Velvet Goldmine
(Miramax)
Along with taking
its name from an obscure Bowie tune, Todd Haynes's rock drama is inspired by
the rise and fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, the glammiest of
all of David Bowie's many mutations. After hinting that Bowie may be a
time-traveling Oscar Wilde, the film turns into postmodern Citizen Kane.
Brian Slade, who, give or take some eyeshadow, is Bowie, serves as this film's
Charles Foster Kane; Arthur Stuart (played by Christian Bale) is the reporter
digging through a murky past to uncover the truth about him. Like glam rock
itself, the film doesn't bother with heavy character or plot development --
which makes Velvet Goldmine more compelling as rock criticism than as
entertaining cinema.
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