2VG: Fade Away Never

Rating: 10/10 (28 July 2007)

Todd Haynes' film, Velvet Goldmine, is a masterful tribute/love letter to the glam/glitter rock movement of the 1970s. All the audience really knows of Velvet Goldmine's idols is what any fan would know. We experience the story through interviews and musical performances and that astoundingly provides us with enough information. It's the aesthetic of "man's life is his image"that superficial beauty expressed through art reveals so much more than at first glance. Haynes (Far From Heaven, I'm Not There) has a passion for music and its artists that shows: his earlier short film, Superstar, about Karen Carpenter, acted by an-all Barbie and Ken cast, is referenced in Velvet Goldmine in one of my favorite scenes in which two young girls play with Brian Slade and Curt Wild Kens while T-Rex's "Diamond Meadows" spins on their record player. In Velvet Goldmine, a top-notch, well-chosen cast acts out the principle characters and stories here wonderfully.
Glam rock superstar, Brian Slade (based on David Bowie), is played by Jonathan Rhys Meyers ("The Tudors," Elvis, Match Point) to perfection with his thin, effeminate looks and swaggering. Haynes has great fun with the notion that there was a time in popular culture history that androgyny and bisexuality were seen as a cool fad. Velvet Goldmine's main story is Brian Slade's rise and fall from fame. Slade's cold and calculating ways accumulate in the hoax of his own assassinationthe ultimate symbol for the death of glam rock. His most sympathetic side is revealed during his affair and subsequent break-up with punk rocker Curt Wild.
Ewan McGregor (Trainspotting, Star Wars Prequels, The Island) plays Curt Wild by feverishly emulating Iggy Pop--although the history of Wild having electroshock therapy to cure his homosexual leanings is straight from the life of rock icon Lou Reed. McGregor's performance of "T.V. Eye" and "Gimme Danger" are startling and unforgettable. Both Rhys Meyers and McGregor do their own singing for their characters. Upon seeing Wild's performance, Slade is obviously envious of him and attracted to himinspired, Slade takes his music to the next level. On his first trip to America, Slade doesn't forget about Wild and meets him. Slade and his entourage go to a club where Polly Smalls (Donna Matthews and Teenage Fanclub) performs in a very Suzi Quatro way. Wild sits in the corner, obviously strung out on heroinall the while Mandy Slade, Brian's wife, laughs. But Slade gets Wild a music contractand Slade becomes Wild's new "main man." Later Mandy describes Slade's and Wild's relationship as being marketed as some sort of new Tracy and Hepburn. Mandy and Brian become more estranged.
Toni Collette (Muriel's Wedding, In Her Shoes, Little Miss Sunshine) is perfectly cast as the love-her-or-hate-her Mandy. Pay close attention to her accent: She is not doing it badly--here is an Aussie doing an accent of an American woman who would often speak in a faux English accent. Brilliant. Mandy goes from being an audacious woman to a cynical woman. Ten years later her broken marriage is the only interest anybody has in her as rock journalist Arthur Stuart interviews her in a bar.
Another one of the three gorgeous male leads, Christian Bale (American Psycho, Batman Begins, Rescue Dawn), plays glam rock fan/rock journalist Arthur Stuart. Although his part seems to exist as a frame tale, he's the most effective and relatable character in Velvet Goldmine. The subplot of Arthur is one of the most unique coming out stories about being a closeted homosexual along with being a closeted glam fan. In his bedroom, teen Arthur listens to his Maxwell Demon album while staring at the seductive gatefold picture of a semi-nude Slade. Does he want him? Or does he want to be him? Bale's acting here is a revelationhe reveals so much through those eyes and facial expressions. He also has a major transition: he goes from a wide-eyed, vulnerable, and fan-obsessed teenager to a downcast-eyed, jaded, and wiser adult. Much to his chagrin, the adult Arthur is given the assignment of finding out whatever happened to Brian Slade. He clearly wants to forget his past, but is it from embarrassment of youthful fanaticism, or is it something more? Leaving home because of his sexual orientation and love of glam rock, young Arthur does not have to live vicariously through his idols anymore and can start living his life as he must. After the Death of Glitter Rock concert, young Arthur meets Wildthat leads to a one night stand on the roof top and Arthur's literally taking the place of his superstar idol, Brian Slade, in Wild's heart if just for one night. Adult Arthur overcomes some of his jadedness as he confronts and makes peace with his past. During Tommy Stone's press conference, he asks him about his connection to "bisexual pop singer" Brian Slade"Tommy Stone" being Slade's '80s more commercial reincarnation of himself. Earlier in school, young Arthur scribbles out a sketch of Brian Slade while his teacher reads from Oscar Wilde's Picture of Dorian Gray, which sums up Arthur's experience: "He felt that he had known them all.It seemed that in some mysterious way their lives had been his own."
In Velvet Goldmine there is the theme of the permanence of art. Todd Haynes shows that this musicand this movie--is much more than disposable pop culture, but akin to the works of Oscar Wilde and the movie Citizen Kane, both which he references throughout, and that art is kept alive by the appreciation of it by the fans. Oscar Wilde's emerald pin symbolizes thisas it passes to one artist to another, then to a fan, Arthur. In return Arthur Stuart gives his Tommy Stone press pass to a young eager fan. An old favorite, "2HB," plays on the jukebox, and we see everyone enjoying the music. One person says, "God, I love this song." Velvet Goldmine ends with the final message of the song: "fade away never."