"The director Brett Ratner cozied up to the Trumps after spending years in movie-biz exile amid multiple allegations of sexual harassment and assault. (He has denied wrongdoing.) For his comeback, he has summoned all the artistic ambition of a local Realtor who just got a drone. Backed by the familiar chords of "Gimme Shelter," the opening scene proposes a documentarian's corollary to the rule about restaurants with a view: the spendier the soundtrack, the flatter the film."
"Certainly, one would expect the film to offer a Melania-friendly take, given that Melania, an executive producer, had creative control, and that Amazon paid a record-breaking forty million dollars-twenty-eight of which Melania reportedly pocketed-in a rights deal that might have been brokered by Boss Tweed. (The second-highest bid, from Disney, came in at about twenty-six million dollars lower.) Before long, we've left advertising behind for pure propaganda."
The documentary opens with slick, commercial-style cinematography over Mar-a-Lago and a snakeskin stiletto emerging from an S.U.V., establishing a focus on glamour rather than substance. The film repeatedly emphasizes a shoe motif and staged, solitary tableaux of Melania, often scored by familiar rock chords. Director Brett Ratner, returning after years in movie-biz exile amid allegations, supplies glossy visuals likened to drone realtor footage. Melania served as an executive producer with creative control, and Amazon paid a record $40 million for rights, reportedly sending $28 million to Melania while Disney's bid trailed by roughly $26 million. The result reads as promotional and propagandistic, privileging image over insight.
Read at The New Yorker
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