Becoming Karl Lagerfeld

From the point of view of production values, Becoming Karl Lagerfeld cannot be faulted. Beautifully designed, costumed and filmed, it is worth your time for those alone. But ultimately it is a depressing tale of mismatched lovers - Lagerfeld, an ageing, sexually frigid German workaholic whose only pleasure is food, and a spoiled, promiscuous French party boy twenty years younger. Karl's attachment to Jacques seemed to be partly parental, and an idealisation of his youth and putative beauty. Jacques clearly had daddy issues and couldn't survive without the ongoing financial support. Yet each in his own way loved the other and was addicted to their dysfunctional relationship. And knowing of Jacques eventual death at 38 of AIDS made it all the sadder..

Daniel Brühl makes an honest effort, but is unfortunately completely miscast as Karl Lagerfeld. Not that he doesn't look like him. The problem is more that he doesn't radiate the slightest charisma. He appears lenient, opportunistic, dull and boring, just the contrary of the real Karl Lagerfeld. The characters around him are much more interesting and way more colorful. Maybe that's why the makers decided to edit him out of the show, more or less. They must have realized what a terrible mistake they made and decided to focus the show on the more interesting side characters.

That could put a real dent in his career.

They should have renamed the show.

As many people already said here - it's just a scratch on the surface, that's not about Karl it's about Jacques,...

I agree, it's just a scratch on the surface, but it's not a mistake, it's just a different perspective on Karl's life. Maybe it was different, maybe not, but who knows?

As his Daniel said - He never lost touch with the pulse. A time of revolution, of sexual liberation and then there's that anachronistic lement to it because Karl Lagerfeld very often lived in his ntellectual realm and in his fantasy and with the money that he had earned was capable of creating these cerebral worlds, these fairytale paradises, especially for the love of his life. He bought a castle and everything within the castle had to be perfect down to the candles. To play someone who does that with so much dedication and obsession and precision was fascinating.

I really like the way of acting, Daniel is experienced actor and great choice for Karl. Théodore is same age as me, he exactly knew, what to do and I do not agree with others, his acting may be different, but not childish or boring. Visuals are great, so don't judge a book by it's cover and give it a try.

Karl Lagerfeld was an enigma and an immense talent who led a breathtaking life. 2024 is the year of big fashion series: after the fantastic Balenciaga and the unwatchable The new look (Binoche as Chanel was the only highlight and Apple's decision to have Australian and American actors play French characters in English is unforgivable), Becoming Karl Lagerfeld is another huge success for Hulu/ Disney. The series only focuses on Karl's early years as the designer for hire and his relationship with Jaques de Bascher in the 70s. He was already quite successful designing for the Fendi sisters, Chloe, Jourdan etc. But these were formative years before climbing Chanel's throne in the 80s. The series is excellent, witty, sexy, exciting and so so good. Highly recommended and hats off to Daniel Brühl for pulling this off!

I randomly watched this series with no expectations. I had watched a documentary about Lagerfeld, and found he was an interesting character. Anyway this series is a really easy watch and I found myself binge watching it. I have really enjoyed the era, the scenery and costume design, it's a lot of fun. I think the storyline and the weaving of the character relationships is so intriguing and really well done. I feel it has been done tastefully and with respect. I haven't had something to watch like this in a while, that wasn't too stressful or draining. If you want a watchable programme that will keep you entertained, check it out. It's fun, emotional, and interesting.