The September Issue review

A glimpse into the cut-throat world of high-fashion journalism

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Anna ‘Nuclear’ Wintour, the fearsome Vogue editor Meryl Streep allegedly based her Devil Wears Prada gorgon on, does her own little turn on the catwalk in a frockumentary bound to end up on every fashionista’s must-see list.

In charting the behind-the-scenes shenanigans involved in compiling the mag’s hefty September 2007 edition, director RJ Cutler teases unexpected warmth out of the frosty doyen, primarily by focusing on her yin-yang relationship with long-serving (and suffering) creative director Grace Coddington, her recollections of her late father and her dealings with daughter Bee, a wannabe journalist with little interest in couture.

Brüno-style bitchiness isn’t entirely missing: cover girl Sienna Miller gets a particular hammering, while Vogue’s flamboyant Editor-At-Large André Leon Talley wastes no chance to dish the dirt. But you do question the film’s professional distance, especially when Grace inveigles one of Cutler’s portly cameramen to take part in a photo shoot.

Freelance Writer

Neil Smith is a freelance film critic who has written for several publications, including Total Film. His bylines can be found at the BBC, Film 4 Independent, Uncut Magazine, SFX, Heat Magazine, Popcorn, and more.