Lauren Greenfield was following Donatella Versace for a project about
wealth and consumerism when she met Jackie Siegel, the woman behind
the “Queen of Versailles.”
“I was at one of Donatella’s parties when Jackie told me about
building the biggest house in America. And that really hooked me,
because I was interested in the connection between the American dream
and home ownership.”
In this eye-opening documentary film, Greenfield follows timeshare
king David Siegel, his wife Jackie and their kids, for three years.
“When we started filming [in April 2009], even though it was after the
market crash, these were people I thought would never be affected.
These are billionaires who have layers and layers of insulation.” That
notion wasn’t disabused until 2010 during her 4th trip filming the
family.
Even though the family had spent millions building their 90,000 square-foot dream home — modeled after the palatial French chateau Versailles — it suddenly had to be placed on the market before being finished.
“I was completely surprised. David said the banks forced them to do
it. He also told me for the first time that he had put all their money
into the business and signed personally for all their business loans.
He’d never put anything aside.”
That’s when Greenfield realized the similarities in what people all
over the world were going through. She has photographed cities in California and Nevada hit hard by foreclosures, and also shot the market crash in Dubai.
“They were a supersized version of what so many people had gone
through. Their story was kind of an allegory for the overreaching of
America.”
Greenfield interviews a limo driver named Cliff, who also caught the
speculative bug and ended up buying 19 properties he then lost while
filing for bankruptcy. “This echoed David’s story about the addictive
quality of consumerism.”
She also speaks to David’s adopted niece, who lives with them. She
came from poverty and always thought that with wealth like this, she’d be happy every day. But she tells Greenfield she wanted more and more after she moved in.
There is one particular scene in which Greenfield follows Jackie to a
shopping trip at Walmart that really highlights this point.
“I expected to film a modest Christmas shopping trip. This was in 2010
when things were really tough for the family. And she just seems to
shop endlessly.”
A few weeks ago, Greenfield had the opportunity to show the film to
the U.S. Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan.
“The secretary told me that for him, the film really is about value. And about what is enough. What is too much? When are we satisfied?” That’s the moral of the story, she says.
Greenfield hopes the film provokes a conversation about lessons we can
learn from the crash. Like David told her during the film, “We have to
get back to reality and live within our means.”
“Queen of Versailles” opened in the District on July 27.
