卡丹之家

"Great protagonist, poor filmmaking" is what came to my mind if asked to review this documentary in a nutshell, base particularly on the strong urge in me that accumulated and finally erupted near the last 15 minutes of the film to get up and leave the cinemea out of boredom.

Ironically, the straw that has intrigued me to see the film was its all-100%-fresh ratings on Rotten Tomatoes made by six critics, with whom now I respectfully disagree.

One thing that's absolutely undeniable about the film is it has an amazing protagonist whose wide-ranged talent is such an inspiring delight to see on the big screen, including but not limited to fashion designer (the actual inventor of Ready-to-wear), furniture designer, visionary entrepreneur, tailor, costume maker, theatre actor, and play director. Meanwhile, in the midst of fierce merger and brand acquisition, it is no less than a miracle that Mr. Cardin himself has still remained the owner of Pierre Cardin, as supposed to his giant competitors such as LVMH and Kering.

On the other hand, the film has failed to deliver a consistently interesting story of its main character, finishing with a rather repetitive pacing back to what had been covered prior (furniture design). Even the romances the protagonist had, which usually comes across as the most juicy in docos of celebrities, was portrayed dry and hesitant.

Documentaries can be made indeed enjoyable, in spite of the tight frames of the genre, and I believe a well-thought storyline is the corner stone, same as its counterparts like drama, comedy, thriller etc. If Mr. Cardin were behind the cameras of this film, it'd be more captivating.