— by BEN FOWLER —
The world of fashion seems a place well farmed for funny and outrageous satire, with the likes of “The Devil Wears Prada” on the big screen and “Ugly Betty” pulling in the viewers on TV. But the indie release “Rage” brings a few interesting bites to the table to warrant a look.
Rage is the latest movie from British screenwriter and director Sally Potter (of “Orlando” and “The Man Who Cried”) set in the bitter, ego-centric world of the fashion industry. Shot from the point-of-view of a schoolboy filming interviews with various members of a New York fashion house, things take a turn for the worse when an accident on the runway, turns into a murder investigation.
I’ll be the first to put my hands up and say that fashion really isn’t my thing — my Thundercats T-shirt gives me away — so I can’t say that the thought of a film set around a bunch of self-centred posers really tickles my fancy. Yet, the trailer for this seems very intriguing. A bitterly funny exposé turns into a murder mystery, all from a POV of a camera phone.
It’s strange that such a simplified shooting style can be so immersive, but without stating the obvious (it’s shot in POV), you would think it would be better to see some external shots, some tracking shots even some background. Yet, for this trailer, at least, it seems to work.
And kudos to the director for getting so many big names involved in this little production: Dame Judi Dench, John Leguizamo, Eddie Izzard, Bob Balaban, Steve Buscemi, Dianne Wiest, Lily Cole, David Oyelowo and a strangely attractive Jude Law. It’s great to see the big names helping out the smaller film productions, because to be honest, in today’s cut-throat film industry, without such a cast list, there’s no guarantee this film would have seen the light of day.
Rage is out on limited release in the UK and Europe now.
Follow Ben Fowler on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Localboy99.
That actually does look pretty good.
Wow. I can’t believe that’s Jude Law.