Celebration (Yves Saint Laurent's Final Show)

Yves Saint Laurent’s final show was suppressed right after its first and only public screening at the 2007 Berlin Film Festival. The film was blocked by YSL’s business partner and on-and-off-again lover Pierre Berge, who objected to the couturier’s portrayal as frail and not quite all there, and to his own depiction as a behind-the-scenes mastermind. (The dynamic between the two is said to have inspired Paul Thomas Anderson’s depiction of Daniel Day-Lewis and Lesley Manville’s characters in Phantom Thread.)

Fortunately, Berge relented in 2015, two years before his death, and thus Celebration is finally available. Director Olivier Meyrou’s film presents an opulent and immersive behind-the-scenes look at haute couture designer Yves Saint Laurent’s final show and is a priceless addition to our understanding of the man, the myth, la marque, that is Yves Saint Laurent.