Audience: Kalamazoo Gazette Readers
As a long, pale, billowing scarf slowly morphs into the smoke gathering in a poorly lit club, the underground of a sexual awakening is introduced. Every turn brings a new face complete with sparkling blue eye shadow and cheeks highlighted with soft pink blush. This one scene captures the essence of “Velvet Goldmine.” This film is vivid and stunning, however it is too over the top and shocking to fully enjoy.
“Velvet Goldmine” follows the ups and downs of the life of Brian Slade. In this film Slades’ life loosely mirrors the lives of British pop star David Bowie and is filled with Oscar Wilde quotes. The plot revolves around Slade, Curt Wild, an American rock artist, and Arthur Stuart, a journalist attempting to solve the possibly staged death of Slade.
Jonathan Rhys Meyers is completely believable as the bisexual “glam rock” superstar Brian Slade. Decked out in bright colored, wild outfits, Mr. Meyers adopts the persona of an over the top rocker quite easily. Ewan McGregor stars as Slades’ love interest, Curt Wild. Mr. McGregor, a native of Scotland, is amazingly crass as a stereotypical American rock star, even flashing a large crowd at his public concert. Both Mr. Meyers and Mr. McGregor, quite impressively, contribute their own vocals to the multiple engaging rock songs in this film.
Christian Bale stars as the journalist assigned to explore the supposed death of Brian Slade. He does this in a series of flashbacks in which he relives his boyhood days as a “glitter kid”. Mr. Bale portrays a sexually confused boy coming of age flawlessly. His facial expressions alone convey his distress and turmoil.
While Mr. Meyers, Mr. McGregor and Mr. Bale were thoroughly impressive, Toni Collette, who played Brian Slades’ wife Mandy, had to stretch to reach their level. With her British accent fading in and out throughout the film, it was hard to focus on her acting capabilities. Although she does portray the scorned rockers’ wife well, it was hard to get past the presence and lack of an accent.
One of the most magical and dramatic elements of “Velvet Goldmine” is the stark contrast between loud rock and roll scenes and utter silence. This use of noise, and lack thereof, heightens the intense emotions portrayed throughout the film. The songs in the film were easy listening songs in which foot tapping or head bobbing is almost required.
Todd Haynes directed “Velvet Goldmine”, the script of which was also written by Haynes and James Lyons. Haynes previous films, including “Poison” and most recently “Safe”, were as controversial as this film will prove to be. Those who respect the arts will have difficulty denying the amazingly abstract and beautiful film that Haynes created, but it is a bit too bizarre to enjoy without a slight feeling of shock.
With outstanding acting and music, brilliant colors and exciting scenery, it is easy to appreciate “Velvet Goldmine” in some way. However, the film contained an abundance of sensitive material that will make even the most light-hearted people blush.
your lede is engaging and detailed. The image of the scarf morphing into smoke is captivating. Also, your thesis is very apparent, helping to establish your opinion from the very beginning of your review.
ReplyDeleteYour critique of the acting was thorough. The characters in this film certainly demand a lot of attention, and you effectively give the reader a general idea of who they are without giving too much away.
I also like that you touch on other aspects of the film, such as the music and the script. The line "this use of noise, and lack thereof, heightens the intense emotions portrayed throughout the film," is so true.
Overall, this is a review that has authority and gives the reader a good idea about several aspects of the film, good job!