I've never been interested in Andy Warhol. I don't like art that looks like I could reproduce it on my own PC without much effort. I didn't watch any of the Warhol movies from this year's Viennale program because I just don't see the charm of watching a man sleeping or getting a blow job. The inside-perspective of Warhol's factory is of no concern to me, and I like to listen to Velvet Underground's music, but not to a biography. All these facts make Mary Harron's "I Shot Andy Warhol" the perfect choice for me.
The movie is not about Warhol, its about Valerie Solanas. And believe it or not, her life story is far more interesting than Warhol's. She experienced abuse as a child, got a degree in psychology, earned money with prostitution and finally lived on the streets and from begging in the late sixties. She was a friend of Candy Darling, one of Warhol's movie stars and Velvet Underground's "Candy Says" (played by an intelligible Stephen Dorff) and meets Warhol. She shows him a play she wrote ("up your ass") and shortly appears in one of his movies. And when she feels that Warhol has betrayed her, she shoots him. He doesn't die, but suffers the effects of the wound until his death. Valerie dies two years after her victim, in 1989, poor and unknown, until a feminist picked up her SCUM-manifesto.
Mary Harron simply made a biography of a female assassinator, of the period of time between Valerie's encounter with Andy Warhol and her attempt to kill him. Tom Waits didn’t want any Velvet Underground music to be used because he feared that the movie would glorify Valerie – which it doesn't. Neither does it judge her. And Yo La Tengo are perfect as Underground-impersonators.
Oh, the wonderful Lili Taylor. She could play anything, but no matter how tough her characters are, the vulnerability is always right under the surface. Although she is so vulnerable, she does not want to be a victim and has power over the men she sleeps with for money, she turns into a victim of the pretentiousness of Warhol's factory. Its not Warhol (Jared Harris) himself who comes across as using Valiere, his factory is an uncontrollable monster for arrogant pseudo-artists. If anything, the Warhol of this movie is childish and shy.
I never noticed before what the really amazing thing about the movie is – it happens in the big drug party scene, with the Yo la Tengo music in the background. Both Valerie Solanas and Andy Warhol seem to be out of place. They are exactly on the same level of enstrangement and alienation, they both don't fit in. Warhol looks at what he has created and must feel like a Doctor Frankenstein, and Valerie doesn't know how to handle the colorful, happy glamour of these people who have no destination but to party. Thy find each other on a couch in the center of the room. Warhol looks at her with true interest, probably because he is surrounded by people who are not real, who are not true to themselves. Everyone else is so shallow and pretentious. Warhol and Solanas are the only true artists here.
Mary Harron takes Valerie Solanas seriously, she doesn't make fun of her. How couldn't she? And, as I said, she is the only truly authentic person in this movie. She trusts Warhol, and when she is dropped form his elitist, arrogant circle, she sees only one way to preserve her liberty. It is, in a way, an act of revenge – taken on the wrong person – but also an act of staying true to her ideals. After all, she believes in a world without men. She wants to get her message across (probably another point the movie makes is that Andy Warhol's art has no message, which is a harsh contrast to Solanas). In the end, the only way to do that is to commit an act of true radicalism.
The movie is not about Warhol, its about Valerie Solanas. And believe it or not, her life story is far more interesting than Warhol's. She experienced abuse as a child, got a degree in psychology, earned money with prostitution and finally lived on the streets and from begging in the late sixties. She was a friend of Candy Darling, one of Warhol's movie stars and Velvet Underground's "Candy Says" (played by an intelligible Stephen Dorff) and meets Warhol. She shows him a play she wrote ("up your ass") and shortly appears in one of his movies. And when she feels that Warhol has betrayed her, she shoots him. He doesn't die, but suffers the effects of the wound until his death. Valerie dies two years after her victim, in 1989, poor and unknown, until a feminist picked up her SCUM-manifesto.
Mary Harron simply made a biography of a female assassinator, of the period of time between Valerie's encounter with Andy Warhol and her attempt to kill him. Tom Waits didn’t want any Velvet Underground music to be used because he feared that the movie would glorify Valerie – which it doesn't. Neither does it judge her. And Yo La Tengo are perfect as Underground-impersonators.
Oh, the wonderful Lili Taylor. She could play anything, but no matter how tough her characters are, the vulnerability is always right under the surface. Although she is so vulnerable, she does not want to be a victim and has power over the men she sleeps with for money, she turns into a victim of the pretentiousness of Warhol's factory. Its not Warhol (Jared Harris) himself who comes across as using Valiere, his factory is an uncontrollable monster for arrogant pseudo-artists. If anything, the Warhol of this movie is childish and shy.
I never noticed before what the really amazing thing about the movie is – it happens in the big drug party scene, with the Yo la Tengo music in the background. Both Valerie Solanas and Andy Warhol seem to be out of place. They are exactly on the same level of enstrangement and alienation, they both don't fit in. Warhol looks at what he has created and must feel like a Doctor Frankenstein, and Valerie doesn't know how to handle the colorful, happy glamour of these people who have no destination but to party. Thy find each other on a couch in the center of the room. Warhol looks at her with true interest, probably because he is surrounded by people who are not real, who are not true to themselves. Everyone else is so shallow and pretentious. Warhol and Solanas are the only true artists here.
Mary Harron takes Valerie Solanas seriously, she doesn't make fun of her. How couldn't she? And, as I said, she is the only truly authentic person in this movie. She trusts Warhol, and when she is dropped form his elitist, arrogant circle, she sees only one way to preserve her liberty. It is, in a way, an act of revenge – taken on the wrong person – but also an act of staying true to her ideals. After all, she believes in a world without men. She wants to get her message across (probably another point the movie makes is that Andy Warhol's art has no message, which is a harsh contrast to Solanas). In the end, the only way to do that is to commit an act of true radicalism.
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