“We have much to celebrate. But we have much to mourn as well. I would like you all to help me with something. This next song is dedicated to those who have lost someone to the war. If you are in mourning for a loved one, would you please stand?”
Titled “Give Your Heart and Soul to Me,” Episode 5 of “The New Look” begins with Christian Dior (Ben Mendelsohn) attending a concert. The singer asks those in the audience to stand up if they’ve lost someone to the war, so Christian remains seated, reflecting his steadfast belief that his younger sister Catherine must have survived Nazi camps and will return home. Meanwhile, Coco Chanel (Juliette Binoche) is in Switzerland, where she discovers something startling related to her business and must now solve several new problems that have arisen for her.
This edition unfolded at a much slower pace than the others, occasionally feeling dull. However, it did contain some very tense and somber scenes that poignantly depicted various shades of hope, despair, pain, and heartbreak that accompany the aftermath of a war. A dramatic cinematic sequence in the second half of the episode was the highlight of this edition, where a hall full of strangers is gathered with flowers in their hands, waiting to reunite with their loved ones who are said to have returned to France from Germany’s Nazi camps. The crowd bursts into an impromptu patriotic song while they wait for the survivors, but they are stunned into silence when they catch a glimpse of the emaciated survivors, who walk in a daze, just shells of what they were before the war caught up with them. It is a heart-rending, haunting scene.
When I shared my review for the first three episodes of “The New Look” online, some viewers complained about the accents, particularly that of Ben Mendelsohn’s as Christian Dior. Until then, I hadn’t even given the accents a second thought, and while Mendelsohn’s fake accent might bother some viewers, it still doesn’t dilute his emotionally complex performance as Dior. He is both pitiable and admirable as a designer who is gives French couture a fresh lease of life while battling a severe existential crisis over his sister’s unknown fate.
With five more episodes to go, it’s a bit unclear how the creators intend to sustain viewer interest, as the story already seems to be reaching a point where another episode or two should be sufficient to wrap things up. However, the focus has predominantly been on how the war impacts the lives of Christian Dior and Coco Chanel in distinct ways up to this point. Therefore, there’s still ample ground to cover regarding how Dior rises to superstardom in the fashion world. Episode five ends with a chillingly sad scene, but it’s also supposed to be hopeful in tone. It’s going to be a new era from Dior now on.
You can watch “The New Look” on Apple TV+
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