The September Issue (Doco)

"Fashion makes people nervous" is one of Anna Wintour's opening quotes. I think she means that "she" makes people nervous. Anna Wintour is referred to as one of the most influential women in America (which I think says more about America than it does about Anna!). Nevertheless, this documentary feature film about the British Editor-in-Chief at American Vogue makes for a gripping insight into an incredibly interesting woman, and an even more interesting world - the world of fashion. Some of you may recognise Anna who is said to have been the inspiration for Meryl Streep's character in "The Devil Wears Prada". Specifically, this documentary chronicles the preparations for the 2007 fall issue of US Vogue.

As a female professional, I am always on the look out for successful chicks to aspire to. Whilst I often admire super successful women for their ambition, their talent, and their success, I frequently find their emotional character less than inspirational. Again with Anna Wintour, whilst her ambition and success is highly admirable, and left me in awe wondering what it is about her that has allowed her to remain at the top of her game for so long in this increasingly competitive world, I am left disappointed by the fact that she seems to be yet another example of a successful female who is cold, tough, and in many ways, eerily "man-like".

The portrayal of Anna Wintour was gripping. They way this feature film is shot made me feel like a voyeur and any of my close friends will be quick to tell you how much I love being a voyeur. I can't have a cup of coffee with a friend, without becoming more obsessed with the conversation on the next table than the one I'm supposed to be involved in! Whilst the film no doubt set out to humanise Anna - given her reputation as cold, rude and emotionally distant - the film seemed to heighten her mysteriousness and inaccessibility for me which I loved. I was left wanting to continue to peer through a window into her life for days to come. The discomfort she obviously felt in front of the camera when she was being directly interviewed (which occurred surprisingly infrequently throughout the film) was haunting, her anxiousness and her inability to reveal anything intimate about her real self when faced with a single set of eyes was all too familiar.

The characters surrounding Anna are equally compelling to watch - her faithful Creative Director, Grace Coddington, who has been with her for two decades almost steals the show. And if it weren't for Grace, I think I would be left with the feeling that I disliked Anna. It is an absolute pleasure to watch Grace in action and the resulting photos of the many gorgeous photo shoots the film covers. She is at least as talented if not more, but is much more accessible in the way that she frequently shows real female emotions (which seems to be a big no-no in most workplaces!) including passion, frustration, pride, and loyalty. The fact that she swans around the office in comfortable shoes and baggy black outfits in stark contrast to her glammed up colleagues and the sexy models she works with makes her even more endearing.

Even if you have no interest in fashion, I thought the film was worth seeing for the many fascinating characters; for the chance to sneak a peak into a world full of colour, emotion, and art that is so far away from the structure, blandness, and rationality of my corporate world; and purely because it is full of some of the most simple but beautiful shots of New York I have ever seen.

The film leaves you wondering how Anna's reign at Vogue will ever end. Will she choose to leave? Will the Board decide it's time for a change? Will some new and ambitious young thing topple her long standing reign? It also got me thinking - what does make people move on from a job they seem to be successful at? Success is sometimes a trap that locks you into something you've lost the passion for. I love when Anna ponders this question herself and recalls having a related conversation with her father. He says something like "I knew it was time to move on when I got too angry about stuff". What a simple but invaluable test! If that's the case, it's been time for me to move on for quite some time.....

• The September 2007 Issue of US Vogue weighed nearly 5 pounds (or 2.3 kgs) and was the single largest issue of a magazine ever published at that time
  
• Of the 840 pages, 727 of them were ads!
  
• Movie making spanned over 2 and a half years with a years worth of shooting and a years worth of editing