A zany, over-the-top, fun-filled tribute to GLAM

Rating: 8/10 (14 November 1998)

Interestingly enough, early 70s glam rock never took hold in the United States to the degree that the late 70s punk rock scene did. I attribute this phenomenon to our culture's discomfort with sexuality, versus the ease with which it embraces violence. Be that as it may, "Velvet Goldmine" was a raucous journey back to a genre of explosive artist creativity, and its subsequent experimentation with sexual ambiguity. This movie celebrates the artistic and cultural boundary-pushers of the British Glam rock era.
The script is not constrained by some vanilla-flavored formula, but rather multi-layered and rich. There were at least 4 or 5 stories going on, as each character described their own memories of life with the ficticious David Bowie-esque singer, Brian Slade, and the British Glam Rock scene. Frankly, I hoped it would be even more over-the-top and surreal, but I was not disappointed in any case.
Of course the actor portraying Brian Slade studied and successfully reproduced many of Bowie's signature poses and postures, but the audience should not be tricked into believing this is a biography ABOUT Bowie. Another major character not to be confused with the real thing is Curt Wild, as portrayed by Ewan McGregor. While McGregor does not look a thing like Iggy Pop (not skinny enough), his portrayal of Curt Wild was amazing because he really had Iggy's contorted moves down pat.
As to the scenes of untraditional sexual situations (i.e. orgies and same-sex encounters), perhaps it is valuable to remember that the director's tongue-in-cheek attitude toward the majority of the script probably applies to those scenes as well. I am SURE it applied to the outrageously funny scene with the lizard-man and the inflatable dolls!
On a scale of 1 to 10, I give "Velvet Goldmine" an 8.