Customer Reviews

Valentino: The Last Emperor [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
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Here is how haute couture is made. Valentino employed 100 seamstresses and owned one sewing machine (which no one would use). In the film, you see how each dress was lovingly designed and assembled and how the 45+ year partnership of Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giametti produced runway show after runway show. These partners clearly inspire the love and loyalty of their staff.

You see the sense of style that pervades the life. The entertaining, the travel, the pampered pets.

While the film is a fully positive portrait of this marvelous fashion house and its two leaders, the future looms. The company was sold in 1998 (and then again). The corporate owners don't appreciate the art and want more handbags, shoes and ready to wear. There are glimpses of this pressure as the film leads up to Rome's "45 Years of Valentino", a retrospective with pageantry worthy of its subject.

The film has a genuine quality. Some shots, being candid, won't have the perfect balance and people hesitate in speech. You see the tension in the preparation for big shows.

While others will not appreciate the film, if you are interested in the art of fashion, this is a must see.

"Valentino: The Last Emperor" follows the personal and professional life of fashion designer Valentino Garavani from his Spring/Summer 2006 collection to his 45-year retrospective celebration in Rome in July 2007, just months before Valentino retired. That's about a year and a half, a short period in a very long career. But its purpose is not so much to honor Valentino's contributions to women's fashion as to document the changing world of fashion that Valentino survived for 5 decades, remaining in control of his designs and working in his Rome design studio until his retirement at the age of 75.

Valentino's former boyfriend and the business partner responsible for making Valentino SpA an international success, Giancarlo Giammetti, graces this film with multiple interviews. Valentino speaks for himself as well, but we get to know him best by observing the work and bickering behind the scenes in his design studio, runway shows, and at a lavish bash at his Chateau de Wideville outside of Paris. Because this film encompasses the 2007 retrospective celebration, we get some glimpses back in time as well as a look at the process of creating new designs.

At one time, designers made money by selling clothes. In the 1980s, it was licensing. In the 1990s, fashion houses became commodities for international investment companies. Valentino kept on designing through it all. In 1998, Valentino and Giammetti sold the company to HdP. In 2002, Valentino SpA was sold to Marzotto Group -and this film witnesses some of the clashes of priorities between Valentino and Mateo Marzotto. We watch as the company is sold in 2007 to Peramira LLC, a private equity company whose goal is clearly to make money. Valentino was the last man standing of his generation of designers in a business that has been radically transformed over the course of his career. That's what "Valentino: The Last Emperor" is all about. In English, Italian, and French with optional subtitles.

The DVD (Phase 4 Films 2009): Bonus features are a theatrical trailer and three featurettes. In "The Perfect Life: Around the World with Valentino" (30 min), Michael Kelly, Majordomo of Valentino's six residences, takes us behind the scenes at Chateau Wideville, Chalet Gifferhorn at Gstaad, and Valentino's apartment in New York. If you liked the scenes at Chateau Wideville in the film, there is more of that here. "The Last Collection" (9 min) takes us to Paris in January 2008, as Valentino shows his last couture collection and says goodbye to his staff. "A Red Dress" (8 min) shows more detail of creating the red dress we see in the film, particularly of head seamstress Antonietta de Angelis. Subtitles available in English for the bonus features. Subtitles available in English, Spanish, and French for the film.

I saw this movie in a local theatre and it was far better than I expected. Although there is a lot about fashion, I found the most light-hearted and funny moments about Valentino's relationship with Giancarlo. They are such a great couple.... they complete each other and their 'married' style of bickering made me laugh a lot. Wonderful fashions, lots of celebrities, and yes, the special pugs that seem to take over everything! Definately can't wait until 08 September for the DVD to be released!

After seeing the Charlie Rose interview and then watching this fast paced film I really cared personally about these two fashion world guys. Valentino's designs as they evolve from sketch to draping to model ready to runway perfection wow at every stage. The dresses and suits endow the wearer with femininity through a body hugging silhouette, with refinement through the use of costly materials and with glamour by the addition of extravagant embellishments. More than 45 years as a designer and every design is a unique work of art. The process is brutal at times; the film shines a light on berated , exhausted seamstresses as they translate a concept into a "Valentino". Near meltdowns occur as tensions rise at the approach of a seasonal presentation. But far from being a mere artist, Valentino knows his way around media spin, client flattery, party giving and self indulgence; he's as shrewd a showman and salesman as you`ll find. But he spends like a drunk and is still insecure enough that he needs to hear he's good from the one person whose opinion can seem to really shake him to the core. Enter Giancarlo.

And this is where Matt Tyrnauer, the producer/director deserves special credit for he captures the two men's complex interdependency with revealing riffs and amusing editing.

Giancarlo makes the pieces of the Valentino enterprise ( logistical, financial, promotional and administrative) come together because he possesses vision and self-confidence, grace and toughness, ideas aplenty yet the ability to self edit, momentum not without discipline, straightforwardness combined with circumspection, and outstanding organizational skill plus a nose for the direction of the business. Valentino went bankrupt before he met Giancarlo, now he has five marvelous homes and a yacht. Giancarlo benefited materially as well but the sole reward that seems to bring him great happiness is appreciation and praise from Valentino.

And when Valentino finally comes for a hug and to say thank you, Giancarlo enfolds his partner in his arms and holds on for dear life. I have never seen a mutual love this deep play out on the screen, and powerfully, they aren't actors. This is an amazing story and left me wondering why this kind of love is sadly so rare.

very well done, the relationship b/w valentino and giametti is inspiring and the touching moment between V and Kaiser Karl is wonderful... "compared to us everyone else makes rags.."

The Emperor entertains his guests (we, the viewers) in a manner, only he could produce. The ultimate genious of style, grace and fashion.

This documentary was fascinating from the minute it started. It maintained a high level of visual beauty and the pace of the film was "gracioiusly" fast. Many intimate details of the business and his personal relationship for 45+ years.

He has certainly lived a glamorous life. He made it that way.

If you are a real fashion lover, you will fall in love with Valentino. I cried in the theater watching the sun set on his career. It's a behind the scenes view of the fashion world. Whether you know Valentino or not, you will learn to appreciate his gift. BUY THIS!! It's a FABULOUS movie! The extras on the DVD are amazing--more intimate interviews and a look at Valentino's lavish lifestyle. LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!

wow..i'm not a full fledged fashionista,but i couldnt wait for this dvd..loved every minute of this inside look of a genius!

When asked by a reporter "What do women want?", Valentino Garavani, responded, "They want to be beautiful". In this film, we are transported to the land of beauty and wealth, all combined into a business.

Vanity Fair correspondent Matt Tyrnauer has directed a documentary that gave him access to the fashion world and Valentino for the last two years of his fashion business life. From 2006 to 2007, Valentino had a camera in his life much of the time. Tyrnauer captured much of the business. He followed Valentino from his first drawing of a beautiful gown to the sewing by hand of each little bead, to the tall, willowy model walking the gown, to the runway show. This was a fascinating look into the life of a fashion industry. We meet Giancarlo Giametti, the 50 year friendship and lover of Valentino. We were taken to the cafe in Rome where they met, although each of them had a differing version of the cafe.

Valentino is a demanding and controlling boss, and from the first design to the finished product we see first hand how decisions are made. The head seamtress is as demanding and controlling as her boss, and she cuts her underlings with sharp teeth as she berates their work. The show itself is designed by Giametti, and he seems to be a very talented man. Valentino seems to disagree with many of his decisions, but in the end Giametti is usually proved correct. What was particularly interesting to me was the corporate intrusion. Valentino sold out to a company in 1998, which was taken over in 2002 by Matteo Marzotto, a handsome man who gave good business sense but then sold out to an investment banking company some years later. We see Valentino and his 5 pugs traveling in a jet from city to city and from one beautiful residence to another and then to his yacht. Life is good for this man. He is tanned year round, and at times he looks too orange. His hair is always perfectly coiffeured. I wanted to see his personal assistant who helped give him that look day after day. But, what we did get to see was the diva temper, and then the man who showed his love for his partner in small ways, always unexpected.

This was a film that kept my attention, but I don't feel like I got to know the man, Valentino, nor his partner nor anyone in the film. Tyrnauer was told to cut the filming when conversations or actions became too intimate. This was a loss. The film portrayed a beautiful, lush lifestyle, but we know little of the man, The Last Emperor.

Recommended. prisrob 10-04-09

Una Grande Storia Italiana. Valentino Garavani

I Saw this film TWICE in NYC when it was in private small theaters and I still have parts which I would like to rewind and play again!!...Not a film for fashion interests only...it is funny and a good cultural film as well...course if you are into fashion this is a must buy!