Mary Harron: 'I Shot Andy Warhol' (1996)

I Shot Andy Warhol  (1996), director Mary Harron's (b. 1953) first film, centers on Valerie Solanas and her fringe relationship with Warhol. Harron's prior experience as a punk rock journalist probably gave her an insider's perspective -- certainly she recreates the Factory milieu with precision of detail. She orginally envisioned a documentary on Solanas and her infamous works, The SCUM Manifesto, Up Your Ass , and her attempted assassination of French publisher Maurice Girodias (she tried to shoot him at the Hotel Chelsea, but he was out) and Andy Warhol, but after discovering that there wasn't enough archival Solanas footage and few who would speak for her, opted for a dramatic account.

Lili Taylor portrays Solanas as a damaged soul. She's been abused and neglected growing up, and is on her own in the world for the most part, street hustling. But she's smart, and very frustrated. A lesbian turning tricks with men, she is drawn into the Warhol crowd through meeting transvestite Candy Darling (played sympathetically by Stephen Dorff), and tries to interest Andy in her writing. His open door policy lets all sorts of weird people into an already weird Factory scene -- open until she later shoots him, which changes everything.

I Shot Andy Warhol  is an interesting exploration of how commercially successful artists and aspiring artists interrelate. Solanas' feminism plays an important role, too -- her SCUM Manifesto cries foul at men and men's power. A la James Brown's 1966 song "It's a Man's Man's Man's World," Solanas believes it, and thinks the world needs a reverse shakeup. Ideally to her, all men should die. 

Though demented in many ways, Solanas has a point. Why are there so few high profile women equivalents of Andy Warhol? Indeed, even by 2018, why have there been no women presidents in the USA? Why is such a crude and brutish man the current American president, beloved (and also hated) by millions? 

Harron herself, as a woman filmmaker and writer, is rare -- only something like seven percent of directors are women.

The actors put in good performances. Taylor (HBO stalwart on Six Feet Under  and The Notorious Betty Page ) is edgy, scary, mouthy and believable. Jared Harris (Mad Men, &c.) plays Warhol with appropriate cool and nervousness. Donovan Leitch (son of the singer) is fun as Gerard Malanga, and Michael Imperioli serves up Warhol's sidekick Ondine with bitchy camp -- and strong hints of his Sopranos' character, Christopher. Mark the scruffy Revolutionary is played by Justin Theroux in his first movie (Joe from Six Feet Under; Mulholland Drive ): it's his Beretta that Solanas uses to shoot Andy.

After I Shot Andy Warhol, Harron went on to write the screenplay for American Psycho (2000), which she also directed. She also worked on HBO's Six Feet Under  ("The Rainbow of Her Reasons," 2005) and made The Notorious Betty Page (2005). She did The Anna Nicole Story (2013), too. There is continuity in all of her work so far -- exploration of gender issues, fame and notoriety. All interesting stuff. And unsettling. Some of it's funny, some of it's gravely serious, not unlike Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar, with whom she clearly feels an affinity for women and mystery.

Today's Rune: Gateway. 

The Inner Life of Bettie Page

Bettie Page (4/22/1923-12/11/2008), RIP. Here's a pertinent selection from this blog originally posted on May 21, 2006:

Mary Harron recreates the pinup milieu and its attendant fallout in The Notorious Bettie Page (2005), an HBO movie shot mostly in black and white with occasional splashes of color. Harron, who directed the searingly good take on gender issues via Valerie Solanas in I Shot Andy Warhol, takes a subtler approach with Bettie Page, though it's clear that the jump from the pinup 50s to Warhol's 60s is not a large one after all. The little romps made by camera clubs and "collectors" of Page and other models/actors are close forerunners to Warhol productions like Chelsea Girls (1966), and many of the themes blur together.

Bettie Page is "notorious" only in the lustful eyes of her male "consumers." Behind her happy-go-lucky persona, Page is smart, tenacious, and free-spirited, yet haunted by God. Nudity does not phase her, and she refers to the openness of Adam and Eve before the Fall more than once. She was abused by her father and by men singly and in groups before leaving Nashville and ending up in New York City. In the movie, there is something sinister about many of her "dates," and she is often either punished, exploited or judged for her beauty. The creepiness of many of the male characters reminds me of Silence of the Lambs. Harron's American Psycho (2000) covers this territory in a similarly extreme way. But Page's trajectory is successful and the choice to leave modeling in 1957 is hers. She is still alive, was sought after (like Ava Gardner) by Howard Hughes (she declined) and is still admired by Hugh Hefner, who featured her in Playboy in January 1955. The interactions between Bettie Page and photographer Bunny Yeager in sunny Florida provide good contrast with the rest of the story.

Mary Harron's work is always interesting. Overall, The Notorious Bettie Page is a leisurely-paced meditation on gender, sexuality, celebrity, persona, photography, modeling, acting, fantasy, and spirituality. Gretchen Mol is perfect in the lead role. Much of the cast will be familiar to HBO viewers: three minor roles for Sopranos fans; Chris Bauer from The Wire and Lili Taylor from Six Feet Under (she plays Valerie Solanas in I Shot Andy Warhol, as well). Harron has directed episodes of Six Feet Under and Big Love, so she's very much in the mix. As we all know by now, everything's connected to everything else upon closer examination.

Here's the official movie site, a fun one that is best viewed with a high speed connection:
http://www.thenotoriousbettiepage.com/

It's worth repeating: Gretchen Mol is great as Bettie Page. Also: Harron was executive producer for the excellent 2002 documentary The Weather Underground.

Here's a live link to "Rapture Riders:"

http://music.yahoo.com/ar-269864-videos--Blondie

Today's Rune: Wholeness.

I Shot Andy Warhol

I Shot Andy Warhol (1996), director Mary Harron's (b. 1953) first film, centers on Valerie Solanas and her fringe relationship with Warhol. Harron's prior experience as a punk rock journalist probably gave her an insider's perspective -- certainly she recreates the Factory milieu with precision of detail. She orginally envisioned a documentary on Solanas and her infamous works, The SCUM Manifesto, Up Your Ass, and her attempted assassination of French publisher Maurice Girodias (she tried to shoot him at the Hotel Chelsea, but he was out) and Andy Warhol, but after discovering that there wasn't enough archival Solanas footage and few who would speak for her, opted for a dramatic account.

Lili Taylor portrays Solanas as a damaged soul. She's been abused and neglected growing up, and is on her own in the world for the most part, street hustling. But she's smart, and very frustrated. A lesbian turning tricks with men, she is drawn into the Warhol crowd through meeting transvestite Candy Darling (played sympathetically by Stephen Dorff), and tries to interest Andy in her writing. His open door policy lets all sorts of weird people into an already weird Factory scene -- open until she later shoots him, which changes everything.

I Shot Andy Warhol is an interesting exploration of how commercially successful artists and aspiring artists interrelate. Solanas' feminism plays an important role, too -- her SCUM Manifesto cries foul at men and men's power. A la James Brown's 1966 song "It's a Man's Man's Man's World," Solanas believes it, and thinks the world needs a reverse shakeup. Ideally to her, all men should die. Though demented in many ways, Solanas has a point. Why are there no women Andy Warhols? Indeed, even by 2007, why have there been no women presidents in the USA? And Harron, a woman filmmaker and writer, is rare -- only something like ten percent of directors are women.

The actors put in good performances. Taylor (HBO stalwart on Six Feet Under and The Notorious Betty Page) is edgy, scary, mouthy and believable. Jared Harris plays Warhol with appropriate cool and nervousness. Donovan Leitch (son of the singer) is fine as Gerard Malanga, and Michael Imperioli serves up Warhol's sidekick Ondine with bitchy camp -- and with hints of his Sopranos' character, Christopher. Mark the scruffy Revolutionary is played by Justin Theroux (Joe from Six Feet Under): it's his Beretta that Solanas uses to shoot Andy.

After I Shot Andy Warhol, Harron went on to write the screenplay for American Psycho (2000), which she also directed. She also worked on HBO's Six Feet Under ("The Rainbow of Her Reasons," 2005) and made The Notorious Betty Page (2005). There is coherence in all of her work so far -- exploration of gender issues, fame and notoriety. All interesting stuff. And unsettling. Some of it's funny, some of it's gravely serious, not unlike Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar, with whom she clearly feels an affinity for women and mystery.


Today's Rune: Possessions.

Birthdays: Rosa Luxemburg, Dean Stockwell .

Ciao!

The Inner Life of Betty Page

Mary Harron recreates the pinup milieu and its attendant fallout in The Notorious Betty Page (2005), an HBO movie shot mostly in black and white with occasional splashes of color. Harron, who directed the searingly good take on gender issues via Valerie Solanas in I Shot Andy Warhol, takes a subtler approach with Betty Page, though it's clear that the jump from the pinup 50s to Warhol's 60s is not a large one after all. The little romps made by camera clubs and "collectors" of Page and other models/actors are close forerunners to Warhol productions like Chelsea Girls (1966), and many of the themes blur together.

Betty Page (4/22/1923-) is "notorious" only in the lustful eyes of her male "consumers." Behind her happy-go-lucky persona, Page is smart, tenacious, and free-spirited, yet haunted by God. Nudity does not phase her, and she refers to the openness of Adam and Eve before the Fall more than once. She was abused by her father and by men singly and in groups before leaving Nashville and ending up in New York City. In the movie, there is something sinister about many of her "dates," and she is often either punished, exploited or judged for her beauty. The creepiness of many of the male characters reminds me of Silence of the Lambs. Harron's American Psycho (2000) covers this territory in a similarly extreme way. But Page's trajectory is successful and the choice to leave modeling in 1957 is hers. She is still alive, was sought after (like Ava Gardner) by Howard Hughes (she declined) and is still admired by Hugh Hefner, who featured her in Playboy in January 1955. The interactions between Betty Page and photographer Bunny Yeager in sunny Florida provide good contrast with the rest of the story.

Mary Harron's work is always interesting. Overall, The Notorious Betty Page is a leisurely-paced meditation on gender, sexuality, celebrity, persona, photography, modeling, acting, fantasy, and spirituality. Gretchen Mol is perfect in the lead role. Much of the cast will be familiar to HBO viewers: three minor roles for Sopranos fans; Chris Bauer from The Wire and Lili Taylor from Six Feet Under (she plays Valerie Solanas in I Shot Andy Warhol, as well). Harron has directed episodes of Six Feet Under and Big Love, so she's very much in the mix. As we all know by now, everything's connected to everything else upon closer examination.

Here's the official movie site, a fun one that is best viewed with a high speed connection:
http://www.thenotoriousbettiepage.com/ It's worth repeating: Gretchen Mol is great as Betty Page. Also: Harron was executive producer for the excellent 2002 documentary The Weather Underground.

Here's a live link to "Rapture Riders:" http://music.yahoo.com/ar-269864-videos--Blondie
This is my 100th post. Salud!