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Tag: Alice Winocour

  • Living Something In Your Flesh: Anna Winocour on “Couture”

    Angelina Jolie returns to the screen in Alice Winocour’s incisive new drama Couture, delivering one of her most raw and vulnerable performances in years. Set against the glittering backdrop of Paris Fashion Week, the film is far more than a visual feast; it is an emotive cancer drama that simultaneously serves as a profound rumination on the invisible labor woven into the world of high fashion.

    The narrative centers on Maxine (Jolie), an indie horror director who faces a life-altering diagnosis of breast cancer just as she arrives in Paris to direct a video for a major fashion show. But Couture expands far beyond personal struggle, weaving together the complex lives of other women—from makeup artists and models to seamstresses—all navigating the high-stakes glamour of the industry.

    Winocour masterfully explores how beauty and pain often commingle. The film uses this opulent setting to examine how women’s bodies become both a battleground and their most sacred spaces, forcing viewers to confront the dual reality of glamour and suffering within the fashion world.

    The creation of this film was deeply personal for director Alice Winocour, who drew inspiration from her own experience with breast cancer. This personal stake informed the project’s urgent, punk energy, emphasizing a swift celebration of life amidst crisis. The collaboration with Jolie, who has also navigated profound personal loss, provided an unforgettable emotional core to the storytelling.

    Winocour sought to move beyond traditional fashion narratives, focusing instead on the collective experience of labor. She wanted to spotlight the women working behind the scenes—the seamstresses, makeup artists, and models—who are often rendered invisible by the industry’s focus on artistic directors and male perspectives.

    By centering these characters, Winocour tackled powerful geopolitical themes. The film brings together women from different backgrounds, including those who have escaped war zones and those who embody different stages of life, demonstrating that there is a shared human experience beneath the surface of fashion’s glamour.

    The emotional core of Couture lies in its depiction of resilience. It juxtaposes physical destruction—the pain of disease and bodily decay—with unwavering acts of connection and survival, showing women propping each other up amidst their turmoil. The film ultimately suggests that life continues, weaving together beauty and death into a complex tapestry.

    This is a story not just about fashion, but about the truth behind the fabric. It challenges the notion that suffering must be isolated, offering an unforgettable look at how women find strength, voice, and connection when exposed to the beautiful chaos of their own lives.

    Credit: Roger Ebert

  • Couture Review: Angelina Jolie is great in a film that is not nearly as good as her performance

    The Runway of Realities

    When a major fashion event collides with a very personal crisis, the resulting story can be anything but predictable. Couture plunges us into the dazzling, hyper-exclusive world of Paris Fashion Week, where American filmmaker Maxine Walker (portrayed by Angelina Jolie) finds herself grappling with far more pressing realities than haute couture. Surrounded by models, designers, and fleeting connections, she is forced to confront her own destiny while navigating a complex web of relationships spanning different ages and cultures.

    Maxine’s internal world is dominated by a stark diagnosis: breast cancer. This life-altering news throws Maxine into a profound period of self-discovery, forcing her to weigh medical choices against the emotional distance she has created from her family back home. The film uses this external pressure—the race against illness—as the crucible for an intense internal journey, asking what truly matters when facing mortality.

    The narrative unfolds alongside Maxine’s struggle. We meet a collection of women drawn into this high-stakes environment, each seeking their own footing amidst the glamour and chaos of the runway. There is Ada, a Sudanese model navigating the uncertainties of her background; Angele, a makeup artist wrestling with creative criticism; and Christine, a seamstress taking on immense responsibility for the show’s aesthetic. While these characters represent diverse experiences, the film ultimately anchors its power in Maxine’s raw confrontation with her diagnosis.

    Angelina Jolie delivers an emotionally powerful and deeply authentic performance as Maxine. She embodies the complexity of facing trauma, vulnerability, and fierce determination with remarkable ease. Her portrayal of navigating treatment, personal despair, and connection with her colleagues is nothing short of breathtaking—a performance that feels utterly naked and true.

    Director Alice Winocour masterfully uses this emotional realism to frame the spectacle. Although the film attempts to weave intricate details about the fashion industry and the lives of its supporting figures, it wisely focuses the spotlight on the human cost of these experiences rather than getting lost in the technicalities of haute couture. The film’s pacing is deliberately languid, allowing the weight of Maxine’s situation to settle over the glittering backdrop.

    Couture is an ambitious cinematic endeavor that manages to balance the visceral reality of a health crisis with the high-fashion spectacle of Paris. It asks big questions about identity and control while delivering a performance that demands attention. It may not always deliver every narrative thread in the most cohesive way, but it succeeds spectacularly in capturing a deeply personal and unforgettable human story.

    The Verdict

    Couture opens in theaters on June 26th.

    Credit: JoBlo