Appropriately nuanced film set the standards for many films to follow in style and narrative as fashion photographer (Primus) documents the life of his former client, and one time affair (Dunaway), chronicling her turbulent career as a model. Story is subtle and endearing as it beholds elements of humor and eccentricity throughout, all the while the sharp and talented cast bring to life a myriad of colorful characters along the way.
Jarring and fractured flashbacks expose the hard truth young model Lou Andreas Sand encounters during life in the fast lane of show business. Dunaway is at her most finest here, proving a most vulnerable recipient of players, gamblers, and sharks all around. She is an internal vortex constricted only by the outward manner of control and clarity she has come to grasp. Viveca Lindfors and Roy Scheider offer an equal measure of force and poise in their quirky offbeat roles of employers and players amid the passionate industry. Newcomer Barry Primus ushers in redemption for our tragic beauty.
The most amazing aspect of the film is the fact that Universal Pictures took on this project as what many would see as a mainstream release back in 1970s cinema. Director Schatzberg encompasses a wondrous amount of style and narrative which, as mentioned, leaves us in a whirlwind of themes and arcs, almost lost in the daze, yet never incomprehensible to the story and it's direction.
The entire immaculate package is a precious little gem of a film that delivers much more than promised, and the fact that it stands even more firm 47 years after the fact, (and years of obscurity) is enough to show this film is only beginning to breathe life into audiences. And it's time is only beginning.
Jarring and fractured flashbacks expose the hard truth young model Lou Andreas Sand encounters during life in the fast lane of show business. Dunaway is at her most finest here, proving a most vulnerable recipient of players, gamblers, and sharks all around. She is an internal vortex constricted only by the outward manner of control and clarity she has come to grasp. Viveca Lindfors and Roy Scheider offer an equal measure of force and poise in their quirky offbeat roles of employers and players amid the passionate industry. Newcomer Barry Primus ushers in redemption for our tragic beauty.
The most amazing aspect of the film is the fact that Universal Pictures took on this project as what many would see as a mainstream release back in 1970s cinema. Director Schatzberg encompasses a wondrous amount of style and narrative which, as mentioned, leaves us in a whirlwind of themes and arcs, almost lost in the daze, yet never incomprehensible to the story and it's direction.
The entire immaculate package is a precious little gem of a film that delivers much more than promised, and the fact that it stands even more firm 47 years after the fact, (and years of obscurity) is enough to show this film is only beginning to breathe life into audiences. And it's time is only beginning.