sam_adler Review of Bill Cunningham New York

Bill Cunningham New York (2010)

More Grey Gardens than Grey Lady--or Shoulda Been

[29 September 2011]

I rated this movie highly because i enjoyed its portrayal of a man passionate about his work, principled in his approach to it, plainspoken, etc. But i think the director missed should've delved more deeply into what was fueling his workaholism and critics miss the boat when they explain away his lack of personal life as a result of an all-consuming passion for fashion or Calvinist work ethic. I'm sure those are both true, but they're hardly the whole truth. As a result, even though I initially felt about the movie much the same as the other commenters here, the more i think about it, the more I see a regrettable failure to explore how rejection by family and church due to homosexuality can warp an individual, create such self-hatred that he keeps the world at a distance by filling all his waking hours with work, and spending his working hours hiding behind a lens. One character trait that is evident is need for absolute control over selection of pics, layout, etc., even to the point of working for no money. This could either be because he completely lacked the social skills to compromise or because he just needed to assert control over the little slice of life's possibilities that he had allowed himself. Fortunately for Bill, the work he threw himself into to the exclusion of everything else life has to offer happened to be something he was both passionate about and had an aptitude for, so we can all enjoy the fruits of his pathology. And I'm sure that's the kind of film the NY Times wanted and probably the only way Bill would agree to be filmed for this project (it was years getting him to sign on). Anyway, movie is completely enjoyable, but, like I said, treating as lovable quirks the fact that this man has lived a life sleeping on a twin platform bed surrounded by file cabinets, his wardrobe pretty much the clothes on his back, no real friends to speak of, etc., seems to be a major flaw of this otherwise interesting film.