Velvet Goldmine

Plot synopsis:
Set in a dystopian, grey version of 1984, gay British journalist Arthur Stuart is writing an article about the withdrawal from public life of 1970s bisexual glam rock star Brian Slade, and is interviewing those who had a part in the entertainer's career. As each person recalls their thoughts, it becomes the introduction of the vignette for that particular segment in Slade's personal and professional life.
Part of the story involves Stuart's family's reaction to his sexuality, and how the gay and bisexual glam rock stars and music scene gave him the strength to come out. Rock shows, fashion, and rock journalism all play a role in showing the youth culture of 1970s Britain, as well as the gay culture of the time.
Near the beginning of his career, Slade is married to Mandy. But when he comes to the United States, he seeks out gay American rock star Curt Wild and they become involved in each other's lives on a personal and creative level.
The vignettes show both Wild and Slade becoming increasingly difficult to work with as they become more famous. Wild and Slade, and other main characters, suffer breakdowns in both their personal and professional relationships. Eventually, Slade's career ends following the critical and fan backlash from his on-stage publicity stunt where he faked his own murder.
As he gets closer to the truth of where Brian Slade is now, Stuart is told by his publisher that the story is no longer of public interest, and Stuart has now been assigned to the Tommy Stone tour. But Stuart is obsessed and continues searching out Slade. We discover that Stuart was also at the concert where Slade faked his own death, and that after seeing Wild perform, Wild and Stuart had a sexual encounter.
Eventually, Stuart discovers the true identity and whereabouts of Brian Slade, and once again encounters Wild as several mysteries are resolved.

Tags: cult, mystery, psychedelic, queer

Review:
The film isn't about Iggy Pop and David Bowie, it isn't even about two gay men, its about two people who are falling in love at the most inopportune and exploitable moments of their lives.The characters aren't just engaging, they are addictive, the plot isn't just compelling, it's spellbinding.
Actually all Todd Haynes' movies are great and very unique, but this one...The world would be a little bit darker without Velvet Goldmine..
I must admit the beginning confused me a bit, and the movie may have lacked in plot, but I just didn't notice, during the movie, I felt like I got sucked up within it, not like becoming one of the characters, but as if the cinema and the people within was gone and the only thing that existed was the movie - this only happens to me very,very rarely, I don't know if I've really been _that_ captured by a movie ever before - and it seemed the time that passed was at the same time very long and still just a few minutes.
However, I don't think that matters very much (although that may be because I wasn't there during the glam-era) it's a very good movie, it's artistic and the music is adorable (but I do think Bowie should have let them include at least the song Velvet Goldmine) so why bother about whether it's really real or fictional?
but as far as I'm concerned, he didn't have to do anything really, he was beautiful enough (not quite as marvellous as Jonathan's character Brian though) to have his existence in the movie justified anyway.I rate this my fav movie right now, and everyone with an open mind should see it and for the rest of you lot, I just pity you that you can not see the beauty of this piece of art, because it really really is an utterly beautiful dream, I'd like to call it, once you let yourself fall into it and don't think of annoying unimportances (which I usually do while watching a movie, this one saved me from that, I guess I owe that to Todd and the talented, beautiful actors)..
Even if I didn't think this movie was fantastic (which I do), I would have to be impressed with the incorporation of Oscar Wilde, his fascination with the decadence of pop culture, and his brilliant philosophies concerning art.At the end of the film, when Arthur Stuart sits to have a drink with Curt Wylde (Oh look!
you were expecting a restrained movie about david bowie and iggy pop?i loved the camp, outfits, and excesses, and was unexpectedly moved by the story.
Being too young to have experienced the glam rock scene of the seventies and eighties and the roots of punk rock this movie not only gave me an awesome Ewan fix but a surreal, musically effulgent look at a time period that few got to experience first hand.
But Velvet Goldmine kick a whole lot of ass for anyone who loves music, David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Kurt Cobain and the pioneers of some of the greatest music to come out of the 20th century.
The Glam Rock era is one that Arthur knows well, in fact back at the time of the genre explosion he was very much on the scene, his life, Brian Slade's and wild American rocker, Curt Wild, are all linked by decadence and outrageous fulfilment!There is no getting away from it, Velvet Goldmine divides film lovers across the spectrum, some folk are genuinely baffled by it, others (such as myself) think it's close to being genius, while some cinematic observers want to throw up at the mere mention of the film!
Here I am after my third viewing thinking that I'm still right and that Velvet Goldmine demands repeat viewings to fully comprehend director Todd Haynes outlandish homages.This is not remotely close to being a true story of the era, but it certainly has its finger on the pulse as regards how the genre evolved and lit up so many a dull dole day for many many people.
Some instances and characters are based around factual things, I mean you would have to seriously know nothing about music to not see the David Bowie and Iggy Pop structured core on show here.
Haynes sticks his tongue in his cheek and doffs his cap to Citizen Kane, cloaking it in a whirl of luscious identities and sexual explorations, the campy veneer lurching forward at every opportunity, with all of it strummed out to a soundtrack of glittering urgency.It's a splendid cast list containing Ewan McGregor, Christian Bale, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Toni Collette, Eddie Izzard (of course), Michael Feast and Emily Woof, with Meyers outrageously believable and McGregor having the time of his life.
However, the cinematography is beautiful and memorable, the costumes are fantastic!, some of the acting is incredible, and the directing makes you feel like a stranger as well as an insider in the spectacular world of glam rock.
Its about the death of Glam Rock, and even though this is a weird premise the stories of how one person changed the lives of many beautiful people without even being aware of it is mesmerizing...on top of that you get a guilty pleasure out of all the make-up, sex, and extremely bizarre music.
Christian Bale is a journalist attempting to figure out where his once-upon-a-time hero/rock-star Brian Slade (Meyers) disappeared after a fake death ten years prior.
All of this is summed up with Curt Wild (Mcgregor)This movie claims to be about Brian Slade, but it's about the people he left in his wake..
Adding Lou Reed seems like over kill, but I'll take it- if there is anything that I learned from watching Goldmine many times- is that the bigger the better.This is a great coming of age movie- it is a bit adult.
It is interesting only for a few vague references to the actual history of David Bowie, Iggy Pop and Brian Eno. Ewen McGregor is cool for about 30 seconds as he does an impression of Iggy (Curt Wild) on stage.
If you want to see great androgynous costumes, and hear great glitter rock, you are much better off renting the Bowie concert flick "Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars." Velvet Goldmine is another great idea turned in to a bad movie..
As an Eno fan I was happy to hear quite a lot of his (and Roxy Music's) songs used on the soundtrack, and some of the Bowie pastiches were very good also, but I find 'Velvet Goldmine' to be overlong and ultimately unsatisfying.
Todd Haynes' fantasy rethinking of an era in rock history, as a David Bowie-like singer in the early '70s burns out and disappears, and one of his most ardent young fans--now a music journalist--interviews friends and colleagues hoping to get at the truth.
The U.K. truly got a colorful slice of the glam-rock era (as opposed to the U.S., which pretty much missed the boat--and the musical point), and the film, mostly set in England, nails that distinctive time and place with embracing accuracy.
Personally it took me 3 times of watching before I tied everything together, but after seeing it that much and studying every scene I felt that I was left with such an amazing feeling to have viewed something so beautiful.Also, don't expect this to be a true account of David Bowie's relationship with Iggy Pop, it's not.
Velvet Goldmine is a perfectly good idea, and is essentially a loving homage to a bygone era, that of 70's glam rock.
Christian Bale is fine as a journalist who on hearing disturbing news of his teen-era idol, has flashbacks telling the story of his immersion in the world of glam rock and the seventies music scene.
The only time this comes close to working is when the Suzi Quattro clone covers the New York Dolls, and Ewan MacGregor--as Iggy Pop-alike Curt Wild--confusingly gets to do an actual Iggy song.There are compensations--MacGregor's Iggy impersonation is spot on in everything but physique, and Christian Bale demonstrating again what a cruelly underrated and underused actor he is.
While uncovering the truth about disappearing star, Arthur will come to terms with his own past.This movie is brilliant, wild (e), beautiful, exotic, as the rock movement it depicts and in its best moments (which are plenty) it has achieved the result that the praised to the high heaven "Moulin Rouge!" could only dream about.
VG is lurid, is dreamlike, is surreal and it recreates perfectly the decadent world of 1970 Glam Rock with its androgynous male rock stars who looked like the strange and exotic flowers of faraway worlds, with its nostalgia and obsession, glitter and psychedelic colors, the world where Oscar Wilde whose name has been mentioned more than once would've felt at home.The film's visual palette is incredible, the costumes are jaw-dropping, the music and singing simply mesmerize.
Ewan McGregor's acting and courage (Curt Wild, the punk-rock pioneer who looked in the movie very much like another Curt) was among the most memorable along with a relative newcomer Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Brian Slade and incredible Toni Collette as Brian's American wife Mandy.
I know I can be amazed easily, but this particular movie stands out from the crowd.McGregor's performance as the screwed up American rock star Curt Wild is tantalizing and Rhys-Meyers as glam icon Brian Slade leads both males and females to temptation with his androgynous beauty and amazing talent.
When watching this movie, you just think you had seen it all live on stage.Granted, the characters are all fictional and fairy tale-like (although the similarities to certain real-life celebrities of that era are quite obvious), but still they appear so real that you think you've known them for ages, even if they hardly tell anything about themselves.That's another fascination of the movie: you will not understand it upon first viewing.
That's quite a refreshing difference for the gay audience every once in a while!So, if you like amazing images, colorful and glittering pictures, great music, heart-wrenching love, bombastic stage shows, deep wisdom and witty humor, then this is the movie for you.
I suppose after recently viewing "Far From Heaven," and seeing Todd Haynes' name attached to this, I had my expectations way too high.Style in the film is cool, but the opening title sequence reminds me of what didn't quite make the cut of the first Austin Powers flick.The main issue for me was that I didn't really feel for any of the characters.
They all seemed like one dimensional caricatures.Never did I feel the soul behind Brian Slade (his inspirations, his songwriting, his artistic process -- isn't that a big part of a musician?!) All I know is he's a guy that likes to perform in flamboyant clothing, with no reference to where his music is really coming from.
I understand that this is fiction, and not truly the stories of Iggy Pop and David Bowie, but as a chic born way after the Glam Rock Era faded away, I am everlastingly grateful to this film for bringing that era back to the forefront.
Curt Wild was an AMAZING character; his total and unapologetic honesty with himself, his close friends, his love Brian Slade, and his audience leave him something to be respected and admired.
Take a look at the small details---like where Curt is working when Arthur calls him up at the end---and see if you can't tell me that their romantic life, at least, came together.That's the beauty of this film...alot of it can be left up to personal interpretation.
Also, for some reason, everyone just loves Ewan in this movie, but I still have not seen anything all that wonderful, sure, he plays a grunge rock star who likes to jump up and down with temper and be insulting, while really he turns out to be an ok guy after all.
Ewan McGregor gave a great performance (I almost believed he was a glam rock star), Jonathon Rhys Meyers was perfectly cast as the David Bowie lookalike, and Christian Bale gave an outstanding portrayal (as usual) of the lonely, confused Arthur Stuart.
Jonathan Rhys Meyers, who plays the part of the Bowie character, Brian Slade, does a terrible job singing it; the New York Dolls "Personality Crisis" is also butchered.
I'd watch Ewan McGregor doing his Iggy thing and be thinking, "My that's a good cover of 'TV Eye.'  That Mr. Pop was one hell of a performer.
Not remotely inspiring in the role.3 direction ....lost and spiralling out of control from first frame4 script ...see direction5 costume and hair and makeup were quite lovely really even if a little anachronistic at times (also the early promo Brian Slade film short that was far too polished with expensive late 20 C.
What I love the most about the movie is the artistic stride of the fashions, the music, and glam rock icons themselves such as Brian Slade, Curt Wild, just to name a few.
Excuse me, but this is film is really not important, because tells a wrong story without a good taste - and plays Roxi Music songs to a character, who should be David Bowie.
The film centers around glam rock and it's Bowie-like star Brian.
Glam Rock Star Brian Slade(Jonathan Rhys Meyers) has faked his own assassination and it is up to reporter Arthur Stuart(Christian Bale) to find what happened to him.
Great cast, great movie, and really wonderful soundtrack (I especially like the songs that Ewan and Jonny sing themselves!) I hope Velvet Goldmine helps bring Glam Rock back!.
Although the use of new songs in glam style annoyed me a bit, I loved that they did use many originals from the 70s by people like Brian Eno, Roxy Music, Mick Ronson and Lou Reed.
Todd Haynes ode to the era of glam is not a biopic of David Bowie and Iggy Pop. Instead, its the fictional story of Brian Slade (Johnathan Rhys-Myers) and Curt Wild (Ewan McGregor) who prance and vamp through hoards of groupies, hangers on, and entourages of press leaving devastation everywhere.
As an Iggy Pop-like character, McGregor inhabits Curt Wild with lust and sensuousness that makes him magnetic to watch and equally stunning in scene stealing duets with Rhys-Myers or Christian Bale.Toni Collette, so heartwarming in Muriel's Wedding, is a sour, left in the dust wife, her ambition and desire for the limelight went only as far as her husband's need for a convenient beard.
I've watched Velvet Goldmine several times and it just keeps getting better - as does my impression of Christian Bale as one truly great actor.
Even if it's just for the music, you ought to see this film: If you were ever a fan of David Bowie (in his "glam rock" period)you'll feel as if you're stepping back in time watching this movie.
It's the story of Brian Slade, a 70s pop-idol, seen through the eyes (with constant flash-backs) of a journalist who is gathering information for a story on Slade, but cannot track him down.The music is great, some parts of the movie actually play like a video clip.
The acting is also great, especially Ewan McGregor (as the other pop idol, Curt Wild) & Jonathan Rhys-Meyers as Brian Slade.
This was supposed to be about the sexual confusion of the 1970s "Glam Rock" era in Britain & followed the central character's exploration of his bisexuality, which was fashionable at the time amongst those who could afford the lifestyle.But this story is just a mess, hampered by trying to copy real life people (Bowie & Iggy Pop etc) without straying so close as to risk being sued.
Cultists will love it (they can excuse almost anything) but the end result tells us more about the film-maker than it does the Glam/Glitter rock era.
It has been said that the central character, Brian Slade, and his career were based on David Bowie in his various incarnations, and Haynes makes a good fist of evoking the whole early Seventies glam rock scene when sexual ambiguity became for some just another fashion and a release for others.
My problem is that there is quite a lot about Velvet Goldmine which isn't half bad, especially the performances by Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Ewan McGregor (as a gay Iggy Pop type of character), Toni Collette, Eddie Izzard and Christian Bale.
That said, I have to say that Todd Haynes' film was absolutely fabulous and a real pleasure, both visually and aurally.The music was excellent, and the costuming was definitely Oscar worthy.I thought Christian Bale really nailed his part, as he always does, and Toni Collette, as Brian's (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) wife was the best I recall seeing her.
That's the movie where you can enjoy a great story and extremely moving performances by Rhys Meyers, Macgregor, Bale and the rest of the crew.
and then when he comes off stage and collides with Mandy and they're both crying because they are the only 2 people who know how much it hurts to love Brian Slade.The emotional power of this film is amazing.
If you like music and the glam-rock lifestyle you will probably enjoy this movie.
The movie is Velvet Goldmine and the time period is the 70's Glam rock era of England.
The story is told thru Arthur (Christian Bale) who is an investigative reporter looking for a glam rocker, Brian Slade (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) who has disappear- ed.
As a person old enough to remember the glam rock era, this movie portrays well and captures the feeling of that time.
The Bowie-esque character Brian Slade is played by someone I think may be the most beautiful boy I've ever seen, his name is Jonathan Rhys-Meyers and he alone is worth checking out.