By GRAHAM REID
(Herald rating: * * * * *)
A gripping doco putting Warhol into his various contexts: the Eisenhower world of the 50s, a pivotal art figure of the 60s, and a self-created superstar in the Studio 54 hedonism of the 70s.
It allows for his cold, detached, monosyllabic personality, his role as social palimpsest, and as an emblem of American consumer society.
This revealing overview has family footage and interviews with rural relatives, with commentary from David Hockney, Roy Lichtenstein , Lou Reed, Dennis Hopper and others. It accounts for Warhol's Interview magazine ("more interested in the surfaces"), the non-stop work to get on top ("I'm a commercial person, I love money"), Warhol on The Love Boat, and has great quotes throughout: "His look was intimidating" says Grace Jones. "And I know a lot about that."
He didn't talk much and wasn't funny, but was as genuine as a fingerprint, said his high-school year book. Critics aren't interviewed but with an intelligent soundtrack, fractured flickers of young Dylan and Velvet Underground, this exploration of images of American art/consumer culture is terrific.
Or as Warhol might have said, "Ohh, umm, graay-t. Thanks a laaht. Oh, gosh."
Label: Warners
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