Velvet Goldmine (1998)
78%RT Audience Score: 80%
Awards & Nominations: Nominated for 1 Oscar
4 wins & 12 nominations total
Velvet Goldmine takes a visual and narrative approach befitting its larger-than-life subject, although it’s still disappointingly less than the sum of its parts
If you’re looking for a movie that’s a wild ride of sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll, Velvet Goldmine is the perfect pick. With costumes that are a show unto themselves and a thumping, infectious soundtrack, this movie is a celebration of all things glam. Sure, the story structure might be a bit all over the place, but who cares when you’re having this much fun? Plus, there are some genuinely tender moments that will make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. So grab your glitter and get ready to rock out with Velvet Goldmine!
Production Company(ies)
Wiedemann & Berg Filmproduktion, Bayerischer Rundfunk ARTE
Distributor
Miramax Films
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
Lyceum Theatre, Wellington Street, Covent Garden, London, England, UK
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for strong sexual content, nudity, language and drug use
Year of Release
1998
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:2h 3m
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Language(s):English, French
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Nov 6, 1998 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): May 18, 1999
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Jonathan Rhys Myers, Ewan McGregor, Christian Bale, Toni Collette, Eddie Izzard, Emily Woof, directed by Todd Haynes, written by Todd Haynes and James Lyons, produced by Christine Vachon, drama, R-rated, box office gross $1.0M, reviewed by Kristy Puchko, Paul Tatara, Owen Gleiberman, Jeremiah Kipp, James Berardinelli, Roger Ebert, Jan Stuart, Tracey Petherick, Jordan M Smith, Emmet Asher-Perrin, Jeffrey M Anderson, glam rock, Brian Slade, Maxwell Demon, Arthur Stuart, Mandy Slade, Jerry Devine, Shannon, Miramax Films, Surround sound, Dolby Digital, Dolby A, Dolby SR, Flat (1.85:1) aspect ratio
Worldwide gross: $1,053,788
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $1,933,850
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,426
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 210,889
US/Canada gross: $1,053,788
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $1,933,850
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,043
US/Canada opening weekend: $301,787
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $553,822
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,379
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Jonathan Rhys-Meyers – Brian Slade
Toni Collette – Mandy Slade
Christian Bale – Arthur Stuart
Eddie Izzard – Jerry Devine
Emily Woof – Shannon
Director(s)
Todd Haynes
Writer(s)
Todd Haynes, Todd Haynes, James Lyons
Producer(s)
Christine Vachon
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 1 Oscar
4 wins & 12 nominations total
Academy Awards
All Critics (47) | Top Critics (10) | Fresh (28) | Rotten (19)
Haynes makes the dream so sweet, you can’t help but return again and again to crushing glamor and gorgeousness of Velvet Goldmine.
June 23, 2019
Kristy Puchko
Pajiba
TOP CRITIC
I’m telling you, I was bored stiff.
February 8, 2018
Paul Tatara
CNN.com
TOP CRITIC
September 7, 2011 | Rating: B+
Owen Gleiberman
Entertainment Weekly
TOP CRITIC
Repeat viewings will allow one to piece together the fragmented montage as a melancholic ode to freedom, and those who fight for it through art.
March 25, 2004 | Rating: 4/4
Jeremiah Kipp
Slant Magazine
TOP CRITIC
January 1, 2000 | Rating: 2/4
James Berardinelli
ReelViews
TOP CRITIC
In Velvet Goldmine, there is the sense that the film’s arms were spread too wide, gathered in all of the possible approaches to the material and couldn’t decide on just one.
January 1, 2000 | Rating: 2/4
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
TOP CRITIC
The music is thumping and infectious, the costumes of Sandy Powell a show unto themselves.
April 19, 2022
Jan Stuart
The Advocate
Ultimately, among the sometimes bewildering mash up of sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll, there are some genuinely tender moments and an overarching celebration of diversity.
June 30, 2021 | Rating: 3/5
Tracey Petherick
Common Sense Media
Though it is thoroughly engaging and appropriately hallucinatory, the film’s Orson Welles inspired story structure and fluctuating tonality is irritatingly cumbersome.
November 19, 2020 | Rating: 3/5
Jordan M. Smith
IONCINEMA.com
There is a deep sense of ennui embedded in Velvet Goldmine, an acknowledgement that something singular from those years of glam can never be recaptured.
January 14, 2019
Emmet Asher-Perrin
Tor.com
Haynes’ chronicle of the glam era is visually rich but too dramatically fragmented and overwhelmed by music to permit involvement in the tale’s characters or the director’s POV.
April 23, 2012 | Rating: C+
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
The style is devilishly flamboyant and gleefully indulgent; every shot is full of amazing stuff. The edits dance and twist. It’s a glam movie about a glam subject.
January 7, 2012
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid…
Plot
London, 1971 – Flower Power is on the wane and floundering hippie troubadour Brian Slade feels old-fashioned and out of step until he experiences the raw power of rock musician and exhibitionist Curt Wild at a live concert. Smitten and inspired, Slade rises from the ashes of fussy brocade, reincarnating as the ambiguous pop-rock God/dess of platinum dust and phoenix feathers, Maxwell Demon. His alluring androgynous imagery and the seductive sounds his ‘glitter rock’ seduce teenagers across the world, offering refuge for the weird and unwanted with the promise of an everything-goes hedonism. At the height of his fame and cultural influence, he plots his sensational demise to escape, alienating his fans and falling into obscurity. On the 10th anniversary of the character assassination, journalist Arthur Stuart investigates Slade’s disappearance, forcing him to revisit his own confusing teenage identity crisis and rebirth mirroring that of his idol Brian Slade.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The film features a talented cast including Ewan McGregor, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Toni Collette, and Christian Bale.
Todd-Haynes.jpg
