Todd Haynes was never going to make a run-of-the-mill doc that slavishly trots out this band’s famous fans. The invention, style and intelligence we’ve come to expect from him here gloriously befits a group that lasted only five years, but whose creative impact shows no sign of diminishing. While surviving members John Cale and Mo Tucker movingly reflect on these years, the story is largely told through a treasure trove of archive film and video – including 16mm portraits by Andy Warhol.
“With insights by the band’s former members and friends, this film takes its job seriously”- The Guardian ★★★★
Haynes employs dynamic use of split-screens to examine the cultural amniotic fluid that nurtured the band: the dissonant classical music of Morton Feldman; the films of Jonas Mekas and Jack Smith; the writings of Allen Ginsberg, and of course, the coalescing influence of their early ‘manager’ Warhol, who instigated happenings at The Factory around them. It’s a film that looks and sounds truly fabulous in a large-scale cinema. Expect your hair to stand on end at the unmistakable first droning chords and smacked-out tambourine of ‘Venus in Furs’, and mellow to the sweetness of Tucker’s voice in ‘After Hours’: ‘if you close the door, the night could last forever’.
£75/year gets you: 6 free tickets, 10% ticket discount, free popcorn every visit, no booking fees, monthly exclusive screenings AND MUCH MORE.
