The September Issue (M)

This look into the fabulous, fanciful and frivolous world of fashion opened the International Film Festival in Nelson last year.

It focuses on Vogue magazine's making of its September 2007 issue, the biggest single issue it has ever published.

Its central figures are editor-in-chief for the past 22 years, Anna Wintour, a powerful queen of haute couture, and her long-time colleague and creative director, Grace Coddington.

From the start, Wintour comes across as both precious but aware of how some people (her family) view what she does as trivial.

If she remains aloof and camera-guarded, Coddington is more identifiable, as she has to temper her obvious and passionate artistic expertise with submission to her boss's decisions.

Ultimately, there are no insights here into the fashion business, just a behind-the-scenes portrayal of the tension, friction, frustrations and disappointments in putting together a magazine issue.

What we get is access but still a skimming of the surface, a shallow if still fascinating glimpse of a world of superficiality.

• Reviewed by David Manning; DVDs for review supplied by United Video, Nelson.

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