Hidden behind her dark sunglasses, Anna Wintour observes her world from a position of security, like Daniel Boone awaiting a bear. The editor of Vogue, one of the most powerful women in magazines, is surrounded by people who love her, or pretend to, and watching her prepare one of the year's most important issues should be a fascinating story.
But it isn't, because "The September Issue," a documentary about Wintour and her magazine, ends up as a sycophant's glorification. It's certan that director R. J. Cutler never would have received the freedom to film a great deal of inside stuff if Wintour were not sure of the outcome. The only person who disagrees with the tyrant is red-haired Grace Coddington, a long-time associate and fellow Londoner. But Coddington never wins an argument. It's rather like watching a professional wrestling match.
As Wintour uses Photoshop to turn acress-model Sienna Miller into a cover girl, and emaciatged models strut up and down the runway, we have the opportunity to meet Oscar de la Renta, Jean Paul Gaultier, Vera Wang and other designers, but we learn very little.
At the Plaza Frontenac
-Joe