Queer Review: I Shot Andy Warhol (1996)

I Shot Andy Warhol
Director: Mary Harron
Writer: Mary Harron and Daniel Minahan. Based upon the book by Jeremiah Newton. Additional material provided by "The Letters and Diaries of Candy Darling" and research by Diane Tucker.
Cast: Lili Taylor, Jared Harris, Martha Plimpton, Stephen Dorff

Overview
The story of I Shot Andy Warhol is based upon the true tale of militant lesbian Valerie Jean Solanas (Lili Taylor), a 1960's radical feminist who wrote the S.C.U.M. (Society For Cutting Up Men) Manifesto. As far as I could tell, director Mary Harron's flick stuck as close to the established record as possible. This is a good thing, as this dramatic tale is not one that needed any embellishment.

Synopsis
Valarie Solanas started out as a panhandler/prostitute trying to make her way in NYC, along with her friends Stevie (Martha Plimpton). While there, Solanas meets Candy Darling (Stephen Dorff) who introduces her to Andy Warhol (Jared Harris). Solanas then forcefully attempts to get Warhol to produce a play of hers as well as publish The S.C.U.M. Manifesto, even though he shows nothing more than polite interest. All of this, inevitably leads to Solanas's declining mental stability, resulting in her believing that Andy Warhol is trying to control her life and then to that inevitable day of violence.

The Queering
After watching I Shot Andy Warhol, I now have a better understanding of why Warhol would produce something as terrible as Woman in Revolt even though I still do not think that cinematic disaster can be excused in any way.

However, it is important to note that while I Shot Andy Warhol attempts to understand Solanas as a human being - for example we see bits and pieces of her childhood and the time she spent at college - it does not attempt to condone her actions or philosophies, merely show how someone could be driven to these extremes. Solanas is portrayed as someone with a rapidly deteriorating mental health, which can be seen as a result of the discrimination she had faced as a woman and the sexual molestation that occurred when she was a child. And Warhol comes across as an innocent here, someone who had Solanas foisted upon him and who only reacted with a feigned politeness to attempts on Solanas's part for Warhol to produce and publish her works.

The S.C.U.M. Manifesto is considered a feminist classic in some circles and I Shot Andy Warhol takes time to show us insights into Solanas's thought process. Excerpts from S.C.U.M. are read to us by Solanas in black and white shots highlighting by implication the personal demons that Solanas obviously faced.

The star of this movie is obviously Lily Taylor, whose hard as nails performance drives the movie through even the roughest patches. Taylor is the one who makes the movie. Any performance of a lesser caliber might have made I Shot Andy Warhol unwatchable in some of the more difficult scenes, but with Lily Taylor's mesmerizing performance, everything else falls into place. Jared Harris plays Andy Warhol as a quiet, mousy kind of guy. Although I always imagined an artist with Warhol's reputation to have had more of a presence personality wise, my boyfriend informed me that Harris's interpretation is valid.

Recommendation
While Solanas's philosophy and writings, particularly The S.C.U.M. Manifesto may be offensive to some, I do not think that should be a barrior for anyone to view I Shot Andy Warhol. Highly recommended.

The Rating

Promo



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Queer Review: Women in Revolt (1971)

Women in Revolt
Director: Paul Morrissey
Writer: Paul Morrissey
Cast: Candy Darling, Jackie Curtis, Holly Woodlawn

Overview
This Warhol Factory production attempts to satirize the Women's Liberation movement. Unfortunately, Women in Revolt is so painful an experience to watch, that I believe viewing it should be covered by 8th Amendment to the Constitution (the one about Cruel and Unusual Punishment).

Synopsis
Three women Candy (Candy Darling), Jackie (Jackie Curtis), and Holly (Holly Woodlawn) played by men in drag, come together to create a women's liberation movement called P.I.G. (Politically Involved Girls) and become lesbians. We the audience are then subjected to scene after scene - thankfully interrupted by some lengthy scenes of extended nudity - where these characters sit around and complain to each other about the evils of men and how tragic their miserable lives are.

The Queering
Women in Revolt was made by under the auspices of the Warhol Factory shortly after the attempted murder of Andy Warhol by radical feminist Valerie Solanas. It is not hard therefore, to see Warhol and company aiming the "satire" of Women in Revolt at Solanas. There is an obvious kinship between P.I.G. and the S.C.U.M (Society for Cutting Up Men) Manifesto which was written by Solanas. I can understand the sentiment as I imagine Warhol was not exactly a fan of Solanas after that event. However, there is no excuse for him to have foisted this unfunny dung pile upon the public at large.

I suppose on one hand, there will be those who leap to write/director Paul Morrissey's defense here and argue that there is some sort of artistic vision driving the movie's nearly incoherent plot forward. These people will probably point out the symbolism and shocking irony of having most of the nudity provided by the men rather then the women.

I, however, find no difficulty in calling a pretentious pile of **** a pretentious pile of ****. After watching Women in Revolt I can only say that I developed an even deeper appreciation of Born in Flames, which was another low budget, pro-feminist independent film and that I kept thinking of fondly while watching this movie.

Let's start with the acting. The only nice thing I can say here is that some of the better performers did not grate on my nerves quite so much as the worst performers did. At least a few of them were obviously high while they were filming their scenes.

As for the production values, the camera work appears to have been done by somebody with only the dimmest sense of where they should be pointing the camera and the editing done by a drunken person with access to only a chainsaw and scotch tape. As for the writing, I am guessing that the dialog was developed using a technique that is now commonly referred to as mumblecore, although if there had been more mumbling and less screeching this film would have been a little easier to bear.

The only positive aspect of this movie is that there is a fairly large amount of male nudity and some female nudity. Although, if that is what one wants, one would be best served by watching porn, as most pornos would have better acting, writing, and production values than Women in Revolt

Recommendation
Too many revolting characteristics to be worth watching. Avoid at all costs.

The Rating

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