A Man's Story

As suggested by my lecturers, I went to see the documentary A Man’s Story by Varon Bonicas. The film follows the life of London menswear designer Ozwald Boateng. Ashamed to admit it, I had never actually heard of Ozwald before they told us to check out this film, however after watching the trailer it was obvious, I was instantly captivated by him as a designer, even though I was never too keen on men’s fashion. The day before I saw the documentary I was talking to a friend from my university, who is studying Fashion Photography, and mentioned to him my plans to watch this film. He immediately lit up as he spoke about Ozwald Boateng and how much of a great designer he thought he is. Having the opportunity to shoot some London fashion shows, my friend said that he actually had the chance to see one of Ozwald Boateng’s shows. “All I saw was suit after suit after suit coming out on the runway, yet it was the most amazing thing I had ever seen!” This immediately made me even more excited to see the film. There is one scene in particular that summed up everything my friend had mentioned. It was a sequence of a variety of his runways shows put together, and I had all at once felt it. If was truly amazing, as he put it. Even seeing it on the big screen gave me this sense that I was witnessing something great. A feeling so overwhelming! I can’t really explain it.

The film on a whole was great. I feel I was able to really get a sense of who Ozwald Boateng is; the man, and the designer. After the showing, there was a Q&A discussion with two of the producers. Apparently, what started out as a 6-week shooting about one of the designer’s shows, in the late 90s, turned into a 12-year long life following story and the documentary it is now. With all of the footage they decided to go in the direction of Ozwald’s relationship with his now ex-wife and kids. How everyone tries to find balance between work and family. At the same time becoming a success story, it is clear what part of his life would eventually suffer. Even though, the movie is centered on this, there is still a good picture of who he is as a designer. We get to follow his career from 1998 after suffering from financial issues and having to rebuild his company. Some a-list stars make appearances, giving his suits the best praise of all. The effort that goes into putting on runway shows, his time at Givenchy, and the huge charity show Ozwald puts on for Ghana’s 50-years independence from Britain.

If you’re interested in these types of life following documentaries, then I definitely recommend checking this one out. It gives a huge insight into the designer’s life and work, including the high’s and low’s that certainly come with being as successful as he is. And if you haven’t seen it already, go watch the documentary The September Issue while you’re at it as well, and find out why Anna Wintour is as great as the industry says.

 A Man's Story Trailer

The September Issue Trailer