Spectacular and polarizing

Rating: Null/10 (20 June 2006)

Visually lush, and cinematically breathtaking, Velvet Goldmine is a remarkable film that seems to polarize viewers into two groups. There are those of us who love it - and those who despise it.
Those who love it tend to be fascinated by the beauty of the film as much as by the story. For me, the splendid visuals are only part of the attraction. The real magic of this film comes from the hundreds of cultural references hidden throughout it. As an avid student of both Wilde and Bowie it feels as though this film was made especially for me. It isn't very often that a movie rewards you for being literate.
Those who hate the film usually cite the complex and admittedly hard to follow plot which moves back and forth through time, and passes between several narrators. There are certain types of viewers who need to have things spelled out for them in a linear, easy to follow, fashion - this isn't the film for them.
The other complaint that I hear regularly is that it is an inaccurate biography of David Bowie. I think that the mistake they're making is in expecting a biography. Velvet Goldmine is about Bowie in much the same way that Citizen Kane is about William Randolph Hearst. This isn't a film about the real David Bowie - it is a film about what Bowie symbolized, its about his archetype.