The audience for the film did exactly what Todd had hoped - no it didn't turn every gay person straight and every straight person gay - we're not referring to that 'modest' goal, but this one:

I hoped it would be like those trippy movies you'd go to and then analyze with your friends; buy the record and play it over and over again and ponder its ( Read more... )

The smaller roles in Velvet Goldmine are as well cast as the leads. Some are acting veterans like Arthur's boss Lou, [see Update below] but for many of them, Velvet Goldmine is their only role to date. A few, like Arthur's brother and Brian's Mod girlfriend seem to be quite active on British TV. And who wouldn't cast the charming Joe Beattie, who ( Read more... )

There is no one quite like Eddie Izzard. He's acted on stage - playing Lenny Bruce and the lead in "A Day In The Death Of Joe Egg" - to much acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic. He's done a variety of great cameo roles on film. But he's most well known for his stand up routines which are rapid fire ideas about history and people that are at the ( Read more... )

script:
Arthur’s eyes flash up. The shimmer swells. Extreme CLOSE-UP of Curt.

(very far-away)
I forget where we were. On a trip. But he says to me, 'Curt...

FLASH TO:
EXT. BEACH - DAY - 1973

A bleached-out image of Brian and Curt on some beach.Both Curt and Brian recall the same moment on holiday, in flashback, as the highlight of ( Read more... )

script:
Arthur glances up from his computer.

TV SCREEN

Shannon, brittle for her age, speaks into a mike. Beside her sits Tommy Stone.

SHANNON
(on TV)
...Due to the overwhelming demand, additional shows are being added whenever and wherever possible.

TRACK IN to Arthur who is stuck, watching.

TV NEWS
(off-screen)According to a spokesman for ( Read more... )

script:
Arthur pulls out the chair to his desk.

CUT TO:

LATER

Computer screen. Words flash by:

‘FILE REQUEST FOR NAME CHANGE SEARCH:
SLADE, BRIAN’

Arthur’s face as he searches, blue in the glow of his computer. The TV blares in the background.

TV NEWS
(off-screen)Sponsored by President Reynolds' Redeem America Committee, the ( Read more... )

script:
INT. BIJOU OFFICES - DAY - 1974

Brian’s face, starring at the monitor, a ghost of his former self.

CLOSE ON his hand rewinding the tape.Much is made of whether or not Todd took timeframe liberties with the presence of the video cassette player in this scene. While they were not yet a fixture in people's homes, Bowie certainly had access ( Read more... )

script:
An individual looking remarkably like Brian, dressed as Maxwell Demon, stands with two other flashily dressed individuals.

Curt squints at the spectre, taking a few vague steps in his direction.

The figure turns, revealing himself to be a teenage fan.

Curt, CLOSE, spooked by the misrecognition.While Curt walks through the Kreuzberg, ( Read more... )

script:
MANDY
(voice-over)
It was pretty clear what was happening. It happens every day. But for the world to think it was happening, well... That was Jerry’s particular genius.

That line nearly sums up the whole film - for the world to think it was happening. This is akin to the idea in Wilde's The Critic as Artist, "To give an accurate ( Read more... )

In the Bijou offices, on Jerry's desk there is a vase of beautiful white lilies. This is one of the most well known symbols of Oscar Wilde and the Aesthetic movement. From Richard Ellmann's bio of Wilde, describing his years at Oxford, "His decor included also the talismanic lily, sanctified by Ruskin in The Stones of Venice as one of the most ( Read more... )