FASHION ICON SERIES NOMINATED

MCGREGOR PERFORMS WITH BUTTERFLY EFFECT

By PETER THOMAS BUSCH

American designer Roy Halston joins the fashion movie genre in the new streaming series Halston (2021).

Director Daniel Minahan makes the foray with Ewan McGregor in the starring role.

McGregor turns the majority of his on screen character persona into a butterfly as the flamboyant Halston. He cannot quite leave the endearing nature of his screen character behind, though.

Instead, the talented actor pushes this character trait to the extreme, adding a voice, hand gestures and body language to create a fashion icon persona that has the audience transfixed before the end of the first episode, if not from the first few scenes of the five part Netflix Original Series.

If actors cannot be world champion boxers in boxing movies, actors seem to want to be haute couture icons with their own fashion houses.

McGregor began a feature film career in earnest with a role in Trainspotting (1996). And then he got onto the blockbuster marque with a starring role as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars Prequels (1999/2002/2005). This endearing authority figure developed by McGregor was dialed down a notch to play one of 160 elite US soldiers in Black Hawk Down (2001), but in the same year he then also dials up his acting art to perform as a world class entertainer: singing, dancing and acting as Christian in Moulin Rouge (2001), costarring Nicole Kidman.

McGregor is one of the most versatile actors in the business, taking on leading roles as well as supporting roles in a variety of genres, including the Disney film Christopher Robin (2018).

Halston is depicted as eccentric but motivated more by his art than making money in designing dresses for society’s leading women.

Minahan keeps the narrative focused on Halston, but through his leading character the director also pursues the nuances of high fashion by showing that the designer finds success with the help of the many talented people around him.

Halston initially experiences critical acclaim without financial gain. McGregor shows how Halston is gradually but inevitably drawn into all the trappings of Corporate America despite some well founded hesitations early on in the story line.

The cast of supporting characters help build up the on-screen presence of the fashion icon.

Rebecca Dayan plays top model Elisa Peretti. David Pittu plays illustrator Joe Eula, while Krysta Rodriguez plays entertainer Liza Minnelli.

Minihan compels the narrative forward with the camera by staging a variety of scenes including the use of transition scenes when the plot lurches forward and changes direction. Halston’s ocean side villa becomes the location for many of these plot reversal scenes.

The narrative is linear with some flashbacks to childhood to show the early years that made  Halston the icon Halston.

Minihan also takes the camera into Halston’s personal life, with several scenes graphically depicting sexual intercourse that while artful would not be suitable for family viewing.

Gian Franco Rodriguez plays one of Halston’s lovers, Victor Hugo.

Halston begins his love life in a gay bar, but he finds more security using paid escorts, where he is introduced to Victor Hugo.

Minihan balances the personal life with the artful life of a fashion designer and the business reality of running a national brand. Halston’s biggest problem initially is securing the factory time to fulfill all the new orders for his dresses.

The streaming series has a run time of about 45 minutes per episode with the narrative some times getting a boost at the beginning of the next episode with a time jump. In this way, Minihan is able to get through four decades of American fashion while not giving superficial treatment to the importance of brand and fashion on culture and society.

Minihan may have hesitated in leaving a lot of scenes in the editing room to come up with a feature film for theatrical release, and in the alternative, may have had to stretch the narrative out a bit to qualify as a series of episodes as opposed to one full length feature film.

The story line gets a bit tired by the fifth episode as many of the subplots are treated superficially.

Minihan focusses on Halston’s sex life as well as his friendship with Liza Minnelli and the business relationship with David Mahoney, played by Bill Pullman.

The narrative could have easily spent an episode on each of these sub plots. And of course, the life of Liza Minnelli could be a stand-alone streaming series.

The end result is an interesting addition to the fashion genre films already in the recycle bins, giving the audience a revealing glimpse into Seventies Culture such as Studio 54 in New York City and Andy Warhol art on apartment walls.

Halston is currently streaming on Netflix.