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In New York, fresh journalism
graduate Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway) applies for a job as second assistant to the editor of Runway---the most influential fashion magazine in the industry---Miranda Priestly
(Meryl Streep). Wearing frumpy clothing and presenting samples of her college days writings, Andy is the last thing Miranda would take as far as the editor's first assistant
Emily (Emily Blunt) thinks. But Miranda, true to her unpredictable self, hires Andy on a whim, knowing the latter has zero fashion sense and in fact has not even heard of
Runway at all. When she is with her live-in boyfriend Nate (Adrian Grenier), and her circle of friends, Andy criticizes the shallowness of her co-workers in Runway.
She endures the caprices of Miranda, a most powerful icon in the business, and the snickering of her colleagues because for her, the Runway job which "a million girls would die for" is but a stepping stone to the job she covets---as a real journalist for New York magazine. Wanting to prove her claim as being smart and a fast learner, Andy dutifully fulfills every boring task, from picking up coffee for Miranda on the way to work to hanging her boss' coats day in and day out. One day, Runway's supportive though acerbic gay art director Nigel (Stanley Tucci) gives Andy a makeover, using trendy signature clothes from the magazine's warehouse. The transformation delights Andy who hardly realizes that it is the beginning of her entrapment in the industry's seductions; meanwhile, she becomes an obedient and loyal servant to the dreadful Miranda.
A scathing satire on the fashion industry, The Devil Wears Prada
is based on the novel by Lauren Weisberger which was on the New York Times best-seller list for six months, and has been published in 27 countries. The novel titillated the curiosity of fashion-watchers because it was based on the author's experience as an assistant to Vogue editor Anna Wintour. For quite some time fashionistas would wonder how much of the book was fiction and if the characters were all that fictitious. But trust Streep to give life to even the most fictitious character. In fact, the screen sizzles when she's on, and you wouldn't want to miss a syllable Miranda utters. In the acting department she is perfectly backed up by Blunt, Tucci and Hathaway in that order, and everything else is made more glamorous and believable by David Frankel's direction, Aline Brosh McKenna's script, Florian Ballhaus' cinematography, and yes, the fabulous coats and devil-may-care handbags---by Prada, of course!
Through the movie's impeccable characterization and staccato dialogues, the viewer can see that
while The Devil Wears Prada
paints an alluring picture of an industry that makes goddesses out of clay, the movie actually relentlessly lobs grenades at a narcissistic culture obsessed with style. Then for about one-third of its 106-minute running time, it highlights the value of being true to one's self and friends. There's a strong message especially for young people here who might identify with Andy: in following a dream, one can get easily misled and succumb to temptations that make one forgetful of things that really matter. The movie also indirectly reminds us that the devil never presents himself as ugly. If the devil can come to a man as a sweet young thing wearing nothing, to a woman he may come as a soft-spoken and awe-inspiring career woman wearing
Prada.
(Date Reviewed: 01 September 2006)
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