This intimate and engaging documentary does justice to the fascinating way the fashion designer's life has paralleled many of the biggest global events and social changes of the last 75 years. Yet, as Diane von Furstenberg: Woman in Charge demonstrates, this is also a story about a woman ahead of her time.
The documentary's keen interviewers allow von Furstenberg, with additions from friends, family, and admirers, to provide firsthand accounts of her story, including the moment she realized how essential her mother's survival of the Holocaust was to her own life. She reveals her feelings about the men in her past, her shortcomings as a parent, her professional highs and lows, and her notoriously uninhibited sex life (she even dishes on some of her starry affairs).
Sure, she lets the camera follow her into the bathroom and sit with her at her planned gravesite, but the real intimacy comes from her willingness to answer probing questions and reflect honestly on her life. That alone makes this a worthwhile documentary, but the filmmakers have additionally edited their footage with great confidence, weaving in photos from her family albums, interviews with celebrities, and footage of events from her long life and career.
Sections are set apart using quotes from the woman in charge herself, illustrated with bright, collage-style graphics. This film has few dull moments, much like von Furstenberg's full life.
Read the full review at Common Sense Media.
Images courtesy of Hulu.
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