Mademoiselle C is a slice of life documentary about Carine Roitfeld’s launch of her magazine, CR, after a lifetime in fashion working to bring others’ visions to fruition. Even if you are familiar with the fashion world, Mademoiselle C requires a deeper understanding of the business because Mademoiselle C is a very specialized documentary. There is little explanation about the people that she meets during a normal workday. You will recognize Karl Lagerfeld, Tom Ford, Kanye, Beyonce, and Sarah Jessica Parker, but other designers and photographers may not be as familiar. Mademoiselle C mostly has subtitles because Roitfeld primarily speaks French even though the majority of the documentary is shot in NYC.
I went into the documentary not knowing much about Roitfeld so when she casually identified herself as Parisienne and Russian and mentioned that her father was a filmmaker, I was a bit confused. Was I supposed to know this already? I clearly did not do my homework. Mademoiselle C never establishes a rhythm between confessional style interviews with Roitfeld, her family and associates and slice of life moments, which may reflect that her life has no routine or reflects what the filmmaker sees as important in her life.
My favorite parts of Mademoiselle C are the awkward moments. For instance, when she has a meeting, and they realize that they ran out of money in the budget then everyone sits silently for a moment. Or when they go to an event and desperately hope that rich people will be there. Or when she explains her relationship with the camera-pretend that you love it. Or when a fashion designer reveals his stalker board of all his photos of Roitfeld, and he catches her wearing the same thing. Unlike me, she does not slowly back out of the room, but greets it with humor and expresses gratitude. Mademoiselle C depicts Roitfeld as a humble rock star who never confuses performance with life or at least has figured out which song to play at what time.
If you love Roitfeld or are deeply into fashion, you should watch Mademoiselle C, but if you are unfamiliar with her or only have a passing interest in the world of fashion, Mademoiselle C may not be a great place to start, and a ton of footage may just fly over your head. (Side note: let’s not force Lagerfeld to care about babies and respond politely.)