Prospect recommends: The September Issue

The fearsome reputation of Anna “nuclear” Wintour, editor-in-chief of US Vogue, inspired Meryl Streep’s intimidating magazine boss in The Devil Wears Prada. So when Wintour gave permission to RJ Cutler to make a documentary about the Vogue team putting together the September 2007 issue, a hymn of bland sycophancy seemed certain.

Fortunately Cutler’s hugely entertaining, subtly revealing The September Issue is about as warts-and-all as one could possibly hope for from such a self-obsessed industry. Cutler has no need of confessional revelations of staff terror because he shows it in action. Wintour disparages poor work and trashes expensive pages with a withering economy of expression. Slack-jawed as one feels at the astonishing waste of resources, her certainty leads to hilarious moments—when she says “excuse me,” an assistant vanishes like a bee-stung whippet; the portly, camp editor-at-large André Leon Talley tells us, as he gently pats away tennis balls, that Wintour suggested he get some exercise.

But though she is the focus, Wintour is not the film’s star. That honour belongs to Grace Coddington, Vogue’s chief stylist and a former model of stubborn charm. Her war with the ice queen is a fascinating larger-than-life contest and this beautifully shot feature documentary is as gripping as a psychological thriller.

On general release from 11th September

Nick James is editor of Sight & Sound

This piece first appeared in the September issue of Prospect Magazine