Various locations
This event has passed.
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Still from Valentino: The Last Emperor, Courtesy Acolyte Films
- When
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Mar 27, 2009 – May 14, 2009
Daily
- Where
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- Price
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$10
- Links
The titular allusion of Matt Tyrnauer's warts-and-all portrait of Italian couturier Valentino Garavani to Bernardo Bertolucci's 1987 epic is an apt one. Like Pu Yi, Valentino appears largely sheltered from the behind-the-scenes machinations of régime change by a cocoon of opulent beauty and extravagant luxury. As he prepares for a massive three-day blowout in Rome fêting his 45-year career — and fends off rumors of retirement — his longtime business partner, Giancarlo Giametti, runs interference while the company's shares are sold from investment group to investment group. Yet, Valentino, too, seems aware that the haute-couture tradition on which he cut his teeth and built his empire is slowly becoming the stuff of legend; at least the man knows how to make an exit.
