Yves Saint Laurent

A pair of 2003 documentaries by David Teboul are compiled on this single-disc portrait of the famous French fashion designer. The first, and better, is Yves Saint Laurent: His Life and Times, a fairly conventional but enlightening account that begins with Saint Laurent's childhood in Algeria (then still a French colony), and continues through his internship with Christian Dior, the establishment (with Pierre Berge) of his own fashion house in 1962, and the immense success and fame that followed. Interviews with the couturier himself, his mother, Berge, journalists, and collaborators are combined with a wealth of archival footage and still photos to draw a rich, detailed profile. But what gives this film a truly remarkable feel are Saint Laurent's own often emotional observations as he reacts to some of the photos Teboul has collected and the director's queries (we're told that his favorite author is Proust, and there's a similar contemplative attitude towards the past in Saint Laurent's remarks). Unfortunately, the second film, Yves Saint Laurent: 5 Avenue Marceau 75116 Paris, is less compelling, as it follows the frantic activity of Saint Laurent and his staff, who are designing and producing a new line for an important show. While effectively capturing the pressure of the moment and Saint Laurent's perfectionism, the second piece is much more repetitive and less revealing than the first. Still, taken together, the programs serve up a generous and affectionate tribute to an important designer. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)