Velvet Goldmine (1998)

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Directed by Todd Haynes.

Starring Christian Bale, Toni Collette, Ewan McGregor, Eddie Izzard, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers.

At the 1998 Cannes Film Festival, American independent director Todd Haynes (Safe) received the "Artistic Achievement" award for this re-creation of the UK glam rock scene of the early '70s. Glam rock star Brian Slade (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), who does a character named Maxwell Demon, predicts his own death onstage. As per his prediction, this happens, but when the killing is exposed as a hoax, it marks the end of Slade's stardom. A decade later, in 1984, Brit reporter and former Slade fan Arthur Stuart (Christian Bale), who witnesses the hoax murder, gets the assignment to do a "Whatever Happened To..?" article, and the film's plot suddenly goes into a prismatic Citizen Kane mode, reflecting various angles on Slade's life and career. Arthur visits the wheelchair-bound Cecil (Michael Feast), who discovered Slade, and then tracks Slade through his early life and his initial encounter with outrageous, maniacal American singer Curt Wild (Ewan McGregor). Slade's rise begins as manager Jerry Divine (Brit comedian Eddie Izzard) moves in to take over the performer's career. Ex-wife Mandy Slade (Toni Collette), interviewed by Arthur in a dimly lit nightclub, has memories going back to their initial 1969 Sombrero Club encounter. Their marriage paralleled his Bowie-like ascent to fame as an innovative, bisexual rock star pushing the limits. Idolized by teens, Slade teamed up for a while with the drug-addicted Wild. Eventually, the marriage of Mandy and Slade comes to an end, and she hasn't seen him in seven years when she's interviewed by Arthur. The soundtrack features vintage music by Bryan Ferry, Lou Reed and Brian Eno, plus new tunes. Some background on the making of Velvet Goldmine is documented in producer Christine Vachon's book Shooting to Kill: How an Independent Producer Blasts Through the Barriers to Make Movies That Matter (Avon, 1998) by Vachon with Slate film critic David Edelstein. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

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Reviews and discussions

SXSW Review: Rainbow Around the ...
by SpoutBlog in SpoutBlog on spout.com

hasn't rated it.

Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"Rock musicals about rock stars are almost as tiring as independent films about independent filmmakers. They’re too self-involved and too self-satisfying, and they typically have nothing for an objective viewer to grab hold of. But at least with rock musicals, if the audience can dig the music, they can maybe dig the movie, too. This has been the case, for me at least, with such films as Velvet Goldmine and Hedwig and the Angry Inch, neither of which I would have been so into were it not for their excellent glam rock soundtracks. And now the same goes for Rainbow Around the Sun, a neat little low-budget musical fantasy, which interestingly enough also has a touch of glam in its songs, about a very cliché band leader and his very cliché drinking problem and his very cliché story of heartbreak. Here, more than the songs, though, it’s the musical numbers, many of which work on their own as great music videos, that really kept me interested. That tired tale of the troubled, tortured art ... " [More]

NYFF- HBO Directors Dialogue: T ...
by thefilmpanelnotetaker in thefilmpanelnotetaker Blog

hasn't rated it.

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"45th New York Film FestivalHBO Directors Dialogue: Todd HaynesOctober 6, 2007Todd Haynes in New York Film Fesival's Green Room for I'm Not There. Photo Credit: C.J.ContinoSaturday at the New York Film Festival, Village Voice film critic J. Hoberman conducted an HBO Directors Dialogues with filmmaker Todd Haynes whose new film, I???m Not There, premiered at the festival a few days earlier. I was at the premiere and took notes at the Q&A, and thought it would be a good complement to take additional notes at the Directors Dialogue to get further insights from Haynes on his directing styles and choices for I???m Not There and his other bodies of work. What follows are highlights of the discussion and questions and answers from the audience.Hoberman opened by saying ???the greatest pleasure a film journalist can have is to come across a movie you never heard of from someone unknown and to have the privilege to write about it first 20 years ago.??? The film refers to was Haynes??? 1987 s ... " [More]

Re: Top Five Movies About Music
by schulen in Top 5

loved it.

"Almost Famous - Philip Seymour Hoffman, explaining the relation of the music geek/journalist to the bands they revere is the moment that this film grows from an excellent comming-of-age story in to a profound and incrediby insightful examination of pop music, people who make pop music, and people who love pop music. Heartworn Highways - Country music was the original punk rock. it was honesty, gritty, rebellious, and aimed at the lowly. Then, it became the most commercially consistent and artistictically-lifeless genre of music not sung by earnest teenage boys. However, country as country was still exists. Rebranned as Americana or another half-dozen other names, there is a thriving community of artists blending folk, Hank Williams era country, and Buddy Holly era rock'n'roll, in to music too twangy for most, and too honest for CMT. This film follows some of the first, and some of the best, very early in their careers. If Townes Van Zandt's sing-along with his elderly ... " [More]

Re: Top five favorite Soundtracks
by lbenschwartz in Best Movie Soundtracks

hasn't rated it.

"1. Velvet Goldmine - Classic case of a fantastic soundtrack making a good movie great... Vintage Brian Eno, Roxy Music and Lou Reed mixed with fantastic covers by Shudder to Think, Placebo and a dead-on Stooges cover by Ewan McGreggor. 2. Amateur - Hal Hartley is known for creating a lot of the music for his own movies, but this gem from the mid-1990s is who's who of that decade's indie rock: My Bloody Valentine, PJ Harvey, Pavement, Liz Phair, Bettie Severt, Jesus Lizard, Red House Painters and Yo La Tango. 3. Dream with the Fishes - Little seen indie flick from the 90s with mostly little known singer-songwriter types: Nick Drake (pre-VW ad exposure), Jeremy Toback, Greg Brown, Grandaddy, Ween and a classical Waterboys tune. Very solid, satisfying album. 4. Dazed and Confused - Has there ever been a better collection of 70's super-rock? 5. Purple Rain - Much, much more than a soundtrack, one of the greatest albums ever made. " [More]

Queer Musicians + Film = ?
by unemployedwaif in Queer Cinema

liked it.

"The addition of our talented new member nathan503 got me to thinking about representations of queer musicians and how they are portrayed and/or their music is used in film.For me, at least what is coming to mind at this moment, are the glam rockers; specifically Todd Haynes' Velvet Goldmine and John Cameron Mitchell's Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Both films are written and directed by gay men about queer musicians and miraculously succeed at telling poignant, engaging stories that don't fall victim to the abundance of stereotypical cliches that so many others do.Within recent years, a number of films have begun to delve into the lives of rather famous musicians of the past whose queer sensibilities have only recently come to light. Irwin Winkler's De-Lovely which chronicles the life of Cole Porter, and Atom Egoyan's Where The Truth Lies. Unfortunately, due to the (homophobic) powers that be, the films tended to skim the surface of this aspect of their lives and ul ... " [More]

Review by All Movie Guide

All Movie Guide

is neutral about it.

A richly detailed, vibrant examination of the 1970s glam rock scene, Todd Haynes' colorful follow-up to his acclaimed 1995 film Safe is slightly more accommodating to mainstream audiences, but retains his trademark allegorical singularity and almost-Kubrickian chilliness. The film is cast to perfection, with Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Ewan McGregor completely convincing as sullen, wayward rock stars, and Christian Bale's reporter character a most sympathetic figure. Interestingly, Bale's subplot plays as an homage to Orson Welles' landmark 1941 masterwork Citizen Kane, its overlapping narrative combining the past with the present in an attempt to investigate the film's central mystery. An unfortunate misfire in theaters, where it never connected with its core audience, Haynes' film is a terrific example of uncompromised independent filmmaking, recalling the days of Ken Russell and Richard Lester more than anyone. The film was also a surprise Oscar nominee for its exceptional costume design by Sandy Powell, who ended up winning the prize that year for the more audience-friendly Shakespeare in Love. ~ Jason Clark, All Movie Guide

Tags: drugs , bisexuality , glam-rock , glitter , career
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