Coutures

Coutures — which is the title on the screen, though erroneously cited as Couture almost everywhere — recounts the intertwined stories of Maxine (Angelina Jolie), a low budget horror filmmaker, working on the presentation video of a haute couture collection; Ada (Anyier Amei), a South Sudanese woman debuting as a model; and Angéle (Ella Rumpf), a make up artist and aspiring writer. The three characters meet at the Paris Fashion Week in the fifth film of French director Alice Winocour.

Every woman has her own battle to fight. Some are collective like Ada’s, who flies away with her family from war. Other battles are very personal, like the life-changing diagnosis Maxine gets in the middle of the turmoil. The characters in the film meet but never collide in this story about sorority, not rivalry. Ada finds advice and protection in Angéle, who also lends a friendly ear to Maxine.  This is a real oasis in the competitive fashion world.

Perhaps the most topical tale in Winocour’s screenplay in the context of Fashion Week is the one about a woman in danger of losing her very attractive persona, while preparing a show for an industry based on appearances. Presenting the woman as “the sickness of the week” or a maudlin example to be pitied feels typical.

Crafting characters has always been a strong point for Winocour as a director. But there are too many roles, some of them irrelevant, other mere sketches. Like Louis Garrel’s as a cinematographer incapable of giving a definitive opinion. Even when he is asked “whisky or vodka?” he answers “both”.

Keeping so many stories up in the air simultaneously is a balancing act. Like the spinning plates in a circus, all the stories must have similar weight and the performer should pay attention to each one to avoid dropping it. In Coutures there is one more important, shiny plate which catches the eye and unbalances the rest. That, of course, is Angelina Jolie, whose story is not more important but just gets more space and screen time. The rest of the tales remain unfinished and fall one by one. The audience gets bits of information without a follow up. Ada asks a new acquiantance for a loan, but why? And why does the camera seem fixated on Ada’s normal-looking ankles? Why is Angèle always running and being stuck?

Nevertheless, Coutures has enough glamour and human interest, and takes a realistic approach to a painful subject, to earn a good prognosis with audiences.