“Do we have to cover every bit of it, you know?” Dame Vivienne Westwood teases filmmaker Lorna Tucker early in the straightforward but poppy “Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist.” “It’s so boring to say all this!” At a brusque eighty-minute running time, there’s no danger of extinguishing the “all-this” of Westwood’s provocation, activism and relentless reinvention across four decades in the sphere of British fashion, from the “swinging sixties” to the 1970s days when she and her late ex-partner and student of Situationism Malcolm McLaren launched punk style and other incendiaries (The Sex Pistols, Bow Wow Wow), from the confines of “SEX,” their Kings Road boutique, to today’s sixty-outlet retail chain around the world that she still controls. Her prickly proclamations are at the heart of Tucker’s telling: even at the age of seventy-seven, Westwood is restless and notions pour from her. (Visionary in the house.) Three years in the making, “Westwood” is less comprehensive biography than grumpy, captivating depth charge. 80m. (Ray Pride)
“Westwood” opens Friday, July 13 at the Music Box.
Ray Pride is Newcity’s Senior Editor and Film Critic. He is a contributing editor of Filmmaker magazine.
Ray’s history of Chicago Ghost Signs is planned for publication next year. Previews of the project are on Twitter and on Instagram. More photography on Instagram.
Seeing The Elephant: A Review Of Babylon The boisterous, brawling yet melancholy "Babylon," is a variation on film history, but more drawing for drama. It's gaudy and mean, celebratory and sorrowful.
Heart: A Review of Soul The real world is soulful, too, in Pixar's bountiful life of the mind.
Uncanny Ally: A Review Of M3GAN "M3GAN" sells itself in its first handful of seconds in how it introduces the handiwork of roboticist Gemma (Allison Williams, "Get Out") and her present product, PurrPetual Petz from Funki.
Fine Line: A Review Of Shortcomings It's a season for the comeuppance of a curmudgeon in Randall Park's smart, biting "Shortcomings," adapted by Adrian Tomine from his graphic novel of the same name.
Spawn Sacrifice: A Review Of The Creator "The Creator" is richly detailed, punchy, pulpy, punkish entertainment that still has highly serious subjects in mind, without growing didactic and with substantial heart.
A Drag Getting Old: A Review Of Indiana Jones 5 In the protracted opening couple of reels, a very young, computer-crafted Harrison Ford plays a younger cultural marauder who first encounters the dull MacGuffin of the title.
