Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options

Mother Teresa is quoted as saying, "God doesn't look at how much we do, but with how much love we do it." 

If you want to spend a couple hours getting to know someone whose life and work is permeated with a true and palpable sense of joy, go see the documentary "Bill Cunningham New York." Movie poster

From the trailer:

The "Bill" in question is 80+ New York Times photographer Bill Cunningham. For decades, this Schwinn-riding cultural anthropologist has been obsessively and inventively chronicling fashion trends and high society charity soirées for the Times Style section in his columns "On the Street" and "Evening Hours." Documenting uptown fixtures (Wintour, Tom Wolfe, Brooke Astor, David Rockefeller—who all appear in the film out of their love for Bill), downtown eccentrics and everyone in between, Cunningham's enormous body of work is more reliable than any catwalk as an expression of time, place and individual flair. In turn, Bill Cunningham New York is a delicate, funny and often poignant portrait of a dedicated artist whose only wealth is his own humanity and unassuming grace.

The subject's joy for his work, his egalitarianism, his deep faith, and his pleasure in his vocation is evident throughout the entirety of the film, and it's a joy to watch.

Michael J. O'Loughlin

 

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
Jim McCrea
13 years 9 months ago
But he might be one of those - you know - intrinsically disordered people so - you know - you should not be glorifying him on a Catholic site.  Rather you should be encouraging a 100 year novena for the salvation of is currently immoral but possibly immortal soul - you know?
Molly Roach
13 years 9 months ago
I love Bill Cunningham's work at the NYT and am always cheered by his interest in detail and his engaging reporting.  I will see this movie.
John Norton
13 years 9 months ago
Just home from seeing this wonderful documentary of an artist's life.  Bill C is talented, humble, delightful and self-effacing.  So Irish and so Catholic.

The latest from america

Biden, the nation's second Catholic president, spoke with the pontiff to name him a recipient of the award, the White House said.
Kate Scanlon - OSV NewsJanuary 12, 2025
People accept food distributed from a truck by a Haitian government program in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, April 6, 2020, amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and other faith groups then were urging the Trump administration to support debt relief for poor nations. (CNS photo/Jeanty Junior Augustin, Reuters)
More than 60 Catholic institutions, congregations and individuals have signed a letter imploring Mr. Biden to endorse a new round of assistance to the world’s most indebted nations from the International Monetary Fund.
Kevin ClarkeJanuary 10, 2025
‘Nickel Boys’ preserves Colson Whitehead’s critically acclaimed narrative style while adding cinematic texture that enhances key details of the book.
Grace LenahanJanuary 10, 2025
I have trouble talking about the loss without tearing up, as if the smoke and ash from Los Angeles traveled across the country to find me.
Greg ErlandsonJanuary 10, 2025