The delightful new documentary Iris pairs legendary 87-year-old documentarian Albert Maysles (Grey Gardens, Gimme Shelter) with Iris Apfel, the quick-witted, flamboyantly dressed 93-year-old style maven who has had an outsized presence on the New York fashion scene for decades. Much more than a fashion film, the documentary is a story about creativity and how, even in her later years, Iris continues to inspire as a soaring free spirit. Iris’s enthusiasm for life and people is contagious. And despite the abundance of glamour in her current activities, it’s clear that she continues to embrace the values and the work ethic established during her middle-class Queens upbringing during the Great Depression. “I feel lucky to be working,” Iris says in the film. “If you’re lucky enough to do something you love, everything else follows.”
This wildly entertaining film includes many poignant moments between Iris and her 101-year-old husband Carl. The two have been married for 65 years. Sadly, this is one of Albert Maysles’ final stints behind the camera. The award-winning filmmaker died on March 5th. After attending a press conference with the straight-talking Iris Apfel, looking fabulous as always, I sat down for a chat with producers Laura Coxson, Jennifer Ash Rudick, and Rebekah Maysles, the director’s daughter.
Danny Miller: I was surprised to learn that before this film Albert and Iris didn’t know each other at all. You’d think being such legendary figures in New York, they would have run into each other at some point — or at least have been familiar with each other’s work.
Laura Coxson: It is kind of weird when you think about how similarly they lived and work and the fact that New York isn’t really that big a place. But Iris was in the fashion and interior design world and Albert was in the film world. They had never met.
So how did he decide to make a film about her?
It’s funny how many projects just came to him. Like someone called and said, “Hey, the Beatles are coming to town, do you want to film them?” And Albert was like, “Okay. Are they any good?” Or Haskell Wexler calls and says, “There’s this band I know, they’re really cool, do you want to film them?” And he said, “I guess so,” and that becomes Gimme Shelter! Even Grey Gardens started because Lee Radziwill wanted to do a project with him. With this, Jennifer wrote us a letter at Maysles Films out of the blue. She said she thought Iris would be a fun subject and asked us to meet with her.
Wow, so going into that meeting there was no guarantee that Albert would want to do the film.
Rebekah Maysles: Oh, totally. But he said that from the moment he met her, he was completely interested. They just got along really well right from the start.
Jennifer Ash Rudick: I was sitting across from them at that meeting and you could feel this energy between them. I think I have a thousand photos of them that I took during the filming, I just couldn’t help it, they were so great together!
Laura: Yeah, Sean Price Williams, one of our camera guys, said he loved filming the two of them together. We kept most of that out of the film because Albert didn’t really want to be seen or heard.
You can see that he is reluctant to be part of the story but those moments where Iris and Albert interact are so wonderful. And in Grey Gardens, too, Albert and his brother David really became important characters in a way.
Rebekah: It’s true, although he was always quite sensitive about that. On the other hand, he hated when people said that he was like “a fly on the wall” in his work. He didn’t feel like a fly on the wall at all!
Unless it was an extremely active and engaged fly!
Laura: More like a spirit whose presence is kind of guiding what’s happening. Albert was incredibly focused when he worked. He’d just set up shop and do his thing. He’d never even stop to eat when he was “in the zone.”
Jennifer: I remember early on when we were shooting a party at the Four Seasons in New York and Albert’s jacket caught on fire.
Oh my God!
Laura: We shot a bunch of parties at the beginning that didn’t really work for the film, he kind of hated filming parties, but it helped Iris and Albert get to know each other. I got separated from them at this one party at the Four Seasons and I was looking for them when I suddenly smelled smoke. Albert was shooting Iris near this pool that was surrounded by these little tea lights and the back of his jacket caught on fire — he was so in the zone he didn’t even notice it! That jacket had a big hole in it but he kept wearing it throughout the shoot.
He was unique in that he really seemed to love his subjects in a way that was so endearing while still never hesitating to show many sides of their personalities.
He always called the subjects of his films his friends. He thought making a film was about building relationships. His mother always told him that there was good in everybody and he really believed that. A lot of his filmmaking was about his search to find those things — and he always had faith that he would.
Rebekah: He wanted to humanize anyone who was in front of his camera. I believe that came truly from his heart — he just loved people and he wanted to understand them.
That comes across so clearly in all of his work. Which is why I was so outraged when people accused him of exploiting the Beales in Grey Gardens.
Laura: Albert really bristled at that. I remember when some mental illness conference approached him about using the film to show how crazy the women were. He said no way, that they weren’t crazy at all. And we’ve seen how people have responded to them in so many ways over the last 40 years.
I think most people appreciate what that film is really about.
The review by Albert Goodman in the New York Times back then was really cruel. It basically said why would anyone want to watch these two women’s sagging flesh! Edie Beale wrote a beautiful letter to the editor saying, “Look, I am a strong woman, I know what I’m doing, I really wanted to do this film and how dare you talk about not wanting to see my sagging flesh!” But they wouldn’t publish it in the paper.
Isn’t that letter reprinted in your great book about Grey Gardens, Rebekah?
Rebekah: Yes, my dad was so mad that the New York Times wouldn’t publish it so he really wanted that in the book! But I think he handled criticism really well because he was always so true to himself. He really believed in what he was doing and was just a very kind and thoughtful person.
I’ve heard Iris say in interviews that the way to stay so vibrant and interesting at her age is to stay interested in others. That definitely defines Albert Maysles, too.
Laura: Totally. They were very alike in that way.
Given what a public figure Iris has become, I was surprised to hear that she was reluctant to be the subject of the film at first.
Rebekah: Wouldn’t you be reluctant?
Probably not if I were Iris Apfel and Albert Maysles wanted to make a film about me!
Jennifer: But remember, she wasn’t familiar with his films, and she’s always been pretty controlling about her aesthetic, about all of the work that she does. She doesn’t even have an assistant, she just keeps everything in her head. For someone like that to give control over to a filmmaker is putting that person in a very vulnerable position. Iris really had to get to know Albert and learn to trust him. That took a long time!
Laura: We spent four years working on the film while the two of them got closer and closer. And there were times when it was a real battle. At first Iris wanted to be in the editing room which, of course, Albert didn’t want. She didn’t really understand the process of making a film. And she was so used to controlling every aspect of her life.
Jennifer: We slowly chipped away over the years because we weren’t interested in just showing the façade or doing some kind of vanity piece.
So this was a pretty risky shoot. You were filming with all these people involved without really knowing whether you’d have a film at the end.
Laura: Yes, it was totally risky — but many films are! To be honest, I’m shocked that we’re sitting here talking about this wonderful film that is completed — it was a struggle the whole way through, including the financing.
Rebekah: People outside of the film industry think that for someone with my father’s reputation, he could just pick up the phone and people would throw money at him. But it was never like that, it was always an uphill battle. This one was just meant to be!
I have to tell you that I know nothing whatsoever about fashion and don’t give a damn about that world and yet I was completely riveted by this film. I found Iris to be inspiring in so many ways that had nothing to do with fashion or style.
Laura: Oh, I love when guys who don’t think they’ll have any connection to this film are moved by it. Iris Apfel and Albert Maysles are really remarkable human beings. I think there’s something in this movie for everyone.