one of a klein
Who Are You, Polly Maggoo?
We lift the lid on a cinema original.
What do Muhammad Ali, Yves Saint Laurent, Eldridge Cleaver and Grace Jones have in common? Aside from them all having left their mark on history in some way (Jones' performance in Conan the Barbarian being particularly historic), all these personalities have been captured by the lens of artist, photographer and filmmaker William Klein.
Growing up as a Jew in a predominately Irish New York neighbourhood and living for the most part in France as an ex-pat, Klein was always a bit of an outsider. So when one of his early teachers artist Fernand Léger encouraged him to reject conformity, Klein listened.
As a photographer documenting the streets of New York, Klein - in his own words - treated New Yorkers "like an explorer would treat Zulus - searching for the rawest snapshot". As a photographer for Vogue, Klein was more interested in reinventing the art of fashion photography than he was in the actual fashion. And as a filmmaker Klein was, according to critic Adrian Martin, "a law unto himself".
Focus on William Klein surveys the explosive film career of this maverick, from his surreal fashion fairytale Who Are You, Polly Maggoo? through to his most recent work Messiah - a film that re-evaluates Handel's masterpiece for a contemporary audience.
There's also Mr Freedom, an allegorical superhero flick in which the title character declares "everything that I have destroyed I will rebuild better than before" right before he nukes Paris, and Muhammed Ali, The Greatest, a documentary that floats (and stings) as artfully as its subject.
Film critic Michael Atkinson described Klein as "the greatest bullgoose Art Film-era satirist we never knew we had"; don't miss your chance to discover the biting, ironical, fascinating, sometimes wistful and often humourous vision of a true non-conformist.
Focus on William Klein is on from Thursday 22 January to Sunday 1 February. For all the screening details click here
Published Thursday, 15 January 2009
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