Velvet Goldmine (1998)
Director: Todd Haynes Cast: Ewan McGregor, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Toni Collette, Christian Bale, Eddie Izzard Screenplay: Todd Haynes, James Lyons Producers: Christine Vachon Runtime: 117 min. US Distribution: Miramax Rated R: sex, nudity, language, drug use
Copyright 1998 Nathaniel R. Atcheson
I don't mind being confused by a movie. Every once in a while, it's fun to watch a confounding film and be forced to put the pieces together at the end. It's not fun, however, when the pieces don't fit together, or when there simply aren't enough pieces. Writer/director Todd Haynes' Velvet Goldmine is a good example of a confusing movie that doesn't give the viewer enough information to understand it completely. Perhaps I should see the film again -- there is a very good chance that I missed something.
But it's not likely that I missed half the movie, even though I kind of feel like I did. Haynes' film, which partially revolves around a British Glam rock star in the mid-70s, does a lot of things right -- mostly in production design and music -- but it's a hollow movie with no emotional center, and almost no coherence whatsoever. It's filled with eclectic flashbacks and elaborate dream sequences, all of which begin and end without the viewer knowing. There's also very little dialogue, and huge interludes of music without any speaking. I'm sure someone could make a case for this approach; it seems to me that Haynes was more interested in capturing the look and feel of the Glam rock era rather than telling a straightforward story about it. The problem is that he didn't give me a reason to care.
The film begins with a truly bizarre prologue, implying that Oscar Wilde was a gift from aliens. It then cuts to 1974, the year in which Glam rock king Brian Slade (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) fakes his own assassination during one of his concerts. In the audience stands Arthur Stuart (Christian Bale), a big fan of Slade. Ten years later, Arthur is a journalist who is sent to find out what really happened to Brian Slade. He interviews many people, including Slade's wife, Mandy (Toni Collette), former lover, Curt Wild (Ewan McGregor), and first manager (Michael Feast). Later, we learn that Slade was a major influence on Arthur's life.
When the film was over, I felt like I had been sitting for days. The film isn't boring, but it's a chore to sit through because it's so confusing. You're always trying to figure out what time period your in, or what characters you're supposed to be watching, or if the scene is a dream sequence. I think there's a way to evoke the Glam rock era without perplexing viewers; I wish Haynes had tried to figure out how. I've got to give him credit, though: the movie is visually and aurally immersive. The sets art big and colorful, the music is very loud, and it's hard to pull your eyes away from the screen. Haynes (whose last feature, Safe, is far more subdued than this) has a good sense of mood, but fails to tell a compelling story about real people. And, as I said, I'm pretty sure he meant to take this approach.
It's not that there aren't any characters -- in fact, some of them are interesting. Rhys-Meyers is perfect as Slade, the effeminate rocker whose face is barely visible through the makeup. The main problem with Slade as a character is that he's just a symbol in the film, and Haynes never makes him into a believable human being. McGregor is good, but his psychotic character is not very pleasant. Collette has a nice role, but she's on hand mostly has a plot device. The only actor who rises above the material is Bale, but even Arthur's connection with Slade -- which is where the emotional grounding is supposed to come from -- isn't well-developed. None of this is helped by the fact that the characters really don't talk to each other -- what little dialogue there is falls prey to the stupefying visuals, and so the story can't emerge from the rubble.
And so what we're left with is a flashy, vapid movie that makes no sense. Velvet Goldmine is an interesting film to a degree -- Haynes' visual presentation is enough to keep anyone watching. It's just that, with iconic characters and an incoherent narrative, the film fails to draw in its audience. I don't think Velvet Goldmine needed to be a mess, even though Haynes clearly wanted it messy. It wouldn't have taken much to straighten this film out -- get rid of the framing device, make the flashbacks more obvious, and maybe add a little dialogue. I have no moral problem with a confusing film like this, but Haynes should have given us enough information to figure it out.
Psychosis Rating: 5/10
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Nathaniel R. Atcheson
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