From KCRW in Santa Monica, this is The Treatment.

Welcome to The Treatment. I'm Elvis Mitchell. You can also hear this show at KCRW.com.

In the new film Valentino, The Last Emperor, director Matt Turnauer, who is also a

Vanity Fair contributor, gives us a whole new look at the inside of the life of designer and

Coturier Valentino. Matt, thanks for doing this first of all. Thank you for having me.

It really is like something you see in the Weather Channel almost, like you're tracking this

force of nature and the kind of either good or bad fronts he leaves as he goes

through a room or through a design scheme or whatever.

You know, he's one of those people that changes the climate when he enters a room, you know.

And when we found, after filming him, looking at Daly's at the very beginning that he is a movie star

because he has that inner glow.

You wouldn't suspect it if you knew him because he's sort of, you know, he's got a tan

Euro demeanor about him, the aviator glasses and the perfectly cinched suit.

And he, to the American eye, might come off as sort of almost a comic, unintentionally comic figure.

But when he's on screen, it's like a commanding

presence. And also, you know, he survived also in the toughest business for 50 years, fashion. And he

always really was on top. The film actually catches him at the point where it seems like he may be

at the end of his career. But as the film shows, he's definitely not the end of his powers.

Yeah. I mean, this is a third act.

You know, we were chiming into the third act.

And you mentioned some of the pieces I've written for Vanity Fair.

I write about people in the third act a lot.

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