Jean Seberg in Moment to Moment (1965) wearing a Yves Saint Laurent Design.
Just a brief round-up of some news & info that I thought I’d share . . .
- Fashion and costume designer Yves Saint Laurent died today at the age of 71. In the world of film, costume designers rarely get the acclaim that they should but Yves Saint Laurent’s wonderful work appeared in some great movies throughout the years and he helped define women’s fashion in the sixties. To read more about Laurent’s impressive contribution to the art of cinema please see my brief tribute to Yves Saint Laurent’s work called The Fine Art of Fashion: Yves Saint Laurent.
Actresses and models’ Ira von Fürstenberg and Capucine
modeling Yves Saint Laurent designs in 1965/66.
On a lighter note . . .
- Film director Paul Schrader has a terrific website now where he has published a lot of his film writing and lately I’ve been enjoying going through the archives. Schrader’s early film writing was heavily influenced by the legendary critic Pauline Kael and I don’t agree with a lot of his youthful opinions but his writing is still fascinating to read and naturally improves over time. Some highlights you can find on his site include Yakuza-Eiga: A Primer, which he wrote for Film Comment in 1974 and his 2001 essay in Film Comment on his break from Pauline Kael called Pauline Kael 1919 – 2001: My Family Drama. It’s interesting to read about how the director broke away from Kael’s influence and started thinking more for himself, which is somewhat highlighted in one of the richest pieces available on his site titled The Film Canon from a 2006 issue of Film Comment. A direct link to Paul Schrader’s writing archives can be found here.
- Peppino De Luca’s terrific score for Dorian Gray (Il Dio Chaimato Dorian, 1970) has long been one of my favorite film soundtracks and it was recently released on CD for the first time by Italy’s Digitmovies. Previously some tacks from the film were only available on a a compilation CD called Barry 7’s Connectors Volume 2 but now fans of the film can finally enjoy De Luca’s soundtrack in its entirety.
Hopefully my next post will be a little longer!