Monday 23 June 2014

REVIEW - ADVANCED STYLE (LINA PLIOPLYTE)


The style of one's own art, be it a painting, a motion picture, or the clothes on one's back. What a privilege that we can create that art out of something seen as a necessity, and what a joy that we can do it for the sake of just doing it. In their later years, seven New York women have honed their art into something remarkable, and groundbreaking. Their audacity is laudable; it is perhaps only seen as so by the general populace due to their age - we know that their experiments with fashion are actually well-considered, and their mental vitality confirms as much. Ari Cohen leads Lina Plioplyte's inspiring documentary, a cinematic expansion of Cohen's Advanced Style blog, about the fashions of stylish women over 50. Their grace, their self-confidence and their spunkiness are what bring those fashions to life, and the film is equally a tribute to that as it is to their impeccable artistic sensibilities. And their art is so legitimate because it is so deeply felt - this is personal style as an honest extension of personal feeling, and the clothes sit so perfectly on these women as a result, as though they were born in them and were intended to live their whole lives in them. It's soon as obvious to us as it is to Cohen that they are the true style icons of our time, since the beauty that emanates from them is not just visual, but also emotional. Plioplyte's art, this film, boasts none of the fearless originality of her subjects, but it does have their sincerity. Music choices are cliched and grossly overused, but are easy to look past, since what Advanced Style has in its looks is top notch.

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