Todd Haynes achieves an impressive array of objectives with his first bona-fide documentary in four decades of filmmaking. Among other things, The Velvet Underground functions very satisfactorily as an astute primer on the artistic and sociocultural petri dish of ’60s New York; a kaleidoscopic master class on postwar American experimental cinema, culminating in Andy Warhol’s calculating conquest of the scene; and a coherent history of the forging and fissuring of one of the most pivotal outfits in American music. Especially impressive is the efficiency and velocity with which Haynes’ film conveys said history without unduly abbreviating the band’s original six-year run, or offering apologies for the nastiness that both Lou Reed and John Cale were clearly capable of. Yet Haynes achieves here an even more notable feat, which is to…
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Cinema Scope (Digital) - 1 Issue, Issue 89 - Winter 2022