Director: Albert Maysles
Iris
Rating: 4/5
When it comes to documentary filmmaking, there is no one more experienced or revered than Albert Maysles and he is set to return with his new film Iris.
Iris is a movie that explores Iris Apfel, who has been a huge figure on the New York fashion scene for decades. However, this is a movie that is tinged with sadness, as it will be the final film from this terrific director and storyteller - who died earlier this year, aged eighty-eight.
More than a fashion film, the documentary is a story about creativity and how, even in Iris' dotage, a soaring free spirit continues to inspire. Iris portrays a singular woman whose enthusiasm for fashion, art and people are life's sustenance and reminds us that dressing, and indeed life, is nothing but an experiment.
Despite the abundance of glamour in her current life, she continues to embrace the values and work ethic established during a middle-class Queens upbringing during the Great Depression.
I have to admit, I wasn't sure what to expect when I sat down to watch Iris - knowing nothing about the film's subject - but it is a joyous movie that looks into the life of this eccentric and incredible woman. It really is a riveting watch.
You don't have to be a fashion fan or know anything about fashion to be truly captivated by Iris - as the director clearly was. This is a movie about loving life and living it to the max regardless of how old you are. Iris is a woman who has life pumping through her veins and she is someone that you just cannot take your eyes off from start to finish.
The movie does delve into the world of fashion and the director has brought a host of the industry's biggest names together to talk about the impact and influence that Iris has had. I have to say, this is probably the least interesting part of the film, as it is Iris herself who is the film's main star.
Iris is a woman who loves fashion but she is woman who is not defined by it - even though she has spent most of her life in fashion circles. She is a woman who loves having her own style but it is not what makes her who and what she is.
Iris may not be a documentary the peels back all of the layers of this fascinating woman, but just being her presences for seventy minutes is entertaining enough. Some watchers of the film may want a little more insight than Maysles gives but, for me, I think Iris works perfectly.
Iris is a film that really champions the human spirit and life itself - and those themes are wrapped up perfectly in this terrific woman. Iris is the real star of this film and everyone really
does just fade into the background.
Maysles has delivered some wonderful documentaries during his career and he is really going out on a major high with Iris - it will be sad to see him leave the director's chair for the final time.
Iris is out now.