IRIS
US, 2015, 83 minutes, Colour.
Iris Apfel, Carl Apfel.
Directed by Albert Maysles.
Some commentators have remarked that if one is heavily into fashion, this is a documentary for them. Then others have remarked that if one is not heavily into fashion, this is a documentary for them. Both commentators are right.
The film is a celebration of life, the portrait of a quite striking woman, aged 90 at the time of filming, also celebrating the hundredth birthday of her devoted husband, Carl. And the director himself, the celebrated Albert Maysles, of the Maysels documentary-maker brothers, was 88 and died in March 2015. Not only is this a celebration of life, it is a celebration of age and creative ageing.
Somebody also remarked about Iris Apfel, born of Jewish parents, growing up in New York City during the Depression, marrying in the 1940s, that she could serve as a role model. For zest, yes, but probably not for her style and taste in fashion. It is extraordinary to look at, but not many women would probably want to be so flamboyant – nor men wanting to wear the range of colourful trousers that she designed for her husband, which he quietly wears. Nevertheless, she is always fascinating to look at and, perhaps a comment on her style would be that Dame Edna Everage would probably be very jealous!
Iris has spent a lifetime buying clothes, principally for herself, and wearing them, but with her delight in design, colour, fabrics, and extraordinary finished products. Her expeditions to Europe twice each year meant that she went to many auctions for all kinds of articles and artifices for home design and decoration. These are kept in her and her husband’s storage space in Long Ireland, now a museum kind of space with all kinds of objects which may – or may not – appeal to the viewer.
As Iris reached her late 80s, she made the decision to part with most of her fashion possessions, arranging for the transferred to the Peabody Museum, a singular collection and heritage that she has bequeathed to the people of New York and to international visitors. She is an exemplar of the detachment that is required in old age.
Every time she appears, Iris is dressed in the most colourful clothes – and large lensed and framed glasses. And her comments match her clothes, or go beyond. She is articulate, has a way with words, is very direct in her expressions, not concealing her feelings and attitudes. And there is Carl, often accompanying her, short of breath, sometimes feeling his age, but celebrating his hundredth birthday with his wife making his speech for him. After all, she is only 90.
This is a very likeable portrait, Iris being an interesting woman, uninhibited but with good manners, reminiscing about her long life, her passion for fashion, her status as a fashion icon. She is very strong at times on the fact that she is not pretty, that she does not do pretty, and noting that after prettiness vanishes, what is left…? With her celebrity status, she does remark that she has become a geriatric starlet!
For an observer, especially one who may not feel much empathy for this world of Iris, it is still an interesting, enjoyable, very entertaining documentary and portrait, find last contribution to the work over so many decades of our Albert Maysles and the indefatigable energy of Iris Apfel.
