High & Low - John Galliano (15)

★★★✭ Kevin McDonald's intriguing star-studded documentary foxuses on the career of the Gibraltar fashion designer and the anti-Semitic remarks which ended his career. ~ Manchester Theatres.

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The new documentary from Academy Award-winner Kevin Macdonald is a candid and gripping look at the rise-and-fall story of one of the most influential names in couture fashion.

Widely recognized as one of the most influential and successful fashion designers of our time, John Galliano dressed the most beautiful and influential men and women in the world for almost 15 years at Givenchy and Dior. He reinvented the fashion industry by transforming his runway shows into immersive fantasies and helped turn high-fashion from an elitist niche into a multi billion-dollar global business.

In 2011, Galliano’s career abruptly ended after being caught on video using shocking antisemitic and racist insults. Academy Award-winner® Kevin Macdonald’s film investigates the multiple facets and contradictions of Galliano’s character and the context, including decades of industry pressure and drug and alcohol addiction, that surrounded his downfall and ongoing recovery.

Through interviews with his closest friends and family, as well as some of the most well-known celebrities of the fashion and pop world, and with John Galliano himself, Macdonald portrays the man behind the fashion genius and his search for redemption.

Featuring conversations with Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, Penelope Cruz, Charlize Theron, Anna Wintour, Edward Enninful, Boris Cyrulnik, Hamish Bowles, and Sidney Toledano, among others.

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★★★★ An unflinching view of fashion’s most flawed genius, Kevin Macdonald's gripping, star-studded documentary shows how the former Dior superstar unraveled – but struggles to find out why. ~ The Telegraph.

★★★★ The film-maker’s frank, even-handed documentary assesses the fallout from the former Dior creative director’s antisemitic tirade and his standing today. ~ The Observer.

★★★★ A fascinating portrait of the disgraced British fashion designer, one that could easily be viewed as yet another officially sanctioned sorry/not sorry mea culpa, but which is more subtly damning than you might expect. ~ The Scotsman.

★★★★ Reviews of Macdonald’s absorbing film seem to be split between those who think John Galliano should never be forgiven, and those who reckon a 10-year fashion ostracisation seems sufficient punishment. ~ Irish Independent.

★★★★ Macdonald gives his subject enough rope in this slippery documentary about how we project a sense of regret. ~ Little White Lies.