I Shot Andy Warhol is a 1996 American-British independent film about the life of Valerie Solanas and her relationship with the artist Andy Warhol. The film marked the debut of Canadian director Mary Harron. The film stars Lili Taylor as Valerie, Jared Harris as Andy Warhol, and Martha Plimpton as Valerie's friend Stevie. Stephen Dorff plays Warhol superstar Candy Darling. John Cale of The Velvet Underground wrote the film's score despite protests from former band member Lou Reed. Yo La Tengo plays an anonymous band that is somewhat reminiscent of the group.
The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Teddy Awards, the film was selected to be shown at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2016.
Video I Shot Andy Warhol
Plot
The film opens moments after the shooting, quickly followed by a scene with Valerie Solanas (Lili Taylor) in custody for shooting Andy Warhol (Jared Harris). The film then goes back to when Valerie is living in New York making a living as a sex worker. A series of further flashbacks point to her difficult childhood, and success in studying psychology at college. Here, Valerie discovers that she is a lesbian, that she can write, and that she has a distinctive view of the world. This leads her to New York City and its downtown underworld. Through her friend Stevie (Martha Plimpton), she meets Candy Darling (Stephen Dorff), who in turn introduces her to Andy Warhol.
Meanwhile, Valerie also meets Maurice Girodias (Lothaire Bluteau), the publisher of Olympia Press. While Valerie wants Warhol to produce her play, Up Your Ass, Girodias wants her to write a pornographic novel for him. Once she signs a contract with Girodias, she comes to suspect his offer is not a generous one and may not be in her interest. She comes to regret signing this contract. At this point, her increasing derangement leads her to believe that Warhol and Girodias are controlling her. The film concludes, where it began, with Solanas' attempted murder of Warhol. The film then steps ten years into the future, where Warhol lives in fear the rest of his life that Valerie will strike again while he continues his life up until his death, and in death Valerie's "pornographic" novel was the SCUM manifesto, which is now regarded as a feminist classic.
Maps I Shot Andy Warhol
Cast
- Lili Taylor as Valerie Solanas
- Jared Harris as Andy Warhol
- Stephen Dorff as Candy Darling
- Martha Plimpton as Stevie
- Lothaire Bluteau as Maurice Girodias
- Anna Levine as Iris
- Peter Friedman as Alan Burke
- Tahnee Welch as Viva
- Jamie Harrold as Jackie Curtis
- Donovan Leitch as Gerard Malanga
- Jim Lyons as Billy Name
- Michael Imperioli as Ondine
- Reg Rogers as Paul Morrissey
- Bill Sage as Tom Baker
- Justin Theroux as Mark
- Jill Hennessy as Laura
- Coco McPherson as Brigid Berlin
- Lorraine Farris as Susan
- Craig Chester as Fred Hughes
- Victor Browne as Danny
- Billy Erb as Rotten Rita
- Anh Duong as Comtesse de Courcy
- Myriam Cyr as Ultra Violet
Background
Initially intended as a BBC documentary, the film was directed by Mary Harron who also co-wrote the screenplay with Daniel Minahan.
Dr. Dana Heller, professor of English at the Old Dominion University, argues that the film stages the conflict between Solanas and Warhol as less the result of gender politics - particularly because Solanas intended no connection between her writing and the shooting - than of the decline of print culture as represented by Solanas and the rise of new non-writing media as embodied by Warhol and the Pop art movement. In the screenplay, Harron and Minahan describe Solanas as "banging at an ancient typewriter" and the film frequently shows her typing, for which she is mocked by Warhol and other Factory regulars. Solanas' writing is set against the new technologies of reproduction championed by Warhol.
Many people who knew Solanas and Warhol tried to rationalize the shooting. Stephen Koch, who in 1973 wrote a study of Warhol's film, stated: "Valerie lives in terror of dependence: That is what the SCUM Manifesto is about, an absolute terror before the experience of need. Like Warhol, Solanas is obsessed with an image of autonomy, except that... she has played the obsession desperately, rather than with Warhol's famous cool."
Reception
Film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 77% of critics gave the film positive reviews. On Metacritic it has a weighted score of 75/100, based on 20 critics, which it ranks as "Generally favorable reviews".
Awards and nominations
Wins
- Gijón International Film Festival Best Art Direction - Thérèse DePrez
- Seattle International Film Festival Golden Space Needle Award for Best Actress - Lili Taylor
- Stockholm Film Festival Award for Best Actress - Lili Taylor
- Sundance Film Festival Special Recognition for Outstanding Performance - Lili Taylor
Nominations
- Independent Spirit Awards Best First Feature - Mary Harron, Tom Kalin, and Christine Vachon
- Stockholm Film Festival Bronze Horse
- Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize - Dramatic
Home media
I Shot Andy Warhol was released on Region 1 DVD on January 23, 2001.
Soundtrack
- "Burned" - Wilco
- "Walk On By" - Dionne Warwick
- "One Note Samba" - Antonio Carlos Jobim
- "The More I See You" - Chris Montez
- "Itchycoo Park" - Ben Lee
- "Sunshine Superman" - Jewel
- "Caro Nome Aria" - Daniela Lojarro
- "Mas Que Nada" - Sérgio Mendes and Brasil '65
- "Love Is All Around" - R.E.M.
- "Season of the Witch" - Luna
- "Grazing in the Grass" - Hugh Masekela
- "Do You Believe in Magic" - The Lovin' Spoonful
- "The Red Telephone" - Love
- "Gimi a Little Break" - Love
- "Sensitive Euroman" - Pavement
- "Summertime Blues" - Blue Cheer
- "Kick Out the Jams" - MC5
- "Ain't Gonna Bump No More with No Big Fat Woman" - Joe Tex
- "I'll Keep It with Mine" - Bettie Serveert
- "Demons" - Yo La Tengo
References
Notes
Bibliography
- Heller, Dana (2008). "Shooting Solanas: Radical Feminist History and the Technology of Failure". In Hesford, Victoria; Diedrich, Lisa. Feminist Time Against Nation Time: Gender, Politics, and the Nation-State in an Age of Permanent War. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books. ISBN 978-0-7391-1123-9.
External links
- I Shot Andy Warhol on IMDb
- I Shot Andy Warhol at AllMovie
- I Shot Andy Warhol at Box Office Mojo
- I Shot Andy Warhol at Rotten Tomatoes
- I Shot Andy Warhol at Metacritic
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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