This documentary did it all for me: it’s an interesting portrait of a fascinating life, there’s a ton of great quotes, and it’s not too long.
In his review, Richard Brody pointed out: “A transcript of Apfel’s remarks in the film would make for a glittering compendium of hard-won practical wisdom and artistic musings.”
On trends and time:
If you hang around long enough, everything comes back.
On being pretty or interesting:
I never felt pretty, I don’t feel pretty now; I’m not a pretty person. I don’t like pretty, so I don’t feel badly. And I think it worked out well, because … when you’re somebody like myself, in order to get around and be attractive, you have to develop something, you have to learn something, and have to do something, so you become a bit more interesting. And when you get older, you get by on that. Anyway, I don’t happen to like pretty. Most of the world is not with me, but I don’t care.
On color:
Color can raise the dead.
On what’s important:
I could never be friends with anybody who wasn’t curious and didn’t have a sense of humor.
Recommended. And a fine addition to my list of documentaries about senior citizen artists.
betzistar
