Review of the film "Haute Couture" - a French dramedy about the wrong side of Dior
Natalie Bai and Lina Curudry find solace in the Dior workshop.
Esther (Natalie Bai) has devoted her life to working as a seamstress and, having finally achieved the desired success, is preparing to retire. One evening, a woman becomes a victim of a robbery: a young girl Zhadi (Lina Kudry, the same revolutionary from the French Messenger) steals her handbag in the subway. Soon the heroines meet again: the thief, feeling remorse, returns the thing to its rightful owner, and Esther decides to take the girl under her wing and teach her a difficult craft.
It must be assumed that the nature of the picture is determined primarily by the demonstration of the inner kitchen of the Dior tailors. Exhausted women and men work tirelessly and create impeccable outfits for a tiny layer of humanity. Director Sylvie Oion opens the door of the workshop, where superstition reigns (dropping scissors is a disaster) and the scent of expensive perfume is felt (tailors spray perfume on dresses for greater effect). But what should be the heart of the film is depicted at least superficially: people in snow-white coats trample around the finest fabrics and discuss meager salaries - that's all. Perhaps, if we had nothing to compare with, the couturier behind the scenes would look more exciting. But at least Phantom Thread comes to mind, where a world of countless patterns comes to life in the hands of obsessive creator Daniel Day-Lewis.
The film is best at capturing the contrast between the characters, who find common ground in the process. One in a perfect coat personifies the fashion brand and the privileged class, the second is a resident of the French suburbs, where migrants barely make ends meet. Despite this social gap, the women manage to bond and understand each other's personal history. In fact, the authors use a win-win (partly French) recipe for opposing people from a low-income stratum to typical representatives of bohemians (just remember the box office hit "1 + 1" and the recent tape "9 Reasons to Live"). Some drown in their loneliness and alienation of loved ones, others learn to see life from an unusual angle. So it is here: Zhadi finds a job that brings pleasure, and Esther, being on the verge of suicide at the beginning of the film, gains hope to improve relations with her own daughter and start a new chapter in life.
Haute Couture, balancing between comedy and drama, is a movie not so much about fashion as about human kindness and the search for recognition. The phrase “a man needs a man” here is complemented by the words “and a favorite thing”, because it was it that gave women meaning and strength.
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