Worth viewing many times

Rating: 9/10 (27 February 2012)

Velvet Goldmine is centred on the glam movement of the early 70s, and most of the people and incidents in the film are loosely based on real people and occurrences. It follows the rise and fall of a Ziggy Stardust-type character, Maxwell Demon (Brian Slade), and those around him, and at the same time, the deep influence he had on a fan's life (Arthur Stuart). Brian Slade retires in a hoax and disappears; a decade later, in the conservative, depressing, Cold War Reagan-era the now reporter Arthur is tasked with finding out what happened to Brian Slade, taking him back to his own past, and exposing a cover-up. Judging by many of the comments here, people are a bit confused by this film. It wasn't meant for a mass audience; some background is helpful to appreciate it.
First, to address some criticisms: 1. the time line is confusing – it's not meant to be a linear tale; pay attention, it shifts between past and present 2. not factually accurate – it's not a biography! 3. the costumes aren't accurate – true! the clothing was improved; the costumes play a very important part in the contrast between past and present and the overall development of the story 4. drags a bit in some places, with weird music video sequences – perhaps an homage to some 70s directors? 5. the American scenes were so obviously not in America – so true, this really does detract from the film, but I'm guessing budget was the issue here 6. male sexuality – double-standard here; seems that it's OK to exploit women sexually and show them naked in movies, but not OK to sexually exploit men or show gay sex scenes, even tasteful ones 7. Todd Haynes (director/writer) is American – will be discussed more below Although this film has a cult following among younger people, glam rock was mainly influential to two generations; first, the younger Baby Boomers – glam rockers often name-checked artists, authors, and musicians, so they also helped introduce the arts to their fans; many formed their own bands. Second, Gen Xers were also influenced by this era, as many of their favourite bands were glam rock fans and name-checked their influences. As a result, Gen X music fans bought old David Bowie, Roxy Music, T Rex, etc albums and read the unauthorised biographies of David Bowie. In turn, many of these Gen Xers were also inspired to form bands or get involved in arts and fashion. The Britpop/Cool Britannia era of the 90s owes a lot to glam rock, but its influence has never been limited to the UK. Todd Haynes' country of residence is irrelevant; it's obvious that he was deeply influenced by the era and knows the mythology surrounding it very well.
Helpful context: During Bowie's 'Let's Dance' comeback in the early 80s, he faced much criticism for trying to erase his past image. Bowie did not disappear as in the film, he actually made some extremely influential albums as 'The Thin White Duke,' but then he came back as a whitewashed, corporate type. Fans of his previous work were disappointed, and many journalists of the time commented on this, for example, Neil Tennant, who was writing for 'Smash Hits' (USA 'Star Hits') at the time, and whom Arthur is probably based upon.
It is necessary to be familiar with the glam era and David Bowie to appreciate this film properly. Oscar Wilde is also quoted and paraphrased extensively in the film, and all the major players are shown as carrying or passing on his pin.
Velvet Goldmine has been compared to Citizen Kane in structure, which is correct, but in content, I disagree. It is not really a 'rise and fall' tale, but more of a personal story, about the nature of the image versus the self, how much of one's self should be in one's art, etc, and about stepping out of someone else's shadow and creating one's own legacy.
Not enough good things can be said about the actors; these were challenging roles, but acted beautifully. Also, actors are usually bad at playing musicians, so it was great to see that all of the musicians/pop stars besides Brian Slade and Curt Wild were played by actual pop stars/musicians. Also, Lindsay Kemp (Bowie's acting teacher) has a small role in this. Check out the cast list, it's really impressive.
Here's a cheat sheet of who's based on who: Brian Slade – David Bowie; Curt Wild – Iggy Pop, also sometimes Lou Reed; Arthur Stuart – Neil Tennant, shades of Morrissey; Jack Fairy – composite character, at first loosely based on Marc Bolan, later Thin White Duke Bowie, but not really based on any one person; Jerry Devine – Tony Defries; Shannon – Coco Schwab; Mandy Slade – Angela Bowie; Cecil – Ken Pitt; Polly Small – Patty Smith; Rodney – Rodney Bingenheimer