Velvet Goldmine1998
Velvet Goldmine (1998)
TOMATOMETER
AUDIENCE SCORE
Critic Consensus: Velvet Goldmine takes a visual and narrative approach befitting its larger-than-life subject, although it's still disappointingly less than the sum of its parts.
Velvet Goldmine Photos
Movie Info
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Cast
as Curt Wild
as Arthur Stuart
as Mandy Slade
as Jerry Divine
as Shannon
as Cecil
as Female Narrator
as Wilde Housemaid
as Oscar Wilde (age 8)
as Jack Fairy (age 7)
as Jack Fairy
as BBC Reporter
as Brian Slade
as Kissing Sailor
as Young Man
as Lou
as Mary
as Murray
as Tommy Stone
as Girl on the Subway
as Mr. Stuart
as Mrs. Stuart
as Manchester Teacher
as Arthur's Teacher
as Boy in Record Shop 1
as Boy in Record Shop 2
as Brian Slade (age 7)
as Pantomime Dame
as Pianist
as Mod Girlfriend
as Mimosa
as Curt Wild (age 13)
as Bartender
as Cooper
as Angel
as Freddi
as Micky
as Cecil's Friend 1
as Cecil's Friend 2
as Rodney
as Middle Age Man
as 30's Style Singer
as Reporter 1
as Reporter 2
as US Reporter 1
as US Reporter 2
as US Reporter 3
as Teenage Girl
as Malcolm
as Ray
as Pearl
as Billy
as Trevor
as Reg
as Harley
as Bass Guitar
as Lead Guitar
as Drummer
as Polly Small
as Lead Guitar
as Bass Guitar
as Drummer
News & Interviews for Velvet Goldmine
Critic Reviews for Velvet Goldmine
All Critics (42) | Top Critics (7) | Fresh (23) | Rotten (19) | DVD (2)
I'm telling you, I was bored stiff.
Haynes' chronicle of the glam era is visually rich but too dramatically fragmented and overwhelmed by music to permit involvement in the tale's characters or the director's POV.
The style is devilishly flamboyant and gleefully indulgent; every shot is full of amazing stuff. The edits dance and twist. It's a glam movie about a glam subject.
Velvet Goldmine gives the rock movie a makeover.
While some gay men's fantasies center around muscled jocks, cops or cowboys, Todd Haynes' would seem to be of a slightly more arcane bent.
the ending happens at least half an hour later than it should
Audience Reviews for Velvet Goldmine
A reporter investigates the life and legend of a glam rocker who faked his death years ago. Todd Haynes's distinct style of flashy costumes and gay sexuality is on full display in this film. The musical numbers blend in, and the film seems like a chronicle of a sexually free bygone era, one that the director delights in. However, what's left behind is the story. The mystery of Brian Slade's "death" and disappearance takes a back seat to Haynes's love letter to the time, and no compelling dramatic questions emerge. Ewan McGregor, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, and Christian Bale all fully commit to their roles' demands, and Haynes's skill with actors reminds me of Oliver Stone's: these are directors who get stars to do things that stars don't normally do. Overall, I think Velvet Goldmine is a for a niche audience, like most of Haynes's work, and one who is invested in the time and the feeling of the time can find things to like, but for those of us looking for a compelling narrative, Velvet Goldmine doesn't have much to offer. Evan McGregor and Jonathan Rhys Meyers
Super Reviewer
It doesn't take a genius to piece this alternate history together: Curt Wild = Iggy Pop, Brian Slade = David Bowie and Jack Fairy = Lou Reed. But if this is a biopic, it's a capital-Q Queer one, which I mean in the academic sense, playing with the performed identities of these performers, hyper-exaggerated as they would have been in the heyday of Glam Rock. While staying mostly in the past - recollected sequences coming through interviews performed by a journalist (Christian Bale) - the film's "present" is also intriguing, as we see Bale's character relive his coming of age and his struggle with the realization that he is gay, and we see how his obsession with the music and performers of the day opened the door. By exaggerating the performed identity, the moderate version (i.e., merely being gay and not straight) begins to appear to be a tenable position, and the music inspires a new confidence in our hero - even though the ambivalent, "anything goes" approach to sex, drugs and rock and roll had varyingly destructive side-effects for the performers. An eye-opening early film from Todd Haynes that plays in the same way that his later Dylan flick, I'm Not There, did, and a visually lush and viscerally challenging movie, a gem that was overlooked in those bubblegum late 90s, Provocative work.
Super Reviewer
Brian Slade: Man is least himself when he talks in his own person... Give him a mask and he'll tell you the truth. "The Rise Of A Star... The Fall Of A Legend." I strongly dislike Velvet Goldmine to the point where it was hard for me to get through the whole thing. I had to fight the urge to turn it off about five or six times. The film has a lot of style, but absolutely no substance. It's a two hour film, with little more than fancy clothes, makeup, and endless concert scenes. There's very little actually here. If it had been 20 to 30 minutes shorter, it would have been tolerable. At the length it runs, it is just a complete mess and a waste of time. Style over substance can work in little doses, but not for two straight hours. I'm not even going to go into plot other than that it is about a glam rock star who fakes his own death. There's many themes that are touched on, but never explored to make the movie more than what it is. Homosexuality, drug abuse, and even the fake death are all themes, but they never realized for what they are. This is supposed to be a look behind what we see in a rock star, but it never really cares to go deep into the psyche or personality of its star Brian Slade. Velvet Goldmine turns out to be nothing more than a stylistic mess, with little to no redeeming value. The three performances from great actors like Jonathan Rhys Myers, Ewan McGregor and Christian Bale aren't enough to save this disaster. I really thought I would like it, but the interesting premise is completely wasted.
Super Reviewer
Velvet Goldmine Quotes
| Curt Wild: | The world has changed because you are made of ivory and gold. The curves of your lips rewrite history. |
| Brian Slade: | Quite soon we actually plan to take over the world! |
| Mandy Slade: | beauty reveals everything because it expresses nothing |
| Mandy Slade: | What is true about music is true about life: that beauty reveals everything because it expresses nothing. |