss, too scattered to really recommend. I think that many will find it somewhat pleasant and interesting, and some will find it directionless and boring. I always feel crummy giving a documentary a mediocre mark, especially one playing at Film Streams...but if you figure they get something like 30-40 first run movies every year, not all of them can be home runs, right? Here's my review:

The Lion in Wintour
The vague “Vogue” vixen of The September Issue

The fashion industry is the comic book industry with more money and delusions of grandeur. Both have self-created niche markets complete with unspoken hierarchies and ridiculous costumes. Thus, depending on perspective, “Vogue” editor Anna Wintour is fashion’s Iron Man or the Green Goblin. The September Issue doesn’t really take a stance either way. In fact, the documentary doesn’t really do much of anything, refusing to fully commit to Wintour’s biography or her magazine, opting instead to just stand around looking pretty.

The film opens with a terse bout of self-denial from Wintour, whose reputation birthed the fictional fashion nazi from “The Devil Wears Prada.” Choosing not to defend her culture by extolling its virtues, she flippantly dismisses those on the outside who don’t appreciate the gravity of events like the September issue of “Vogue,” which is apparently a cultural supernova that threatens modern existence with its significance. Ostensibly, R.J. Cutler’s documentary follows the creation of that advertisement-laden phone book of clothing, pausing to let Wintour reveal a biographical nugget and never creating a sense of urgency.

What passes for conflict is Wintour’s relationship with Grace Coddington, the creative director of “Vogue.” Coddington and Wintour bump heads, or, more accurately, trade coldly upturned noses at one another, while begrudgingly conceding a measure of respect…so, as conflicts go, it’s not quite Israel vs Palestine. Coddington, who is shown to be so much more talented and intelligent than Wintour that she should use the film as her business card, cleverly breaks down the fourth wall by including the documentary’s cameraman in one of her shoots. Had the film chosen to focus on Coddington, or anything specific for that matter, it could have been more than passably charming.

Although it is refreshing that a film about an industry dominated by women chooses not to show any of them as terrifyingly catty or shallow, Cutler also fails to highlight the impressiveness of their accomplishment. Viewers unfamiliar with the size and scope of the fashion universe are not given a telescope to see its outer reaches and are instead given a child’s magnifying glass. Not every documentary need be self-important, but a little huzzah would have been openly welcomed and potentially deserved.

Lovingly (if somewhat tepidly) shot, The September Issue meanders and dawdles without any linear narrative structure, which would be fine had it been revealing about any of its subjects. Wintour is notoriously icy, which would have made introspection on her part a major grab, and the fashion culture is notoriously elitist, which would have made secret revelations particularly fascinating. Sadly, other than finding out that Wintour’s dad quit the publishing industry when he “got too angry,” and discovering that fashionistas look down on celebrities to a degree, there’s nary a juicy tidbit to be found.

Ultimately, The September Issue is as interesting as a well-produced segment on a morning talk show: it’s pleasing enough, but you’ll forget about it by the end of your commute.

Grade – C