Visually splendid, culturally a bit inauthentic.
The First Monday in May
Grade: B
Director: Andrew Rossi (Ivory Tower)
Cast: Andrew Bolton, John Galliano
Runtime: 1 hr 30 min
by John DeSando
“It's quite easy to dismiss a fashion designer's engagement with China as being inauthentic.” Andrew Bolton
The First Monday in May sumptuously depicts the activity surrounding the 2015 China Through The Looking Glass exhibit at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The star is Bolton, curator of the museum’s Costume Institute, who engineers everything from costume production to how wide the train on a gown should be displayed.
In addition to that micromanagement, he has to deal daily with trustee and fashion icon, Anna Wintour, who seems blessedly serene and helpful with suggestions. In other words, everyone defers to Bolton, a genius in whom anyone would trust for the right taste and talk.
The show itself seems more interested in catching celebs (Justin Bieber appears more than once) than deconstructing the cross cultural richness implied by the title. In fact, I couldn’t find many Asians around any of the events or work. “Appropriating Chinese symbols” is the point made by a Wintour questioner.
But then, execs must have been more worried about the outlandish sum they paid Rihanna to perform. BTW, her costume took two years to make, and it’s a true spectacle. Kim K’s butt is also generously displayed.
Any cultural inauthenticity didn’t seem to hamper the spectacular displays, right down to a dress covered with dishes. As one of the thousands who saw the Alexander McQueen retrospective in 2011, I commend the museum for the splendor of which it is capable.
I commend this director, Andrew Rossi, for a film as visually beautiful as any you will see on any screen, museum or otherwise.
John DeSando, a Los Angeles Press Club first-place winner for National Entertainment Journalism, hosts WCBE’s It’s Movie Time and co-hosts Cinema Classics. Contact him at JDeSando@Columbus.rr.com
