When an icon dies, you can almost hear the frantic keystrokes of screenwriters everywhere trying to write the next great biographical drama about their larger-than-life existences. After Karl Lagerfeld, the renowned German fashion designer, died in 2019, it seemed inevitable that his life would be torn apart and turned into an exaggerated dramatization for mass consumption, and yet that's not what happened here. Loosely based on Raphaëlle Bacqué's biography Kaiser Karl, published shortly after Lagerfeld's death, Becoming Karl Lagerfeld presents a much more grounded examination of the man best remembered for his trademark white hair and iconic black sunglasses.
Hollywood seems curiously interested in two things this year: World War II and the illustrious namesakes of the fashion brands that still hold equity in the industry. Earlier this year, Apple TV+ premiered its grim exploration of the lives of Christian Dior and Coco Chanel, and now, Hulu is delving into the personal lives of Karl Lagerfeld and Yves Saint Laurent, transforming the way consumers view these brands Fashion.
Creators: Raphaëlle Bacqué, Jennifer Have, Isaure Pisani-FerryStars: Daniel Brühl, Théodore Pellerin, Alex Lutz
By design, Becoming Karl Lagerfeld is a pretty glamorous series. There is no shortage of the colorful haute couture of the 70s or the modern but striking style, characteristic of Lagerfeld himself. However, the French television series, crafted by Isaure Pisani-Ferry, Jennifer Have and Bacqué, uses all that glamor and beauty as a facade, revealing Lagerfeld's darker, more isolated impulses hidden beneath.
Brühl has made a career starring in biographical dramas such as Rush and Race for Glory: Audi vs. Lancia, and in roles inspired by real-life historical figures such as All Quiet on the Western Front and The King's Man, but Karl Lagerfeld is a role differentiated from the rest. It may be a bold statement, but his performance in Becoming Karl Lagerfeld is close to his best yet, as it's easy to surrender to the idea that Brühl is simply Karl Lagerfeld here.
The series covers approximately ten years of Lagerfeld's life, right at the height of his career as a designer for Chloé and Fendi, before his work with Chanel transformed him into the Karl Lagerfeld we remember today. But Becoming Karl Lagerfeld is not interested in this aspect of his life, at least not in the minutiae of it. Instead, the series focuses on interpersonal relationships without becoming too voyeuristic in nature.
The series doesn't play it safe in addressing Karl's tumultuous relationship with Jacques de Bascher (Théodore Pellerin), nor does it shy away from the uglier aspects of his entanglement with Yves Saint Laurent (Arnaud Valois). While the series is completely harmless in the way it shows these dynamics, audiences with more sensitive sensibilities might take offense to remember that their favorite high-profile brands were born from the complex, messy lives of some of the world's baddest gay men. . The fashion industry has never seen. Maybe that's the problem with today's fashion landscape; There are no longer poisonous divas who bring life, form and color to the industry.
During his lifetime, Lagerfeld was very secretive about his relationships with men and quite contradictory, even opposing gay marriage, despite having had relationships with men for decades (although his opinions evolved over time). ). While the series takes certain liberties in depicting Karl and Jacques' relationship, he remains true to Karl's insistence that their romance was never consummated. While the series is far from sexless, surprisingly, the most arousing scenes can be found within the quiet yearning and desperate longing shared by Brühl and Pellerin, who have incredible chemistry.
It would be easy to interpret Lagerfeld as a caricature. He was a deeply repressed man, often remembered for being cold, distant and always ready to say a sarcastic good word. He very much embodied the stereotypical personality of a German immersed in the bitter rivalries of the Parisian fashion scene. But here Brühl plays against these stereotypes. While his Lagerfeld is the casually cruel diva that the real man was, there's still warmth to him. The series uses Lagerfeld's disinterest in physical intimacy to paint him as a very insular man prone to isolation, and in these scenes, Brühl shows off his acting chops. Whether he's eating his feelings alone in his room or pretending to dance with Jacques while his lover is out clubbing without him, there's a different intimacy in these moments, an intimacy shared between Brühl and the lens.
Becoming Karl Lagerfeld could find himself in the same situation The New Look faced in February. Audiences expect a series about an iconic fashion designer to focus on fashion, but that's not the case here either. While you may find the main subject sketching sumptuous designs and parading around in fashion finery, Becoming Karl Lagerfeld is not a series about a fashion brand. It's a series about the man behind that name, and his brawling attitude makes him an endlessly compelling character to follow.
Depending on the episode, the series swings between French, German, English and Italian, which could deter American audiences from watching it on Hulu. While most of the civilized world has gotten used to reading subtitles, America is still lagging behind and missing out on some great dramas. Hulu is adopting the binge model again here, but it's a wise decision in this case, given that the six-episode series is highly bingeable. The series is cleverly written and well acted, and despite spanning ten years in six episodes, Becoming Karl Lagerfeld is never disjointed or rushed.
While the series may not be interested in fashion in the conventional sense, Becoming Karl Lagerfeld is a visual delight thanks to the expert costuming of Pascaline Chavanne, who recently worked on the well-received Monsieur Spade and the divisive Annette. The 1970s may seem recent to some, but with fifty years of retrospective reflection, Chavanne is able to capture the essence of the era's fashion without turning it into pastiche. It helps that the filmmakers seem very interested in making a period piece that could also have been filmed then. Becoming Karl Lagerfeld may have the glossy patina of a Disney-backed series, but thanks to its humanity, heart, and bravery, it doesn't feel like a series remade in the present. Even if you're not interested in the life and times of Karl Lagerfeld, the series is worth watching, if only for a helpless Daniel Brühl running around a grandiose castle like a lovestruck maiden, dressed in a nightgown and wielding a lantern.
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