fidel-2 Reviews

Bike Boy (1967)

sex and the city

[11 May 1999]

While bike boy is actually one of the easier films to watch made by Warhol, it is still haunting in its harsh realism and cutting edge dialogs.

The movie is constructed of five encounters of bike boy with New York bohemian types, mostly women, and their conversations, mostly about sex.

The contradiction between the macho biker and the artsy Warhol gang shows human relationships and human behavior in a ridiculous light, especially concerning the issues of love, sex and loneliness in the metropolitan. It is an extremely funny film, although some moments can get a little bit too real, making it hard to watch... Of all of Warhol's films, this one is perhaps most reminiscent of the kind of cinema we are usually acquainted with. It's unique editing and use of sound position this film as a clear influence on film makers such as Hal Hartly, Todd Solondez etc. Highly recommended!

Chelsea Girls (1966)

two screens, one truth...

[10 May 1999]

For four odd hours Warhol, using the double-screen technique, declares war against every sensory logic we have grown used to in the movies. Sometimes, the movie just doesn't move. Sometime it does, but at an odd speed. Even if you get used to following two overlapping narratives, some in color while others in B&W, the length of the film might finally get to you. But if you endure - your perception of the art of motion pictures is in for a ride! Depicting the lives of underground characters known from Lou Reed and Velvet Underground songs, this movie is not only cinematic beauty at its extreme, but also a fascinating documentation of an era in which modernist art reached its climax. A must!

The Velvet Underground and Nico (1966)

Daze of glory

[10 May 1999]

Even ardent fans of the velvet underground will probably move uneasily in their chairs during this picture. The movie includes everything, except for a VU performance. The band IS there, and they are playing, but it is an incoherent jam session from hell rather then something familiar. Warhol accompanies the music with repeating focus shifts, lighting experiments, bizarre camera movements, etc., all of which combined create an hypnotic trance-like effect, not to be forgotten soon. Warhol also chooses to let only the diegtic sound from the amplifiers be heard, and thus whole sequences, such as the cops who arrive to stop the show on account of various complaints from neighbors, remain unheard and eluded to instead of crudely "shown". This is a revolutionary experiment in rock videos, even in today's standards.