Get to learn about Paul Brockman and his strange obsession in the short documentary “The Man Behind 55,000 Dresses”. Review after the jump.
Over the course of five decades, Paul Brockman has kept a secret hidden from his family; a secret that would most likely garner sniggers from others. He collects women’s dressers. If Paul had just a few dresses in his collection, people who are outside looking in, would probably call the situation weird or bizarre, but it isn’t just a few dresses. Paul has collected 55,000 of them.
We get to learn about Paul and his obsession in the wonderful short documentary “The Man Behind 55,000 Dresses”. Coming in at just over 16 minutes, director Stacey Stone does an excellent job of keeping the short interesting throughout. She makes sure the film doesn’t poke fun at the subject, and instead delves deep into his past in order to find a possible reason for Paul’s unique obsession. This mean’s travelling back to when Paul was growing up in Germany during World War 2, where he was surrounded by Nazis. We also touch upon his relationship with his mother before he moved to the States.
Paul insists that he started to buy the dresses so his wife would always have something beautiful in this world. That seeing beauty all around him is important in life. Understanding his upbringing, we can start to see where he is coming from.
The film is shot wonderfully by Art Simon, as he captures Paul and his family amongst the huge stash of ball gowns in a warehouse, where Paul is now selling them to the public.
Just like how Paul says he found the beauty in the look and sound of the dresses, we found the beauty in this great little documentary. If given the chance, make sure you watch it. You won’t be disappointed.
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