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"   Photo: Alice Springs  PARIS\u2014Yves Saint Laurent may have turned fashion on its head every six months for decades, but his sentimental life was a different story: He met Pierre Berg\u00E9 aged 20, the two men fell in love and remained together for the following 50 years, all the way up to Saint Laurent&amp;#039;s death in 2008, aged 71. Together they built an empire, found true love and remained loyal to each other up until their last minute. L&amp;#039;Amour Fou, released last night in Paris, is a documentary about the passionate relationship by young French director Pierre Thoretton. The film traces a lifetime spent together through a multitude of archival gems and exclusive interviews. We met up with Mr. Thoretton in his office in Saint-Germain to talk about true love, life and couture. ELLE: L&amp;#039;amour Fou actually talks very little about fashion \u2013 what was the aim of the film?Pierre Thoretton: I don&amp;#039;t come from a fashion background and I didn&amp;#039;t want to focus on this aspect of their lives. What I like is the universal message of their love story \u2014 I want to look how a couple manages to remain in love for 50 years. I think there&amp;#039;s a message in there for everyone. ELLE: The film doesn&amp;#039;t fall into gossip, despite both men being famous...PT: No, I wanted to give them some privacy. Mr Berg\u00E9 tells a lot about their private life, but I didn&amp;#039;t want this film to be like a tabloid newspaper. We live in a brutal and vulgar world as it is and one needs to keeps some form of elegance.   A Young Yves Saint Laurent  ELLE: Did you want to reveal another, less known side of the couple?PT: I guess I was trying to show the amount of pressure they had to deal with. Also, one of them came from particularly privileged background \u2014 Yves Saint Laurent had grown up in Algeria in a very average, middle-class family, and Pierre Berg\u00E9 was the son of a school teacher in the French province \u2014 so when they started collecting art, most of the pieces were actually bought on credit, paid in several times over several years because they couldn&amp;#039;t afford to do it otherwise. ELLE: Did you ever meet Monsieur Saint Laurent?PT: Yes, several times. It&amp;#039;s only when you were face to face with him that you&amp;#039;d realize how much of an icon he was. It was like watching someone step out of a painting, but in reality he was extremely shy. I remember passing him in a hallway once, and he looked at me, opened the two lower buttons of my jacket and said `that&amp;#039;s better&amp;#039;. Since that, I&amp;#039;ve always left these buttons open. ELLE: In the Berg\u00E9-Saint Laurent couple, the highlight was often on Saint-Laurent, he was the creative force and the celebrity, but who is Pierre Berg\u00E9 ?PT: An image I use to describe the couple is that Saint Laurent gave a time to things, he was never late, but Mr Berg\u00E9 was the master watchmaker. Today, now that he no longer has the `YSL&amp;#039; logo attached to him, he has become a more public man, he is coming into the spotlight through his foundation, his auction house and various other projects. He deserves a film about himself really. ELLE: People have asked if the film was a commission by Pierre Berg\u00E9 \u2014 is that true?PT: Not at all. It was based on my sheer interest on the story. I initially wanted to make a documentary about the big art sale that Mr. Berg\u00E9 held, the one of their personal collection after Saint-Laurent&amp;#039;s death, but I then realized the most interesting thing was the love story. But Mr. Berg\u00E9 was extremely supportive and gave me full access to archives.   Yves Saint Lauren in His Atelier  ELLE: What was his reaction when he saw the film?PT: He gave me full access to his archives, but then we agreed he wouldn&amp;#039;t look at the film until it was totally finished. When he saw it, he said he discovered lots of things about himself. When people asked him what those things were, he answered &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;d rather not talk about it because these things don&amp;#039;t make me too happy.&amp;quot; ELLE: And why did you learn about life, and about yourself when making this film?PT: I&amp;#039;m much clearer with myself. Love that lasts isn&amp;#039;t just passion, but also hard work, and building something together with a shared goal. But true love \u2014 well, that&amp;#039;s what we all want. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/news/a4875/lamour-fou-true-love-according-to-yves-saint-laurent-6911/>