Velvet Goldmine (1998)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Todd Haynes

Writers:

James Lyons (story) and
Todd Haynes (story) ...

Release Date:

6 November 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Music

Tagline:

Leave your exceptions at the door

Plot:

In 1984, British newspaper reporter Arthur Stuart is investigating the career of 1970s glam rock star Brian Slade...

Plot Keywords:

Reporter | 1970s | Glam Rock | Told In Flashback | Male Frontal Nudity

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 4 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Ewan McGregor	...	Curt Wild
Jonathan Rhys Meyers	...	Brian Slade
Christian Bale	...	Arthur Stuart
Toni Collette	...	Mandy Slade
Eddie Izzard	...	Jerry Devine
Emily Woof	...	Shannon
Michael Feast	...	Cecil
Janet McTeer	...	Female Narrator (voice)
Mairead McKinley	...	Wilde Housemaid (as Maraid McKinley)
Luke Morgan Oliver	...	Oscar Wilde, 8
Osheen Jones	...	Jack Fairy, 7
Micko Westmoreland	...	Jack Fairy
Damian Suchet	...	BBC Reporter
Danny Nutt	...	Kissing Sailor
Wash Westmoreland	...	Young Man

MPAA:

Rated R for strong sexual content, nudity, language and drug use.

Runtime:

124 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Rankcolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:14 (original rating) | Iceland:16 (video rating) | UK:18 (original rating) | Argentina:18 | Australia:MA | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:R (Manitoba/Ontario) | Chile:18 | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Germany:12 | New Zealand:R16 | Peru:18 | Portugal:M/16 | South Korea:18 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 (video rating) (1999) | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Croydon, Surrey, England, UK

Company:

Channel Four Films

Trivia:

The David Bowie song "Velvet Goldmine," though originally recorded for the "Hunky Dory" album, wasn't officially released until 1975, being the b-side to the re-issue of the "Space Oddity" single.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: In "New York City 1984" the cars are driving on the left-hand side of the road and there are British traffic signs.

Quotes:

Mandy Slade: [voiceover on New Year's Eve '69] And on winding roads, in crowded clubs or hotel bar, this shipwreck of the streets rehearsed his future glory. A cigarette tracing a ladder to the stars.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Hole (2003) (V)

Soundtrack:

The Fat Lady of Limbourg

Lovely, lovely lovely. And Jonathan Rhys-Meyers's just soooooooo beautiful

This is definitely one of the best movies I've ever seen. 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. It felt somewhat like a very intense dream of sorts, and it lasted for the rest of the night once I got out of the cinema.

Indeed, these where fictional characters, like so many have pointed out before I did, even though based on real glam-rockers. 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? Why not just enjoy it?

As for the Jack Fairy-character that some of you has wondered why he was there, I thought it was him who shot Maxwell... 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).