A Note Book On Cities And Clothes
1989
Wenders meets renowned Japanese fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto to talk about their ideas on the creative process and to ponder on the relationship between cities, identity and the cinema in the digital age. Read more
| Starring | Wim Wenders, Yohji Yamamoto, Nastassja Kiniski, Harry Dean Stanton |
|---|---|
| Director | Wim Wenders |
| Genres | Documentary, Drama |
loading...
A Note Book On Cities And Clothes
Wenders meets renowned Japanese fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto to talk about their ideas on the creative process and to ponder on the relationship between cities, identity and the cinema in the digital age.
| Starring | Wim Wenders, Yohji Yamamoto, Nastassja Kiniski, Harry Dean Stanton, Dennis Hopper, Bruno Ganz, Udo Kier, Solveig Dommartin, Peter Falk, Ronee Blakley, Lisa Kreuzer, Dean Stockwell, Otto Sander, Rudiger Vogler, Hans Christian Blech |
|---|---|
| Director | Wim Wenders |
| Studio | ANCHOR BAY HOME ENTERTAINMENT |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 19 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Documentary, Drama |
| Language | DVD: German, English |
| Released | DVD: 27 Oct 2008 Production year: 1989 |
| Format | DVD |
-
Most helpful member's review
View all -
1 out of 1 person found this review helpful
Meditative movie
Wim Wenders follows Japanese fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto as he puts together a fashion show. In truth, the subject matter is tedious, Yohji Yamamoto has little of interest to say, and he says it excrutiatingly slowly. Wenders tries his best to convince us that the designer is a great Artist, by covering the creative process, the little changes in the cut of the cloth to achieve what is the perfect shirt or dress. The close-knit coterie of disciples eager to translate the Artist's vision to the cloth. It's almost convicing, but the film fails to persuade me that fashion industry is anything more than superficial. By implying that fashion design is potentially as profound and mysterious as other arguably more 'worthy' artforms (such as cinema), the documentary teeters on pretention.
However, the film is certainly worth watching. There are some interesting meditations on the nature of cities and identity (it's filmed in both Tokyo and Paris). It's most impressive aspect is the exploration of digital video technology (quite appropriate given the documentary subject matter). When filmed (1989), this would have been cutting edge, and it's likely that Wenders experiments here benefited subsequent films most notably the dream sequences in Until The End of the World. The pixelated texture and more lurid colour palette of video contrast nicely with the celluloid sequences, and there are some effective (albeit now primative) sequencies with talking-heads video playback against celluloid footage in the background. The overall effect is meditative and other-worldly.
In summary, a flawed, dated but still interesting film. -
Most recent members' review
View all -
1 out of 1 person found this review helpful
Meditative movie
Wim Wenders follows Japanese fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto as he puts together a fashion show. In truth, the subject matter is tedious, Yohji Yamamoto has little of interest to say, and he says it excrutiatingly slowly. Wenders tries his best to convince us that the designer is a great Artist, by covering the creative process, the little changes in the cut of the cloth to achieve what is the perfect shirt or dress. The close-knit coterie of disciples eager to translate the Artist's vision to the cloth. It's almost convicing, but the film fails to persuade me that fashion industry is anything more than superficial. By implying that fashion design is potentially as profound and mysterious as other arguably more 'worthy' artforms (such as cinema), the documentary teeters on pretention.
However, the film is certainly worth watching. There are some interesting meditations on the nature of cities and identity (it's filmed in both Tokyo and Paris). It's most impressive aspect is the exploration of digital video technology (quite appropriate given the documentary subject matter). When filmed (1989), this would have been cutting edge, and it's likely that Wenders experiments here benefited subsequent films most notably the dream sequences in Until The End of the World. The pixelated texture and more lurid colour palette of video contrast nicely with the celluloid sequences, and there are some effective (albeit now primative) sequencies with talking-heads video playback against celluloid footage in the background. The overall effect is meditative and other-worldly.
In summary, a flawed, dated but still interesting film. -
More like this
View allShowing 1 to 4 of 20
Related user collection
86.6% from 3 members
Buy from the LOVEFiLM shop
-
-
-
A Note Book On Cities And Clothes
Wenders meets renowned Japanese fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto to talk about their ideas on the creative process and to ponder on the relationship between cities, identity and the cinema in the digital age....
-