Movies involving and primarily about three women intersecting have been a longtime staple. Think Robert Altman’s Three Women, The Hours, Hannah & Her Sisters, Dreamgirls and then go back to 1949’s Oscar-winning A Letter to Three Wives, and forward to director Jean Negulesco’s 1954 Three Coins in the Fountain set in Rome, and a decade later to his similar 1964 film, The Pleasure Seekers set in Madrid. There are so many more, and the latest filmmaker to make her mark with this kind of structure is Alice Winocour, who has brought together three very different women to the annual Paris Fashion Week, exploring themes of people uniting to repair and resolve issues permeating their lives.
One them is in her 20s, a fledgling model named Ada (Anyier Anei) from South Sudan studying pharmaceuticals but coming to Paris for her first and likely only show in this venue. Another is in her 30s, a makeup artist named Angele (Ella Rumpf), who aspires to become a writer. And finally, the third is an American filmmaker in her 40s named Maxine (Angelina Jolie), who travels to Fashion Week to direct a TV show because she needs the money.
The film opens and closes with Maxine, and though it also examines the other two characters, the overall weight of the story lands with Jolie’s, who we learn is going through a divorce and, only upon hearing the voice of her ex on the phone, can we discern that she has great concern about her 15-year-old daughter. A life crisis arises, however, shortly after her arrival when she hears from her doctor in America, urging her to come to his office as soon as possible to discuss the results of recent tests. When he resists telling her the reason, and she explains she is in Paris, he continues to express urgency that they talk immediately but not on the phone. He then suggests an expert he knows in Paris and says he will set up an appointment ASAP for her, though she is still in the dark as to why. When, in the middle of a heavy rehearsal day, she is forced to go or else have to wait six months, she meets with the French physician (an excellent Vincent Lindon) who tells her she has cancer, which visibly shocks her. He suggests more tests and an MRI and says surgery will be needed, and if need be he can do it within the week. The diagnosis continues on a downward cycle from there.
It all begins to sink in, and her actions indicate she doesn’t quite know how to handle this emotionally, and especially how to tell her daughter. Impulsively, she asks a French colleague on the show (Louis Garrel) if he wants to have sex. It stops him in his tracks but it also sets up a bit of an unusual love story within this crisis and speaks volumes about what is happening to her.
In between all of this, we get to know Ada, as the other models give the newcomer tips on how to make money on the catwalks, and, in one particularly amusing scene, show her how she should walk on the runway. Ada, who comes from a war-torn country, is new to all this, and actually seems to be just soaking it all in without saying a lot. She will be a star attraction, though, in Maxine’s show. Angele also comes in and out of the picture with her own issues, a makeup person who is hoping to become so much more; though she hides her insecurities, she actually seems to be able to talk for the others, eventually becoming Winocour’s narrator by the end.
I found Couture to be an engrossing study of the humanity and vulnerability of those the rest of us just might see doing their job. Winocour is, and always has been, concerned with and focused on the body in her films and that includes her first film, 2012’s Augustine, to her most recent before this one, 2022’s devastating Revoir Paris, which dealt with the Paris terrorist attacks and their aftermath. It was exceptionally well-made and riveting to watch, a film, which, like this one, dealt with trauma and the need to move on from it. That is exactly what these three women, in one way or another, have done or are doing, but it is especially true for Maxine. When you have an actor and star of the magnitude of Jolie, it is only natural to put the emphasis there, and that is what gives Couture its special power.
It is impossible to get around Jolie’s own story when watching this one. Her own mother, who was French, died in her 50s from breast cancer, as did her grandmother. Knowing she might have the same fate, she underwent a preventative double mastectomy. She brings all this to the role, making it probably the most personal one she has ever played. It is a quietly touching performance, one played often without lots of dialogue but told delicately on her face and in her eyes. Her fears are there in a phone conversation, such as when he daughter calls disoriented and unsure how to get home and Maxine calmly solves it for her; the subtext we see unrelated to the dialogue is a mother knowing she might not be around to help her daughter again. We see it also in the brilliantly played and directed love scenes between Jolie and Garrel. If this isn’t the most affecting performance of Jolie’s career, and there have been many, it is right up there at the top. It is profoundly moving to watch. Both Anei and Rumpf are also effective and authentic to who they are, and Garrel has one of his best roles in some time.
Producers are Charles Gillibert, William Horberg, Jolie, and Zhang Xin
Title: Couture
Festival: Toronto Film Festival – Special Presentations
Sales Agent: UTA Independent/HanWay
Director/Screenwriter: Alice Winocour
Cast: Angelina Jolie, Ella Rumpf, Anyier Anei, Louis Garrel, Vincent Lindon
Running Time: 1 hour and 46 minutes
