"I like very simple, down-to-earth, basic things." - Bill Cunningham
At first when a friend recommended this documentary, I don't really put interest on it. I thought, "Oh okay, a documentary about a photographer who does street style photography. So it'll mainly be about fashion. Probably someone like Scott Schuman from earlier era." Until she said something about this Bill who is so modest and contradictory with the objects he photographs. She mentioned that he wears same cheap blue jacket everyday, rides a bike, and lives in a tiny apartment that is not fancy at all. Then I knew I had to watch it.
Bill Cunningham, in his old age is a laid back person who smiles a lot, and this makes the whole movie joyous to watch. Beside photographing fashion on the streets, he photographs socialite events and there he refused to drink and eat, he said "I'm not there to be wined and dined. I have something to eat before I go to work, and that's it". He lives in a tiny apartment which was filled with file cabinets of his decades of negatives that there was literally nothing else there but a mattress on top of some files. No kitchen. Bathroom down the hall.
What appeals to me most is the last scene when Bill was interviewed. It almost made me cry.
i: So I'm going to ask you two very personal questions... you may or may not want to answer. It's completely up to you. But have you ever had a romantic relationship in your entire life?
b: [Laughs] Now, do you want to know if I'm gay?
i: Yes.
b: [Laughs] Isn't that a riot? Well, that's probably why the family wanted to keep me out of the fashion world. They wouldn't speak of such a thing. No. I haven't.
i: Never in your entire life?
b: No. It never occurred to me. I guess I just was interested in clothes. That's the obsession. It's probably a little peculiar.
i: Is that something you regret?
b: No. I wouldn't even think about it. No, I don't regret it. There was no time. I was working night and day. I mean, I don't know when you'd... Uh, no, it was... And in my family, uh, things like that were never discussed. So it never... It wasn't even in my head or my mind. I wouldn't have known a thing about it. So they needn't have worried. But years later, I surmised... that that must have been in the back of their minds. And certainly the women from Chez Ninon.
i: You've had good friends.
b: A few people that I've known. Yes. Yeah. Uh... People that... Oh, you mean... Just friends. Oh, Yeah. Yeah. No, I have friends.
i: I mean, Antonio was a dear friend.
b: Oh, Antonio... I love those kids.
i: And Suzette.
b: Yes. Yeah, they... It's just, I suppose I've... I don't know.You can't be in love with your work, but I enjoyed it so much that it didn't... Yeah. But hey, listen, I am human. [Laughing]
i: Exactly.
b: You do have, uh, body urges or whatever, but, uh, you control it as best you can.
i: And then the other question is... and again, you don't have to answer this... but I know that you go to church every Sunday.
b: Oh, yeah.
i: And does religion...Is that an important component of your life?
[long pause]
i: We don't have to talk about this.
b: Yeah, I think it's a good guidance in your life. Uh... Yeah, it's something I need and, uh... Yeah, I guess maybe it's part of your upbringing. I don't know. Whatever it is, everyone... You do whatever you do the best you can work things out, but yeah. I find it very important. Yeah. For whatever reason. I don't know. As a kid...[Laughs] I went to church and all I did was look at women's hats. You know. But later, when you mature, for different reasons.
This is totally the best movie I've watched this year. And no, not because it's photography-related, but it's humanity-related. It makes me ponder a lot. About how contradictory his life is with the the people he works with or works about. About how simple the life he lives. About how constantly he does what he does and never grew tired. There's something so melancholic about his life, and his past, his relationship with his family, how his family didn't seem to approve his choice of career, and also his religious faith. Somehow I feel like there's a big part of his life that isn't showed in the film. A part that made Bill Bill.
