Black & White World

Velvet Goldmine (1998)

IMDB

What an odd little movie.  It borrows bits and pieces from all kinds of different movies, including Citizen Kane, Grace of My Heart and Moulin Rouge!, not to mention several music videos, and yet manages to remain pretty unique.  Unfortunately, it’s only about as deep as a music video—by the end of the movie I didn’t feel like I knew any of the characters very well, or by extension, cared much about them.  It looks very slick, and there are some nice scenes, but ultimately it’s pretty empty.

1. This film is obviously full of Bowie references; in fact, the title is the name of a Bowie song.

   Originally Bowie was to be involved with a film, either this one or one like it, based on the character of Ziggy Stardust.  Eventually, Bowie lost interest in the project and retained his rights to the story and characters.

   Velvet Goldmine became something of an homage to the entire Glitter Rock era of the early 1970s.  The lead character (played by Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) is based on Bowie, complete with mythological death of the rock star, a la Ziggy.  And Ewan McGregor’s character is a version of Iggy Pop.  Did you dig his rock show striptease?  Hot! 

   Obi-Wan, we hardly knew ye!

   Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  04/19  at  08:26 PM

2. Oh yeah, and the young reporter who becomes intrigued by the rockers is the lovely and talented Christian Bale, about to break through big time this summer in Batman Begins.

   Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  04/19  at  08:27 PM

3. Hell, I remember Christian Bale from his role as the kid in Empire of the Sun back in 1988.  And of course, Newsies!

   So, Dude, maybe you can answer this for me.  Rhys-Meyers is obviously based on Bowie, and MacGregor is Iggy Pop (although in the later scenes when his hair is longer he’s a dead ringer for Kurt Cobain).  Who was that guy Jack Fairy supposed to be?  Was he fictional or was he based on someone?

   Posted by stennie  on  04/19  at  09:01 PM
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