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Glam Rock Never Looked So Seductive: Shock Corridor Cinema Presents a Screening of VELVET GOLDMINE (1998)

Tue. November 7th 2006 8pm
Shock Corridor Cinema presents:

Velvet Goldmine (124 min., 1998).
starring: Ewan McGregor, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Christian Bale.




Todd Haynes' (Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story; Safe; Far From Heaven) fantamasgoric homage to glam rock and its miscontents. This film owes as much to the narrative stylings of Citizen Kane as it does to the (unofficial) bios of David Bowie and Iggy Pop. Glam gets a deserving treatment from one of America's most daring independent filmmakers. While the film pays homage to Bowie (the singer refused to liecense his songs for the film, which may in the end have been a blessing to the film's sound) and the glam scene more generally, this is a warts and all representation of an obscure genre in popular music that was tied to excessive fashion, gender bending and unprecedented staging. Hayne's portrait of glam is at times a critque of the cult of the (rock music) celebrity while in the same breath is overtly celbratory of its powerful music and unsurpassed showmanship. Chrisitian Bale plays an 80s rock journalist whose current cover story demands interviews with the has beens of the glam scene in an effort to uncover Glam's largest, yet currently obsolete figure (Brian Slade, a ficticious David Bowie). In much the same way Orson Welle's Kane is revealed through multiple perceptions, Velvet Goldmine makes a provocative claim for the rock music gaze and its multiple layers of meaning. While the scene uncovers an economy of desire (illustrated most significantly by lavish set design and overtly hot concert sequences) there is a darker vision at work here operating within the confines of nostalgia, sexual tension and cracked identities. The film's score threads the film in a manner not commonly seen in the genre; featuring music composed of mostly originals that highlight the early 70s glam sound to perfection, composed and played by, Radiohead's Tom Yorke, Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore and Steve Shelly, Roxy Music's Andy McKay and many other forminable players. This is not just another rock music film and if you are into the genre or merely appreciate glam's appeal you really should see this work.


The film will be followed by clips from David Bowie's infamous appearance on The Dick Cavett show (12/4/74). Runny nose and all, bowie speaks about his character 'storytelling' and his current desire to be reckognized as a singer/songwriter. creepy and hilarious in the same breath. (20 min.)

Film Review and Haynes' Bio:

http://www.villagevoice.com/film/9845,hoberman,1057,20.html

http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/02/haynes.html

Haynes Interview < 11/6/98 > from KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic in which he discusses the soundtrack and themes of Velvet Goldmine: http://legacy.kcrw.com/cgi-bin/db/kcrw.pl?show_code=mb&air_date=11/6/98&tmplt_type=show

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Shock Corridor Cinema presents:

Velvet Goldmine (124 min., 1998).
starring: Ewan McGregor, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Christian Bale.




Todd Haynes' (Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story; Safe; Far From Heaven) fantamasgoric homage to glam rock and its miscontents. This film owes as much to the narrative stylings of Citizen Kane as it does to the (unofficial) bios of David Bowie and Iggy Pop. Glam gets a deserving treatment from one of America's most daring independent filmmakers. While the film pays homage to Bowie (the singer refused to liecense his songs for the film, which may in the end have been a blessing to the film's sound) and the glam scene more generally, this is a warts and all representation of an obscure genre in popular music that was tied to excessive fashion, gender bending and unprecedented staging. Hayne's portrait of glam is at times a critque of the cult of the (rock music) celebrity while in the same breath is overtly celbratory of its powerful music and unsurpassed showmanship. Chrisitian Bale plays an 80s rock journalist whose current cover story demands interviews with the has beens of the glam scene in an effort to uncover Glam's largest, yet currently obsolete figure (Brian Slade, a ficticious David Bowie). In much the same way Orson Welle's Kane is revealed through multiple perceptions, Velvet Goldmine makes a provocative claim for the rock music gaze and its multiple layers of meaning. While the scene uncovers an economy of desire (illustrated most significantly by lavish set design and overtly hot concert sequences) there is a darker vision at work here operating within the confines of nostalgia, sexual tension and cracked identities. The film's score threads the film in a manner not commonly seen in the genre; featuring music composed of mostly originals that highlight the early 70s glam sound to perfection, composed and played by, Radiohead's Tom Yorke, Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore and Steve Shelly, Roxy Music's Andy McKay and many other forminable players. This is not just another rock music film and if you are into the genre or merely appreciate glam's appeal you really should see this work.


The film will be followed by clips from David Bowie's infamous appearance on The Dick Cavett show (12/4/74). Runny nose and all, bowie speaks about his character 'storytelling' and his current desire to be reckognized as a singer/songwriter. creepy and hilarious in the same breath. (20 min.)

Film Review and Haynes' Bio:

http://www.villagevoice.com/film/9845,hoberman,1057,20.html

http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/02/haynes.html

Haynes Interview < 11/6/98 > from KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic in which he discusses the soundtrack and themes of Velvet Goldmine: http://legacy.kcrw.com/cgi-bin/db/kcrw.pl?show_code=mb&air_date=11/6/98&tmplt_type=show