McQueen (2018) User Reviews

They don't make them like this anymore

[Davor_Blazevic_1959 · 9/10 · 17 May 2019]

Closest to docufiction, consisting of mainly documentary material combined with certain scripted narratives, dividing title character's life in well-defined chapters, fictionally captured on "tapes", British production "McQueen" (2018), directed by Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui, gives an all-inclusive, many personal perspective (from a wide-range of people interviewed) look at the life and extraordinary talent, propelling sometimes controversial, ultimately, artistically and business-wise unprecedented career of the enfant terrible of fashion, Lee Alexander McQueen. From among those who were lucky enough to have spent time with him, and close enough to have had their lives touched by his clearly inspirational and motivating presence, many have contributed a word and shared their memories here: from his family members (mother, sister, nephew), partners, teachers, employers and employees, sponsors and promoters, fashion reviewers, colleagues and models. All comments together, organized in thematical chapters, "tapes" covering distinct periods of his life, create a comprehensive and rather impressive portrait of an extraordinary individual, from his humble beginnings, his meteorite success in launching and supervising his eponymous line, providing his conceptual and designing skills and artistry to numerous collections and dramatized fashion shows, all the way to his premature death.

I have to admit that I'm not a big fan of fashion: just an occasional spectator, even less frequent follower, if at all. Yet, this documentary caught my attention from the get-go, and kept it on high till the end. I learned a lot and started to appreciate.

In short, this is a skillful and insightful, an exciting and poignant documentary about someone who was in the public eye ever since his middle twenties, therefore easily leaving behind lots of personal footage from both, his professional activities (running in parallel his own line of fashion clothes production and organizing shows for other fashion houses) and his private life (exposed and discussed in numerous interviews along the way) about his alluring, intensively creative and, therefore, despite being cut short, very productive life.

As one of the interviewees summarized on McQueen and his growing charisma, they don't make them like this anymore.

By the way, quite deservedly, and indicative for its quality and attraction, film won a popular vote, Audience Vote Best Feature Film, at the latest, 18th edition of Beirut International Film Festival, 22-28 April 2019.

A Powerful Documentary

[JesseWaugh · 9/10 · 13 June 2018]

PipAndSqueak makes some strong points, but I'm not sure what he's saying about people's (lack of) grief at McQueen's passing -- that McQueen was a control freak and therefore not cared about in the end?

I don't know what PipAndSqueak is referring to with "LAM" - does anyone know? I was actually wondering if PipAndSqueak might be Detmar Blow - but no evidence for that.

PipAndSqueak titled his (?) essay "Sacrificial LAM" - that's what I was just thinking -- that Alexander McQueen functioned in his life, and functions now, as an 'Art Christ' similar to van Gogh - but for the 21st century. Considering the disposability of males to most species including the human species, it's disturbing to contemplate that McQueen may actually serve as a type of human sacrifice for the art and beauty craving masses, during this era of ugliness and chaos. Perhaps his extreme creative honesty and ability to transmute ugliness into beauty filled the massive cultural chasm we are currently suffering.

This documentary is pretty much on par with the documentary put out about Alexander McQueen in 2011. It offers us a lot of new information, for which I am grateful, and it is entertaining.

I've found just as much value in watching interviews with McQueen on YouTube. But this movie presents a concise - if not complete - picture of his career and art. I greatly appreciate that this film was made, and I hope we can learn from it and advance ourselves further given the knowledge it affords to us.

An excellent tribute to a true artist

[bbewnylorac · 9/10 · 15 November 2018]

I am not into fashion and I imagined Alexander McQueen as a posh, sleek, fashion industry cliche. In fact, as this doco explains, he was a shy London taxi driver's son, who learned tailoring from the ground up, getting ahead due to his sheer hard work and talent. He was very much a visual and performance artist, as well as a fashion designer. His famous association with his extraordinary patron and muse Isabella Blow is detailed. She really was a fascinating and powerful personality. Also interviewed are lovers, relatives, models, and fashion assistants. The directors choose to focus on his amazing rise from East End studios to the haut couture Paris studios and catwalks of Givenchy and Gucci. It's very sad to realise how much pressure, behind the glamour, that McQueen was ultimately under. He was expected to produce an unending cycle of impeccable avant garde collections, without a break. He told friends he felt he could not afford to stop, because so many people relied on him. And sadly the death of his mother, his great supporter, tipped him over the edge and he took hus own life. This documentary is a fitting memorial to a talent who blazed across the industry for such a short time, but who touched so many lives. I love, at tbe end of each catwalk show, how he'd look so bashful but happy as he'd step out to take the applause. This is a lovingly made and affectionate tribute to a true artist.

Everything you want a documentary to be

[rocknrollparty · 10/10 · 22 July 2018]

So sad and so beautiful. Just like he was. A wonderful insight into the beauty and brutality that made his work what it was. A very emotional piece. And considering how the man himself said he wanted people to walk away from his shows with emotion, even though this wasn't a work of his (even though it was about him), I'd consider this a resounding success for just that reason. You walk away from the theater very emotional. Go see it. Yesterday.

A stunning film about fashion's misunderstood genius

[writeclub-12333 · 9/10 · 19 August 2018]

For many Alexander McQueen fans, including myself, McQueen's work was more than stunning fashion: it was a powerful statement about rising above abuse, the burdens of beauty, defying gender norms, death, humanity, and empowerment. The filmmakers did a spectacular job of capturing these themes in McQueen's work through interviews and photo/video montages. Every moment of the film is thought provoking. The visuals are haunting. We must treasure this rare look into the private world of fashion's most elusive, misunderstood genius.

The film succeeds most of all by presenting a heartrending timeline of McQueen not only as an infamous designer, but as a person ravaged by the industry. Alexander's life was triumphant and tragic in equal measures; he quite literally lost himself to his genius, pouring so much emotion into the McQueen brand that it became an extension of himself. Ultimately, as the film tells us, fusing his identity with the brand resulted in brilliant, theatrical shows...and the loss of his sanity.

I wish that certain runway shows [namely, the Horn of Plenty] were examined a bit more, but McQueen was such a powerhouse that the film would have spanned 3+ hours if they had discussed all his work in depth. I also wish that we could have heard from Sarah Burton, who now directs the house of McQueen. Despite its small missed opportunities, this film will stick with you long after you've left the theatre.

Rather good

[proud_luddite · 7/10 · 10 October 2018]

Lee Alexander McQueen was a provocative British fashion designer whose fame rose in the 1990s. This documentary charts the highs and lows of his life.

The series of interviewees covers a wide area of McQueen's life. He had hurdles to pass (he was gay and from a working-class London background) to achieve a success he hadn't foreseen. For much of his successful career, he maintained a modest, average-guy appearance and outlook. His rise, downfall, and early ending are similar to that of another Brit of working-class background: Amy Winehouse whose story was covered in the superb doc "Amy" (2015).

"McQueen" is a rather good film that might have been better. It seems distant at times and goes just barely above the surface when it might have probed more about the man in particular and mental illness in general. Then, there are the fashion shows.

To those of us who are non-fashion aficionados, the level of interest may be limited. The shows and the clothes are deliberately unconventional and shocking - the main claim to fame for McQueen. They were like alternative theatre. The footage exposed in the film certainly is fascinating to a point. The trouble is that they are repetitive. Directors Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui might have found more creative ways to expose the fashion show footage to keep the content interesting.

While the film veers toward a less-than-stellar direction, it is thankfully revived in the last segment around the sad end of McQueen's life. Here, Bonhôte and Ettedgui do a fine job in expressing the grief, loss, reflections, and insights of those left behind. This section makes "McQueen" worthwhile. - dbamateurcritic

Captivating and Jaw Dropping

[stevelivesey67 · 9/10 · 3 June 2021]

Didn't know anything about him or fashion before this. I do now.

Wonderful portrait of a genius that was tortured and insecure at his core. Fantastic visuals and wonderful score. Fab.

Art and drama in one fabulous life.

[JohnDeSando · 22 August 2018]

"Give me time and I'll give you a revolution." Alexander McQueen

Too many films glorify their artists' lives without letting you into the creative process. Not so McQueen. Director Ian Bonhote and writer-director Peter Ettedgui, et al., capture the emerging incandescent genius of Lee Alexander McQueen while getting up close and personal to his inspirations and demons and finally his suicide.

This transfixing documentary shows in beautiful images, including his iconic skull motif, his revolutionary fashion-dramas, with visual designs fit for MOMA, and a robust backstage world of real-life passion and pain fitting for a genius who can barely keep up with his own gifts and those the world bestows on him. In some ways he reminds me of another troubled but gifted artist of the bizarre, Poe.

I saw the exhibit in New York 2010 with my granddaughter, Alexandra, and as splendid as it was, this bio brought me closer to him than the real thing. My reflection is my highest compliment to an artist who may end up like other greats such as Whitney, but whose range of achievements dwarfs even those geniuses.

Sad as McQueen's hanging is, immediately following the death of his beloved mother, perhaps some gifted artists may be fated for as violent an end as their art is passionate. The comfort is in his clothes and their dramatic shows unlike any other in the history of fashion.

"I find beauty in the grotesque, like most artists." McQueen That's history making splendidly chronicled.

Maverick, Icon, Artist

[halomaniac88 · 7/10 · 25 December 2018]

If you don't see the genius and talent behind Mcqueen you don't understand art. There was no one like Mcqueen before he blew up the fashion world, there was no one like Chanel, no one like Dior, no one like Saint Laurant. He was an once in a generation talent. He was more than a designer, he was a performance artist, painter, provacateur, he was one of a kind. His style was a mixture of the common and the theatrical, the past and the future, the macabre and the romantic, the light and the dark. His style was so original. I think Alexander would have liked to let his designs do the talking. This documentary didn't really work for me because I thought it lacked focus, there was more content on his personal life than his artistry, it felt like a basic biography on the history channel. What made him so special, what was his artistic process, how did he plan his shows, these topics were not explored. I think Mcqueen was a great artist, one for the ages, he will go down in history as one of the greatest fashion designers of all time, I hope this film can bring more appreciation to his work.

I knew literally nothing about LAM before watching this, nor anything about High Fashion

[adrian-443 · 9/10 · 9 December 2018]

I was vaguely aware of LAM being a designer, I didn't know that he had died. I pay very little attention to the news and indeed fashion.

My first thoughts during the documentary were; how odd these people seemed to be. But I think the same of people who watch football, which I think says more about me than them.

It's evocative and drew me into an interest in something, that I've in all honesty believed both vacuous and narcissistic. This changed that, I was moved I even began to see the genius and value in the expression of exceptional skill.

I didn't know the story behind the people and was saddened to learn of the deaths of both Lee and Isabella.

All in all I was extremely impressed and thoroughly enjoyed it, glad I stuck with it. I went from disdain to joy to sadness.

Sacrificial LAM

[PipAndSqueak · 7/10 · 11 June 2018]

It is a shame that the creative genius of this consummate artist and craftsman is so shabbily depicted. We are given tantalizing glimpses of the man himself as well as his chief advocator, promoter and friend, Isabella Blow. We are presented odd interviews with people who had been present at certain points in McQueen's life. In fact, there is little other than the actual filmed footage that we could not have read about in the catalogues and articles published for the posthumous shows that have been staged of his work since. We are not taken, visually or in discussion, to the very down at heel East London where he grew up. The connection with Isabella's wearing of McQueen's creations as day-wear and the fact she wore the heels down on her designer shoes seems never to be noticed. She 'inhabited' McQueen's designs to such an extent that McQueen's devastation on her suicide (referenced in this film as death from illness) is almost as inevitable as his own death. If you have LAM initials (Lee Alexander McQueen) and you go into a trade noted for its ephemeral, disposable products, you won't find the idea of nihilism and self-destruction much of a surprise. McQueen tattooed mannequin hand-arm lines on his wrists - come on, he's telling you everything and you still miss it! McQueen said he wanted to empower women - by giving them armor. We know he did this in several ways, sometimes literally with breast-plates. What the clips in this film do show, however, is slightly at odds with the narrative. It is claimed his focus, once working with a garment was 100%. Well, look out for the clip where he is working on alterations to a piece worn by a model whose bottom half is naked. McQueen is conscious of where the camera is being directed and looks quickly to camera to tell the cameraman to move the focus up....that is, to protect the female model's modesty. That, more than anything else, tells you the nature of the man and, why the people connected to him interviewed in this presentation are still hurting with grief.

The most beautiful documentary I have ever seen.

[MrDachshund99 · 10/10 · 18 June 2018]

This film moved me like I had never been moved before. I hadn't the highest of hopes on being informed that the film would be produced by Lionsgate, a production company who are somewhat reputable for some bad films (Wings), however this was simply incredible. I am not in the least interested in fashion design (being your generally typical teenage boy), however this is simply a piece of art that must been seen.

Interesting Documentary

[rochelleattard-59439 · 7/10 · 27 September 2018]

This was a very informative documentary and very inspiring as a fashion student. This is a very sad story and heart wrenching and i highly recommend it.

Sadly music is torturous; otherwise, Great!

[djw-3 · 4/10 · 5 May 2021]

The score is played at an annoying pitch and volume. Not only does it obscure the words, but it Drills into your brain. Heartbreaking, as it is otherwise brilliant.

Beautiful

[c-24483 · 9/10 · 10 November 2018]

The whole film is as full of humor and flustered as McQueen's own, but the most temperament is the most touching part of the second half of the passage of Liz's death. The point of view removed from McQueen's body and the aesthetics of death into the body reveals grief to the world. Sensual but small

A biography and a heart laid bare

[peterdjordanov · 10/10 · 30 April 2019]

Curiosity and awe drove me to watch this film after randomly stumbling upon some of Alexander McQueen's works online. These feelings quickly made way for an all-consuming passion which burned every bit of the marvelous experience that is this film in my ignorant-until-now head.

Although by definition this is a biopic, the inexplicable feeling you are left with after the credit-roll is proof of how the film transcends this simplistic labeling. The tale of McQueen's life tells itself in an unnarrated sequence of interviews and archive footage with very natural and elegant transitions between focus on story and his art. However the brilliance of his work is not a mere fleeting mention. It is perhaps exactly because of the way the dreadful beauty of his shows manages to creep into the depths of your existence and inspire the wildest sensations even from behind a movie screen that one can feel Alexander's heartbeat for just a few moments as if it were one's own.

A true artist

[constanza-nm · 7/10 · 13 November 2018]

They could've easily made a documentary about his drug addiction, about the fact that he was HIV positive or any other controversial topic. But they chose to show us art. What he truly loved. And I'm so thankful for that.

McQueen Makes The Cut

[drewpkerr · 8/10 · 17 September 2018]

Less of a fashion spectacle and more of a tale of the label's namesake himself, McQueen is a riveting story from start to finish. From humble beginnings to the height of success, the documentary delivers a captivating recount of Lee Alexander McQueens foray into fashion. For anyone who goes to see McQueen, they will be thankful that we lived in a time where history can be recorded for review. The documentary uncovers insider footage from the early days at St Martin's design school through to his final showing. A group of individuals who all were involved in McQueens life to some extent it another provide a wholistic and collective view of the troubled artist. The sequential nature of the documentary worked incredibly well and the sensibility of all those interviewed showed that there really was no need to embellish McQueen's life. A film for fashion and art lovers as much as a film for those who seek inspiration every day.

Riveting

[alexperkins-94375 · 7/10 · 4 October 2018]

This was so good! I cried throughout the whole film yet it was also very moving. I highly recommend this documentary.

McQueen documents the artistic successes and personal failures of a creative genius.

[TheMovieDiorama · 8/10 · 11 January 2019]

Admittedly, I had absolutely no idea who Lee Alexander McQueen was. Incredibly naive of me, but the fashion industry is one that remains undivulged. Suffice to say after watching this beautiful documentary, I now understand why McQueen was viewed by many as a fashion master. A young craftsman fulfilling his passion and becoming the best designer out there. Quite simply inspirational. Chronicling the various collections that McQueen designed, this documentary chronologically explores how his artistry evolved over time and how he brought through his personal life into his work. A young uneducated boy living in Stratford quickly utilises his entrepreneurial personality to pursue his hobby for tailoring. Starting off as an apprentice in Saville Row and rapidly working for Givenchy years later. His talent and skills were only possible through one fiery trait. Passion. What Bonhôte and Ettedgui's documentary does best is capture his expressive collections and relate them to his personal life. Take the "Highland Rape" collection for example. A controversial show that ensured McQueen made a statement to the world of fashion. Then there's "Voss" that, whilst technically excellent, conveyed his darker emotions. A manifestation of the sheer amount of work he put himself through that unfortunately, mixed with mental instabilities, lead to his early demise. The documentary allows you to connect with McQueen not by excessively exploring his early life, although some further development should've been included, but by viewing his work. The narrative is segmented by various tapes, each one indicating a collection and a turning point in McQueen's life. As the film progresses, his confidence increases and the garments become more extravagant as he explores various themes, such as "Plato's Atlantis" depicting the human anatomy through futuristic evolution. The greatest statement a fashion designer can make is conveying their personality through their work. And the passionate McQueen did that sublimely. A beautiful documentary.

Sad biography documentary

[Marsha2020 · 7/10 · 30 September 2018]

It's a well-made documentary - it kept you on the hook till the sad end.

Absolute MUST

[lunamossflowers · 10/10 · 16 September 2018]

I saw it last Sunday and had to return to see it again on Monday... and absolut must see .. what they've done for him ... incredible RIP Lee ❌

Far less groundbreaking than the man they set out to memorialize

[Metaflix · 7/10 · 3 August 2018]

Fashion designer Alexander McQueen was no doubt a generational talent, one of those burn too bright and die too soon sensations that make great material for a documentary.

In turn, the problem for documentarians is trying to create a piece of work that lives up to the real-life hype. Co-directors Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui have done an admirable job at capturing the light-and-dark duality of the designer's extraordinary career.

However, the first half of the documentary was so zoomed in on everything they were featuring on screen that it actually burdens one's eyes, and the rest of the film, while certainly worth the price of admission, is far less groundbreaking than the man they set out to memorialize.

Left me wanting to know more...

[arch-32727 · 5/10 · 4 July 2020]

Visually, this documentary film about Alexander McQueen is stunningly beautiful. He obviously was an extremely talented artist first and designer second. But there was way too much emphasis on the clothes, and not enough truthful revealing of the man himself. For example, it lightly touched on his relationship with a man and the fact that he was HIV positive, but I sensed that there was a lot more to that side of his life story that was purposely avoided in the film. Also, there is one very brief glimpse of how he felt about his body, his obvious struggle with his weight, that must have been terribly painful, especially in light of the constant pressure to be thin in the fashion industry. I did stick with it all the way to the end, but I did find myself getting a bit bored during much of the film.

tribute to a true creative genius

[jascha_oakes · 10/10 · 29 October 2018]

Truly wonderful and sensitive film. The world is full of incredible stories that need to be told.