Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on May 2012

This cheerful hagiography on the 20th century’s most influential hairstylist offers glimpses into his compelling life, from a Dickensian childhood in a Jewish orphanage, through wartime London, a sojourn in Israel, then swinging London, to finally being in the right place at the right time with the right entrepreneurial attitude and, most importantly, the right, Bauhaus-inspired, geometrical haircuts. I learned stuff, but the upbeat, infomercial approach, superficial even for a fashion flick, made me wish for something deeper about this undeniably inspirational man. Sassoon died on May 9 at 84.