Susan Granger’s review of “Iris” (Magnolia Pictures)
This cinematic portrait of indomitable, 93 year-old Manhattan fashionista Iris Apfel is the penultimate film from the late documentarian Albert Maysles; his final film will be “In Transit.” And it’s not unlike his “Grey Gardens” (1975), which profiled reclusive eccentrics who were related to Jacqueline Kennedy.
Born Iris Barrel in 1921 in Astoria, Queens, Iris is the only child of Samuel Barrel, whose family owned a glass-and-mirror business, and his wife Sadye, who ran a fashion boutique. After studying art history, Iris worked for “Women’s Wear Daily,” interior designer Elinor Johnston, and Illustrator Robert Goodman.
After she married Carl Apfel in 1948, they launched the textile firm: Old World Weavers. Having no children, they globe-trotted, acquiring an eclectic collection of exotic souvenirs. During the filming, Carl turned 100. Several years ago, “Architectural Digest” slyly described their luxurious Park Avenue apartment as looking “a little as if the Collyer brothers had moved in with Madame de Pompadour.”
From 1950 to 1993 – from Truman’s administration to Clinton’s – Iris was involved in the White House interior design restoration projects of nine presidents.
Famous for her lament, “There is so much sameness. I hate it!” Iris always wears enormous owl glasses, costume jewelry necklaces, along with a multitude of glittering bracelets and clothing adorned with feathers, prints and bright colors, advising, “It’s better to be happy than well-dressed.”
Curator of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, Harold Koda cites items from the exhibit, “Rara Avis (Rare Bird): Selections from the Iris Apfel Collection,” which opened in 2005 and has since traveled to other museums.
Unlike other documentarians who prefer to remain in the background, Albert Maysles appears, not only on-camera, but also as an off-camera presence, speaking with Ms. Apfel.
Dispensing wit, charm and wisdom, elderly Iris advocates the values and work ethic she learned as a child: “I feel lucky to be working. If you’re lucky enough to do something you love, everything else follows.”
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Iris” is a splashy, stylish 7, just like Iris who dubs herself “a geriatric starlet.”
