HAD NOT HEARD OF

*Patrick DeMarchelier, a fashion photographer who does not appear but his name is mentioned several times when Miranda wants to reach him on the phone.

*Marc Jacobs, a handbag designer

*Karl Lagerfeld, a fashion designer.

HAD HEARD OF

* Valentino who appears as himself (the only fashion celebrity to appear in the film)

* Oscar de la Renta

* Chanel

* Yves St. Laurent

* (Mario) Testino a fashion photographer.

All of the above are luminaries in the fashion world and have their own websites.

Ok. I watched this movie 4 times in Feb 2007 and loved it. Meryl Streep is brilliant , svelte and glamorous as Miranda Priestly the editor of a monthly fashion magazine, RUNWAY.

My, how she can remove her sunglasses with a toss of her head and arrogance, how she can dismiss someone with her hands when she’s done with them and says ‘that’s all.’ Her hairdo - tres chic , including the view fromback-of-the-neck, a well placed camera shot.. How Miranda can wither someone with a glance, as shetakes in Andy’s footwear.

Miranda presiding at a meeting of Runway coordinators discussing the magazine’s February issue – a queen in total command, her chin resting elegantly on her hand holding with a pencil in her hand.

Streep is absolutely convincing as Miranda Priestly, the dragon lady , the snow queen.

Samples:

“Why isn’t my coffee here? Did somebody die?” (Her Starbucks is late)

“Why is no one read – yyyyyy.? (at a run –through )

“Where is that piece of paper I had in my hand yesterday?” (as she dumps her coat and purse)

“I said to myself, ‘Take a chance, go ahead, hire the smart, fat girl..Anyway you ended up disappointing me more than any of the other silly girls. ’” (as she demeans Andy directly after Andy failed to find Miranda a flight out of Miami during a hurricane because all flights had been cancelled.)

Streep has been nominated for Best Actress for this role.

SUPPORTING ACTORS :

EMILY played by Emily Blunt .

Emily Blunt who plays Emily with a British accent, the first assistant who supervises Andy Sachs, is much more like Miranda’s character than Andy is. The character Emily is strongly played and well written

Emily can’t bear the fact that Andy’s makeover by Nigel is so stunning, so Emily dismisses her co-worker’s comment that Andy ‘ looks good’. Perfect replication of office pettiness! The scene with her co-worker Serena ( or Vivian ?) , when Serena approved Andy’s new look, was played with aplomb, very office-y. “Shut up,” Emily said, who couldn’t bear the new truth – Andy looked stunning.

Emily threatens to find Andy in every ‘Blimpie’ if she is fired because Andy makes a mistake. Emily moans unashamedly when Andy tells her that she has been chosen by Miranda to go to Paris instead of Emily. Emily cries, “You eat carbs” as if it were the height of moral backwardness .

When Emily agrees to do Andy a favor by accepting all the designer clothes given to Andy in Paris, her expressions are marvelous as she goes through haughtiness to grudgingly helpful to meanness (‘of course I will drown in them. I will have them taken in”) to delight.

Her real life surname, ‘Blunt’, is an apt description of the character she plays as Emily in the movie.

ANDY (Andrea) SACHS played by Anne Hathaway as

Who wouldn’t fall for Andy, as Simon Baker playing Christian Thompson does. Andy is the feeling person who in the end rejects Miranda’s brand of people-skills. Andy is played with the honest to goodness charming insouciance of an intelligent girl brought up by loving parents. Andy is smart enough to have been accepted to Stanford Law School.. She is a home-grown egalitarian whose hometown is in Ohio. She’s the sort of girl who would make a good college roommate.

Rebecca Traister said that Andy grabbed for a social advantage and ‘twitters’ when she learned that Miranda’s husband has asked for a divorce, Andy said, “Is there anything else I can do for you , Miranda?” I did not interpret Andy’s tone as a ‘twitter’. Andy “Goodheart’ Sachs was genuinely regretful that a divorce had befallen her boss Miranda. She was not being disingenuous. She served Miranda with loyalty and devotion as befits an assistant.

NIGEL played by Stanley Tucci Again wonderful supportive acting. What dedication to the fashion industry and disdain for those who don’t understand that fashion is greater than art, for we wear it. Through Nigel speaking to Andy, we learn more about Miranda and her influence in the fashion world. A nod from Miranda means a design has met her approval. A pursing of her lips means the model and her dress can simply wither from view for the look has not met her fashion standard.

“Wake up Six,” Nigel says to Andy referring to her dress size, “don’t you know you are working at the place that publishes some of the greatest artists of the century? Halston, de la Renta, Lagerfeld. And what they did, what they created was greater than art because you live your life in it…well not YOU obviously, but ..some people. You think this is just a magazine? Hmm? This is not just a magazine. This is a shining beacon of hope for…oh, I don’t know…lets say a young boy growing up in Rhode Island with six brothers pretending to go to soccer practice when he was really going to sewing class and reading RUNWAY under the covers at night with a flashlight. You have no idea how many legends have walked these halls.”

Great lines in the movie

Scene: Two of Andy’s male friends talking in a restaurant. Andy has just offered a $1900 Marc Jacobs handbag to a female friend which Miranda did not like.

FIRST MAN. Why do women need so many bags? You have one. You put all your junk in it and that’s it, you’re done!

SECOND MAN. Fashion is not about utility. An accessory is merely a piece of iconography used to express individual identity.

Conclusion

The movie is tightly woven and convincing throughout. I found it very entertaining. I disagree with Stephanie Zacharek that “the movie never quite finds its footing, or its tone. “ I found that I didn’t agree with several of Rebecca Traister’s assessments either. (Both writers reviewed the movie for Salon ), Different strokes. Different folks.