McQueen

If you don't see the genius and talent behind Mcqueen you don't understand art. There was no one like Mcqueen before he blew up the fashion world, there was no one like Chanel, no one like Dior, no one like Saint Laurant. He was an once in a generation talent. He was more than a designer, he was a performance artist, painter, provacateur, he was one of a kind. His style was a mixture of the common and the theatrical, the past and the future, the macabre and the romantic, the light and the dark. His style was so original. I think Alexander would have liked to let his designs do the talking. This documentary didn't really work for me because I thought it lacked focus, there was more content on his personal life than his artistry, it felt like a basic biography on the history channel. What made him so special, what was his artistic process, how did he plan his shows, these topics were not explored. I think Mcqueen was a great artist, one for the ages, he will go down in history as one of the greatest fashion designers of all time, I hope this film can bring more appreciation to his work.

Less of a fashion spectacle and more of a tale of the label's namesake himself, McQueen is a riveting story from start to finish. From humble beginnings to the height of success, the documentary delivers a captivating recount of Lee Alexander McQueens foray into fashion. For anyone who goes to see McQueen, they will be thankful that we lived in a time where history can be recorded for review. The documentary uncovers insider footage from the early days at St Martin's design school through to his final showing. A group of individuals who all were involved in McQueens life to some extent it another provide a wholistic and collective view of the troubled artist. The sequential nature of the documentary worked incredibly well and the sensibility of all those interviewed showed that there really was no need to embellish McQueen's life. A film for fashion and art lovers as much as a film for those who seek inspiration every day.

PipAndSqueak makes some strong points, but I'm not sure what he's saying about people's (lack of) grief at McQueen's passing -- that McQueen was a control freak and therefore not cared about in the end?

I don't know what PipAndSqueak is referring to with "LAM" - does anyone know? I was actually wondering if PipAndSqueak might be Detmar Blow - but no evidence for that.

PipAndSqueak titled his (?) essay "Sacrificial LAM" - that's what I was just thinking -- that Alexander McQueen functioned in his life, and functions now, as an 'Art Christ' similar to van Gogh - but for the 21st century. Considering the disposability of males to most species including the human species, it's disturbing to contemplate that McQueen may actually serve as a type of human sacrifice for the art and beauty craving masses, during this era of ugliness and chaos. Perhaps his extreme creative honesty and ability to transmute ugliness into beauty filled the massive cultural chasm we are currently suffering.

This documentary is pretty much on par with the documentary put out about Alexander McQueen in 2011. It offers us a lot of new information, for which I am grateful, and it is entertaining.

I've found just as much value in watching interviews with McQueen on YouTube. But this movie presents a concise - if not complete - picture of his career and art. I greatly appreciate that this film was made, and I hope we can learn from it and advance ourselves further given the knowledge it affords to us.

"Give me time and I'll give you a revolution." Alexander McQueen

Too many films glorify their artists' lives without letting you into the creative process. Not so McQueen. Director Ian Bonhote and writer-director Peter Ettedgui, et al., capture the emerging incandescent genius of Lee Alexander McQueen while getting up close and personal to his inspirations and demons and finally his suicide.

This transfixing documentary shows in beautiful images, including his iconic skull motif, his revolutionary fashion-dramas, with visual designs fit for MOMA, and a robust backstage world of real-life passion and pain fitting for a genius who can barely keep up with his own gifts and those the world bestows on him. In some ways he reminds me of another troubled but gifted artist of the bizarre, Poe.

I saw the exhibit in New York 2010 with my granddaughter, Alexandra, and as splendid as it was, this bio brought me closer to him than the real thing. My reflection is my highest compliment to an artist who may end up like other greats such as Whitney, but whose range of achievements dwarfs even those geniuses.

Sad as McQueen's hanging is, immediately following the death of his beloved mother, perhaps some gifted artists may be fated for as violent an end as their art is passionate. The comfort is in his clothes and their dramatic shows unlike any other in the history of fashion.

"I find beauty in the grotesque, like most artists." McQueen That's history making splendidly chronicled.

Lee Alexander McQueen was a provocative British fashion designer whose fame rose in the 1990s. This documentary charts the highs and lows of his life.

The series of interviewees covers a wide area of McQueen's life. He had hurdles to pass (he was gay and from a working-class London background) to achieve a success he hadn't foreseen. For much of his successful career, he maintained a modest, average-guy appearance and outlook. His rise, downfall, and early ending are similar to that of another Brit of working-class background: Amy Winehouse whose story was covered in the superb doc "Amy" (2015).

"McQueen" is a rather good film that might have been better. It seems distant at times and goes just barely above the surface when it might have probed more about the man in particular and mental illness in general. Then, there are the fashion shows.

To those of us who are non-fashion aficionados, the level of interest may be limited. The shows and the clothes are deliberately unconventional and shocking - the main claim to fame for McQueen. They were like alternative theatre. The footage exposed in the film certainly is fascinating to a point. The trouble is that they are repetitive. Directors Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui might have found more creative ways to expose the fashion show footage to keep the content interesting.

While the film veers toward a less-than-stellar direction, it is thankfully revived in the last segment around the sad end of McQueen's life. Here, Bonhôte and Ettedgui do a fine job in expressing the grief, loss, reflections, and insights of those left behind. This section makes "McQueen" worthwhile. - dbamateurcritic