For many sartorial masters, it was John Galliano who sparked their passion for fashion in the first place. One of the most widely known and successful designers from the 1900s to his 2000s, his shows were (and continue to be) absolute works of art.
Born Juan Carlos Galliano, he grew up in Gibraltar with an English mother, Spanish father, and two sisters. He moved to London when he was six years old, where his creative spirit really blossomed. His final year showcase was a big hit, especially at St. Martin’s College of Art and Design.
Persuading Galliano to go along with the project proved difficult. He was hesitant to put himself in the spotlight again. However, once he accepted the offer, he responded very kindly. “It took a while for him to agree,” McDonald admits. “Once I found the right person that I trusted, I was going to let them do whatever they wanted to do. And that’s what happened.
He approached it with no reservations. He never said to me, “This place is off limits,” or “Please don’t talk about this.” ”
However, his memory is patchy at best, and he does not remember much of his life. “Certain aspects of his life, certain periods, including the entire period before and after the incident, which complicates matters, are truly a blackout for him. Everyone’s mind is a mystery to others, but it is also a mystery to him. What about when it’s a mystery because it’s not there? That complicates this story. But it also makes it more interesting.” That their relationship was a kind of symbiotic one. You could say that. Galliano’s search for forgiveness became a great subject for MacDonald. “John was very respectful and I really appreciated him as a filmmaker…He said to me, ‘I’m not going to tell you how to cut the movie, but I’m going to tell you how long the movie should be. It’s the same as not expecting that.”That’s how the hem should be.”
Featuring extensive interviews with Galliano himself and conversations with close friends Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, Penelope Cruz, Charlize Theron, Anna Wintour, and Edward Enninful, McDonald’s He said he was surprised that so many celebrities were happy to participate. “I think it’s an expression of the loyalty and warmth they felt for John. In Charlize’s case, I think it has as much to do with the fact that she herself experienced addiction and the violence that came with it because of her father. I think that’s something she wants to talk about.”
But it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, and just as many, if not more, said no to the project. “Naturally, there are a lot of people who still have resistance to John and don’t forgive him and say, ‘I don’t want to see that movie, he’s an anti-Semite.’ He knows he will never forgive himself. Even though he just did this blockbuster show and seems welcomed by the fashion industry, he is still marginalized in society at large. Those who have not forgiven him It was almost difficult to catch that. No one wants to go on camera and say, ‘No, I will never forgive you,’ because that sounds very unpleasant.”
One person who has not forgiven him is the victim in the case, Philippe Virgitti. “He’s very hard-line about it,” McDonald comments. and Sidney Toledano, former CEO of Christian Dior. “It took seven years for Sidney to forgive John. I think he took it particularly personally — he was Jewish, he worked with John, he helped John, he protected John when he was in trouble. I think he held a grudge for a really long time, but when John came to him and asked for forgiveness, he forgave.”
Regarding the argument for separating art and artists, MacDonald says: washington post Critic Robin Givan was right on target. “I think what Robin says is the closest to a summary of what I ultimately thought. I believe that John should be forgiven, because the people who were hurt by him, in large part, Because he’s been trying to make amends, which Philip isn’t. What do you do with someone 12 years after they did something terrible? He has great talent. , shouldn’t you do that when you have this love in your life?
“When you send someone to prison. Do you send them to prison to rehabilitate them or just to punish them? Reforming the character, a person can radically change, different If you believe that you can become that person, I think you must believe the following: [John] Deserves a second chance.
“There are people who would never feel that way, who were deeply hurt by his words, who were deeply offended. What he said was terrible, anti-Semitism at its worst, but both at the same time. You can feel. You can say, “On the one hand, this happened, and it was terrible.” But on the other hand, he makes beautiful things and he’s very good at doing it, so he should be allowed to do what he likes.” I think what Robin is trying to say is that that contradiction can exist. We can keep two things in our heads at the same time. ”
“My purpose in making this film was to provoke discussion and discussion. It’s a film that people will watch and then go to dinner with someone and discuss it and say what they think about it. I hope so,” he told me on Zoom. I’ve been recommending it ever since for that very reason.
This film is a portrait of John’s work. This is no longer a movie about cancel culture. It’s about forgiveness in a sense and how we perceive people. The same can be said about addiction. I think at the end of the day, I wanted to make a movie that opens things up instead of closing things down. If there’s a message for me in this movie, it’s that humans are really complex. Trying to put people in boxes and say in black and white, “This person should be canceled and this person shouldn’t be cancelled,” is really an impossible task. We need to embrace grayness and uncertainty. ”
MUBI, a global distribution company, streaming service and production company, releases a detailed account of the rise and fall of a controversial but undeniably talented figure. high and low – John Galliano opens in Irish cinemas on Friday 8th March.
Image provided by: MUBI