Velvet Goldmine is a Wild Ride

Todd Haynes’ film, “Velvet Goldmine,” is a loud, glitz-filled, rollercoaster full of free loving, girthy live shows, and more story line than most minds can handle. Parallels of this movie and the lives of David Bowie and Iggy Pop are clear for those who are familiar; but for those who are not this film can easily become too much too quickly.
These viewers become unfortunate casualties to too much happening in the plot, unfortunate because the artistic direction in this film is something worth seeing. The concert-scenes pop and the musical score is a work within itself.
The movie begins with the hoax-killing of rock-star Brian Slade, played by James Lyons. From there the plot tries to take on all-too-much at once. The story line tries to delve into Slade’s relationship with American-rocker Curt Wild, played by Ewan McGregor; as well as with many other of his personal relationships.
All the while we have Christian Bale playing the character of Arthur Stuart, an investigative journalist trying to uncover the truth behind the hoax-death of his former favorite rock star. Still following? Good, now you have to deal with confusing voice-over that lends itself to the style of an old-timey detective flick, mixed with unexplained interviews between Stuart and people of Slade’s past, wrapped in a plethora of flash-back scenes that leave the audience visually and mentally disoriented.
The unfortunate fact of this effect is it takes away from some great aspects of the movie. The sound track, for example, is a wonderful mix of heavy hitters from the era that put us in the period. The effect of this soundtrack combines with the use of pseudo-news scenes and rocking live concert scenes that make the world of the sexual revolution more relatable to the audience. Brian Eno, Lou Reed, and Steve Harley round out an exceptional soundtrack that really draws you to the movie despite the confusing plot’s attempt to boot you out.
Other pluses to the movie are its artistic direction. The costumes are elaborate in this film; hat’s off to Sandy Powell for that. These, mixed with the elaborate sets of Slade’s sex palaces work to connect you to the glamorous and outrageous world of Slade’s glam rock.
Furthermore, the acting job by all of the big-names in the film are great. Ewan McGregor and James Lyons actually have some great on-screen chemistry and the acting of the entire cast works to bring this otherwise unfamiliar world to life. These performances work with the above-mentioned scenes of fake news-casts to make this world real.
Overall, the good aspects of this movie out way the bad. Word of caution to the wise, though: do some research before you go see this film. With a little extra scope into what this movie is actually about you are free to focus in on the outstanding art-direction in this movie.



My target audience are people who have not seen this movie before and, specifically, people who are not too familiar with David Bowie's Life