"There's an argument to be made that we have heard everything we ever need to hear from John Galliano," said Wendy Ide in The Observer. He is the flamboyant British designer who was "ignominiously sacked" as creative director of Dior in 2011, after footage emerged of him "booze-sodden" in a Paris bar, "spewing an antisemitic tirade at strangers". That video earned Galliano a criminal conviction, said Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian. However, his defenders say he wasn't "really antisemitic" – and that it was "the booze, the drugs and the nervous breakdown talking". He has since been engaged in a process of rehabilitation, both drying out from his addictions and seeking to educate himself with help from Holocaust charities, and has been forgiven by the fashion world.
Three years in the making, this new documentary from Kevin Macdonald ("Touching the Void", "The Last King of Scotland") traces Galliano's journey, said Stephen Doig in The Daily Telegraph. Using his own words, and those of A-list fans (including Kate Moss and Anna Wintour), it offers a "fascinating" account of the designer's early years and the success that won him a "superstar lifestyle", but also brought the almost-unbearable pressure of designing up to 32 collections a year. "High & Low" also asks: "should one of the greatest fashion geniuses of the 20th century" have been so swiftly absolved for what he claims was a moment of madness? It's a question the film itself – which is about Galliano's frailty and flaws, as much as his genius – declines to answer. It allows him to present his side, but also gives voice to those who were "deeply wounded by his actions".
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
5 artfully drawn cartoons about Donald Trump's Epstein doodleCartoons Artists take on a mountainous legacy, creepy art, and more
-
Violent videos of Charlie Kirk’s death are renewing debate over online censorshipTalking Points Social media ‘promises unfiltered access, but without guarantees of truth and without protection from harm’
-
What led to Poland invoking NATO’s Article 4 and where could it lead?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION After a Russian drone blitz, Warsaw’s rare move to invoke the important NATO statute has potentially moved Europe closer to continent-wide warfare
-
Video games to curl up with this fall, including Ghost of Yotei and LEGO PartyThe Week Recommends Several highly anticipated video games are coming this fall
-
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale – a ‘comfort’ watch for fansThe Week Recommends The final film of the franchise gives viewers a chance to say goodbye
-
The Paper: new show, same 'warmth and goofiness'The Week Recommends This spin-off of the American version of The Office is ‘comfortingly and wearyingly familiar’
-
Rachel Jones: Gated Canyons – ‘riotously colourful’ works from an ‘exhilarating’ painterThe Week Recommends The 34-year-old is the first artist to take over Dulwich Picture Gallery’s main space
-
Born With Teeth: ‘mischievously provocative’ play starring Ncuti GatwaThe Week Recommends ‘Sprightly’ production from Liz Duffy Adams imagines the relationship between Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe
-
10 upcoming albums to stream during spooky seasonThe Week Recommends As fall arrives, check out new albums from Taylor Swift, Jeff Tweedy, the Lemonheads and more
-
Art review: Lorna Simpson: Source NotesFeature Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, through Nov. 2
-
A Spinal Tap reunion, Thomas Pynchon by way of Paul Thomas Anderson and a harrowing Stephen King adaptation in September moviesthe week recommends This month’s new releases include ‘Spinal Tap II,’ ‘One Battle After Another’ and ‘The Long Walk’
