It's hard to say what's most remarkable:
• That, in his 80s, Bill Cunningham works at a pace dizzying to someone half his age, shooting hundreds of photos to cull for his weekly "On the Street" and "Evening Hours" features for The New York Times.
• That he traverses New York City for the right photo at all hours - by bicycle.
• That the man who photographs and glories in the most stylish and elegant of New York's human pageant mends his ponchos with duct tape. He doesn't like fancy, he says. Not for himself, anyway.
"Bill Cunningham New York" - for many in fashion and high society, the two go together like Fifth and Avenue - is a fascinating, endearing portrait of the man who for decades has documented trends born on the streets and beau-monde parties for a worthy cause.
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Filmmaker Richard Press artfully blends comments from Cunningham admirers, images of Cunningham's own brilliant work, and observations of his reluctant subject, filmed as unobtrusively as possible with consumer hand-held video cameras.
These Friends of Bill are a who's who of New York - Vogue Editor Anna Wintour; author Tom Wolfe; Brooke Astor, the late society matron - as well as a collection of eccentric, strikingly dressed subjects. "I never go out without my beauty mark, my eyebrows, my hat," says one dandy.
As Cunningham opens up to the filmmaker, it becomes easy to see why he's beloved, beyond his expert eye for the lovely and individualistic: his principled pursuit of beauty, his unfettered, unmasked delight when he finds it, and his clear respect for his subjects.
Director Press shows a like-minded sensitivity, particularly in the film's most poignant moments, as he holds up a mirror to the man whose camera is a mirror on New York.
Review
Bill Cunningham New York
*** 1/2
• Not rated: Brief language.
• Director: Richard Press.
• Running time: 84 minutes.
