This documentary follows legendary fashion designer Valentino Garavani from 2006 to his 45th anniversary show in 2007. Everybody suspects his long career is coming to a close and they keep asking him about retirement. Financial and business considerations are also forcing him to face that reality. He has longtime partner Giancarlo Giammetti, his countless supporters, and his tiny dogs. It's a movie for fashion and Valentino fans. The most compelling is Valentino working on the dress with his many associates, the half dozen older ladies working on the design, and the statuesque blonde walking back and forth. It's always nice to see someone using his brain to create something original. The rest is not that interesting and the business aspect provides no tension.

The main film was a fascinating glimpse into the world of the ultra rich Europeans, who live in a manner that the rest of us cannot even imagine. Valentino is the last of the Haute Couture designers and he was determined to go out with a bang, even if his world had been taken over by the acquisition and merger corporations and hedge funds.Although I could never afford a Valentino dress, nor do I think I would ever want to spend that kind of money, but to have them there at all is the stuff dreams are made of. Dainty pleated bias cut and filmy swirls of color, hand sewn by expert seamstresses, which say to the rest of us that the wearer doesn't have to ask the price. As we learn, there is little money in the high fashion collections, they are to advertise the name. The suits want to market the small more affordable stuff, perfume, belts, scarves, purses, which carry the company name, which is what they have paid for. As we see, they will sell the company off within days or weeks if they can turn a profit - forget about promises made, they don't go along with the sale. The expensive exquisitely hand sewn Italian and French craftsmanship will be replaced by mass production, probably in China. They have the name, that is all that matters. Someone notes that when Valentino and the last great couturiers began in the 50's and 60's, they were were taught by the designers of the 20s, and that cannot happen today. The best part of the DVD for me was the special features, one of which showed Valentino's spectacular farewell party and his last collection. A party held within view of the Coliseum illuminated with Valentino red lighting, and a fireworks display over Rome! Throughout Valentino walked imperiously, left hand in his pocket, lips pursed ready for the cheek bumping mwah, mwah, greeting for both men and women and his palm downward wave. At one of his farewell parties, the entire workforce was invited and were given gifts. We never got to see what the gifts consisted of.Another special feature, which for me could have been the main film, was a view of the army of staff who maintain Valentino's residences, a French Château where the mile long(?) brick drive runs between dead straight rows of identical trees and brown patches of grass are sprayed green, a ski chalet in Gstadt, apartments in New York and Milan, all overseen by an Irish major domo, Michael Kelly, who seems to do everything from covering the furniture with dust cloths, cleaning thepugs' teeth, walking the pugs, winding the clocks, setting tables, supervising the kitchen, meeting the celebrity guests with umbrellas in a rainstorm and acting as a walking Rolodex and desk calendar for Valentino. As the guest arrive at the gate, the staff inform Mr. Kelly on the walkie talkie, so that Mr. V. can greet them at the door by name, in case he has forgotten a Duchess or confused Elton John with Joan Collins. The clockwork precision and organization which goes into maintaining these homes reminded me of the films about the Royal Family. We learned that they have identical table settings in each home, the maid preparing Mr. Valentino's room in Gstadt gets a birthday present and a cheek bump from Mr. V., Had he been prompted by Mr. Kelly and who had really chosen the white blouse she received?Mr. Kelly goes along on the luxurious private jet, with a chef and the perfectly matched pugs, who get their own seats. We see him shopping in New York for food and flowers, polishing spots from mirrors while giving a last minute inspection in the Château, and dealing with a flooded carpet in the tented outdoor dining room as the rain teemed down on the day of the party - all the time fluently switching from English to French. How does one get a job like that? Where did he get his start? If only the special feature had been as long as the main feature. I enjoyed seeing how the other fraction of one percent lived.

"Valentino: The Last Emperor" is an interesting look at the Valentino empire and the changing times in which it exists. It follows Valentino and his partner in life and work, Giancarlo Giametti, as they prepare for a show and later, Valentino's 45 anniversary as a designer.The fluff stuff first - the fashions are amazing. Valentino designs a beautiful white gown at one point, and we watch his critique of the finished product, and whether or not to add sequins and extra panels. We also see some of the people for whom he has designed over the years: Princess Diana, Jacqueline Kennedy, Audrey Hepburn, and Gwyneth Paltrow, to name only a few. And we see a lot of his signature red gowns. Also, as a second comment on the fluff, Valentino, Giametti and their many pug dogs live like kings, with magnificent homes everywhere!The more serious undertone in this documentary is the changing world of fashion and what has become the business of fashion. There are interviews throughout about this - the world today is about the bottom line, which means scents, designer handbags, and other accessories. The couture isn't the big moneymaker, but it is what Valentino has devoted his life to. As an artist who is proud of his work and committed to it, we see increasingly that the businessmen are less interested in Valentino the artist and more interested in Valentino the brand. It's a world he no longer belongs in.The best parts of this film for me were the times when Valentino was watching the gowns on the models and making decisions on changes - truly the artist at work. That kind of devotion to detail is so rare today. It was a joy to watch.You probably won't learn much about the man himself here, but you will learn something about his work -- and as an artist in the truest sense, that is Valentino's true essence.

Part of the job of a documentary filmmaker is to draw in an audience that might not come pre-programmed with knowledge about the subject, and then educate them about that subject. This documentary fails completely at that. I learned a lot more from the Wikipedia page about Valentino.This purports to tell the life of Valentino Garavani, a man frankly I had never heard of in my life. The silent film actor Rudolph Valentino is more famous. So, do we really learn about his childhood, his education, his influences? Except for a small statement about seeing women on the silver screen when he was 13, not really.Do we learn much of anything about the man, the business, the world it all happens in? No. You would think that if fashion is important in some way, that might be explained. You would think that if he is "the last emperor" that you might explain who the other emperors were and why nobody else is an emperor now.For crying out loud, we hardly even got a good look at any of his history of work.I couldn't tell if I was watching some sort of anaesthetized special of Absolutely Fabulous, or Zoolander, or The Osbournes with all the fun sucked out.The main things I learned: (1) it's apparently possible to become an emperor of fashion (even a gay emperor) without designing anything of any note for men, despite the desperate need for ANYTHING new in men's clothing (2) female fashion models have nice breasts, but are otherwise the most hideous examples of the human form, especially when they start "walking". It's no wonder these clothes won't fit anyone else; they're designed for limping space aliens.(3) apparently the fashion world is entirely ignorant that "triumph of the will" is a Nazi reference.So maybe you already know this Valentino, and maybe you enjoy a peek at the rather dull and arrogant life he leads. Then this is for you. But not for me.