Film public relations specialist turned director Ry Levey hits the cinephile sweet spot with his documentary Boutique: To Preserve And Collect. The movie is about the rise of boutique home video labels such as Criterion, Arrow, and Vinegar Syndrome. Through interviews with collectors, industry insiders, and historians, Levey traces the early years of bootleg VHS being sold out of the back of magazines to how these companies are beloved by cinephiles the world over.
The adoration and admiration each interviewee has for motion pictures, and these labels that put out crazy special editions are keenly felt from the first scene to the last. Those interviewed include Lizzie Borden, Peter Kuplowsky, Carolyn Mauricette, and Wes Hurley, to name a few. A few of the actors in some of the titles that were given the special edition treatment are amazed that a goofy horror film decades old is given such a second life. Reactions like that come from Lisa Langlois and others and are what makes the documentary so endearing.
“…the rise of boutique home video labels such as Criterion, Arrow, and Vinegar Syndrome.”
While it is a simple talking heads documentary, the filmmaker firmly establishes cinema history as being the crux of all that these labels do. Something Weird is talked about extensively, and it is fascinating. Discovering the insane laserdiscs Criterion was putting out is worth watching this all by itself. There’s not a moment that goes by that isn’t surprising, shocking, or just plain cool as the subjects go off about why X title deserves a special edition or what it meant that the title got one.
Maybe Boutique: To Preserve And Collect will only appeal to film nerds and movie buffs, but that is okay. The flick uses its interviewees’ vast knowledge to leave no critical moment on the table. The pacing is quick, and nothing feels repetitious. This is a love letter to physical media by a cinephile for cinephiles.
"…a love letter to physical media by a cinephile for cinephiles."
