One after another two awesome Mini Series with Masters of The Air and now The New Look, both series related to the aftermath of World War II but for sure not series for everyone, at times they can turn a bit slow pace, scenes jumps from one to another leaving gaps in between but that is just how a story based on real events is narrated, talking about real events this two series could generate certain arguments about how things really happen for those who knows exactly what went down. I would never take anything that shows on the TV as the truth but it is entertaining.
The New Look is a TV series based on the fashion revolution after WWII, the stories of high fashion designers Christian Dior and Coco Chanel, this is a drama mini series with 10 episodes exactly what I think is the proper amount of episodes to develop properly a series, this is not an action series based on war and the pace is slow as a drama should be, some actors even though they are playing a french character still sound British or North American but that's not a buzz killer for me, there is one thing that did annoyed me at a few times and that's lighting, they change it to make it look like an old video tape.
- IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt18177528/
- Platform: AppleTV+
Even though reviews are and wont be the best I still find this series very entertaining and will continue to watch, although I do agree with the audience score, I would not give the series more than 7/10 so far.
It was a nice kicker how the story started to be narrated after a fashion student at a Dior event ask why he work with the Germans during war? why he kept designing while others like Chanel didn't, here is when the drama starts as Dior basically expose Chanel saying there is always a second truth behind the story, that's why I choose that scene as the cover of the post.
Exactly after we get Coco Chanel throwing dirt at Christian Dior, how he ruin French Couture, seem Dior became very famous during WWII while probably Chanel did stop designing, he mention this too as he was a nobody working for Lucien Lelong who was selling all kind of dresses to German wife's, Dior took this as an opportunity but it doesn't seem that it was planned or was his intention to became this popular, he mostly was doing it because of his sister.
Catherine Dior, Christian's sister was working with the resistance, she was constantly taking all kind of risks putting her life in danger every minute, delivering messages, moving people from one place to another or even getting German officers killed as on this scene.
Since they were little it was Christian responsibility to look after her after their mother died, at least that's how he see things but Katherine felt it was the opposite and he worry too much about her. Her comes the financial side, most of the money Dior was making went into Catherine efforts with the resistance, he wasn't making money to be rich and famous, he kept working to help her sister and try to keep her save, he knew he could not control her or stop so better just try to get anything she needed to succeed, this sound dumb because there was no way to be save working for the resistance, it was a job that was tied to death, it was war.
As I mention the story start to tell how Chanel got involve with the Germans, to be honest doesn't seem like it was something she ask for, as a fact it seem she was corner and a plan was running to get her work with the Germans, her nephew was capture and release as a favor by Herr Spatz who I think was a German officer trying to lure in Chanel to work with them, releasing her nephew was just bait.
During the German occupation of Paris the obvious thing to do for any other countrymen was not work with the Germans in any way, this was also agree by Fashion Designers but not everyone though of this way and there were others force to keep working in the case of Lucien Lelong he was constantly threaten, Christian Dior needed the money to help his sister, Coco Chanel nephew was arrested and her company seem to be hijack all her funds, Cristobal Balenciaga, whose character was not fully develop on this story not sure if it will; was also on the same plan to refuse work with the Germans but seem that every single one of them at the end had to if they wanted their relatives to stay alive.
There are aspects of the series that will become predictable like people eventually getting arrested, this is the case of Catherine Dior friends, same as if German get them to talk could get to her and also Christian, it was a chain reaction event and Germans were looking for her, they knew about a women delivering messages for the resistance and night and Christian finds out about it because a client who was a German Girlfriend told him about it and now he is looking for his sister but seem it was too late, The Gestapo, German Secret Service; was after her and from how the episode end look they got her.
I really like how the first episode was not complicated at all as some are when its time to present the main characters, even for some one who doesn't know who Dior and Chanel are the rhythm of the story and how things happen doesn't give that sense of lost. There is certain aspect that I don't like so far and its that it feels like the episode had to do a lot about how Chanel did everything she could to survive even if that mean making business with the Germans, under the table business and still try to show the rest of the would that she would never go for it while Dior try to survive too but had zero business with the Germans and this is mostly because as he said he was a no body at the time so you have to question if he would do the same as Chanel if he be on the same position?
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