A strangely unassembled and uninformative melange of scenes that slowly forms its functionless material into something quite stunning.
Questions about how fashion rose in China post cultural revolution, how Pei funded her extremely extravagant venture, how she will keep it profitable and whether Europe and the West will be able to appreciate her as Haute Couture and not just token exoticism are all fascinating questions the film raises and quickly forgets, offering no satisfying answers.
What it does offer is dedicated, intimate access to the designers' everyday, which is more fitting a term for her life than one would expect given her work. She is a slight, quiet personality, stunted i'm sure by relying so much on translation, but her designs are stunning, her style stretching beyond gaudy or garish into something breathtakingly gothic, regal and morbid. I teared up during the final showcase.