There
has been a lot of fashion in the cinematic year of 2016. But, after
Nicholas Winding Refn’s visually astonishing, but story-wise
utterly banal extravaganza The Neon Demon and Nocturnal
Animals, the stylistically polished thriller by fashion designer
Tom Ford, it is easy to overlook Simon Rumley’s (Red,
White & Blue) take on the world of street fashion and
cautionary tale about addiction set in Austin, Texas. And, boy,
wouldn't that be a pity, because Fashionista is the bravest
and most emotionally effective of the bunch.
Set
around the vintage clothes store owned by April (Amanda Fuller,
star of Red, White & Blue) and her husband Eric (Ethan
Embry, Fuller’s partner in Cheap Thrills),
Fashionista creates a genuine atmosphere early on. Their
business is booming, but their relationship is not doing that well.
For Eric, clothes are strictly business, but for April they are a
matter of passion on the verge of addiction. After confirming her
fears that Eric is cheating on her, Amanda burns all the clothes she
can find in their cramped apartment. For her, it is the act of
liberation, but also a leap into the unknown.
Trouble
comes to her soon enough in form of sharply-dressed and obviously
filthy rich Randall (Eric Balfour). At first, she enjoys the
perks of moving up the class ladder, changing from vintage T-shirts
to designer dresses, but everything comes with a price. Here, it’s
Randall's pretty extravagant lifestyle that gives her the creeps.
Is
it just her, drowning in paranoia, obsession and taste for wrong men?
Or is there something more sinister going on, as it is shown in
recurring flash-forwards of a mansion in crimson-red, sensing the
impending doom looming over our heroine? And what’s with the
nameless young woman (Alex Essoe) checking out of a mental
hospital and cruising the streets and clubs of Austin? How does all
of that add up?
Initally
the whole story may seem a bit pretentious, with all the manic
non-linear editing, flash-forwards and mystery that casts its
spider-web as broad as it can, combined with a washed-up look and
unlikely angles from hand-held camera that Rumley favours.
Rumley's crediting Nicholas Roeg as an inspiration in
the closing credits is no surprise at all, because the whole film
works completely as a tribute to the British genre auteur. The look
of a vintage cult classic seen on an old VHS tape is completely in
tune with its feel and the hipster clothing culture it celebrates.
The mystery is somewhat predictable for a trained viewer, some
repetitions of certain scenes could be trimmed off and the ending is
a bit neat but still enjoyable, as is the whole movie.
But
still, this is not just an exercise in style. Rumley
masterfully catches the spirit of Austin and its culture and creates
the unique, sticky atmosphere, drowning us into the story. The key
performance of Amanda Fuller is a tour de force, as she is
both manic and fragile, not conventionally pretty, but magnetically
attractive. All in all, Fashionista is a great piece of
inspired genre cinema: trashy, classy, campy and sexy at the same
time, which makes it an almost perfect midnight flick.
