Director: Alice Winocour
Writer: Alice Winocour
Stars: Angelina Jolie, Anyeir Anei, Ella Rumpf
Synopsis: An American filmmaker arrives in Paris for Fashion Week on a life-and-death journey, facing challenges and self-discovery.
We are constantly told that the movie star, as a concept, is dead. And there is a lot of proof to back this up. Minus the old guard, like Tom Cruise, there are few performers that you can depend on to open a film to big dollars. The cinema world is now focused on streaming dollars and, to a lesser extent, the connected universe of it all. But what does still exist is the movie star performance. Some of the greats are able to drag a mediocre movie into watchability simply by their star wattage, presence, and ability. It is easy to forget, likely because of Hollywood gossip, family issues, and health troubles, but Angelina Jolie is absolutely a movie star. But, in this new landscape, many do not even realize that she has a movie out this year.
Couture, directed by Alice Winocour, as you might expect, takes an analytical look at the fashion industry. Its script, also penned by the director, attempts a three-pronged attack on this odd and difficult world. Maxine (Jolie) is a horror director who, for basically unexamined reasons, has been hired to direct a short film to open a prestigious fashion event. Quickly, we are also introduced to Ada (Anyier Anei) who is a young model, plucked out of obscurity to lead this show (and film). Finally, we have Angèle (Ella Rumpf) who is a makeup artist, but has goals of turning her life experiences in the fashion world into a novelization. One can see how these stories might easily intersect; unfortunately, Winocour only finds one thread that is worth telling, and two performances that are palatable.
As Maxine enters the frame and travels up a winding staircase, framed by mirrored walls, it feels, just for a moment, that we are being shown both greatness and traveling back in time. Gone is the Angelina Jolie walking red carpets, now donning a leather jacket, harkening back to the days of Foxfire. But aside from the look, there are few performers that hold the camera like Jolie. Even simply sitting still, giving a brief filmed interview about this new job, she is inherently watchable and buzzing with an energy that forces us to wonder more about her character’s interior life. And oddly, this is a problem for the movie. Every time the camera is off of her, we begin to get antsy, and for good reason.
The storyline surrounding Ada is both uninteresting and needlessly opaque. Her background in Sudan is touched upon through phone calls with family members, but Winocour is much more focused on her interactions with the other models that she is living with in Paris. This is all extremely standard and becomes a bland affair. Anei is a model and, while there is something to gain in terms of her casting, she struggles throughout. She seems overwhelmed, not as a character, but as an actor. However, when her paths finally cross with both Angèle and Maxine, the more seasoned actresses step up and carry these scenes.
Angèle, on the final hand, feels desperately incomplete. This is especially a shame given that Rumph has proven herself a more than capable actress, in films such as Raw. Sadly, the limitations of the script leave her twiddling her thumbs from time-to-time, or being forced to engage in scenes that are nothing more than a phone call to move the plot forward. However, her moments with Anei, helping her move through the world of high fashion are emotionally impactful, just enough that we wish there was more for her to do.
Visually, Couture has moments that will make you gasp. The cinematography from André Chemetoff especially shines during both the filming of the short film (aided by tremendous costuming from Pascaline Chavanne), which shows off the artifice of the fashion world, in direct comparison to a health scare suffered by Maxine. The film may not be breaking any barriers here, but it is effective enough in that regard.
But really, this film should have been a showcase for Jolie. There is a scene, late in the film, between her and a doctor, Laurent Hansen (Vincent Lindon), that is among the best performances of her storied career. Her ability to feel, hold back, and then express emotions that most of us would not want to imagine is nearly singular. This scene will make your breath catch in your throat and have you shaking your head in disbelief. If Couture had been primarily about her diagnosis, and the fashion world swirling around her, it is likely that awards could be in her future. Unfortunately, Couture is nowhere near focused enough, and the script struggles to connect all of these stories in a satisfactory way. There is a great film to be made about high fashion, women, and the way this world can chew them up and spit them out. Couture misses that particular mark, but it will leave you aching for yet another movie star performance from Angelina Jolie.
