The Velvet Underground review: Director Todd Haynes’ documentary reflects the avant-garde spirit of the band

4/5

Most music documentaries are made just to please fans, or to market a musician’s new project. Every contemporary docs that I have watched, in my opinion, are mere hagiographies that provide no new insight or information. That’s partly because there’s an image the band or the musician has to maintain in order to stay likeable, their commercial appeal depends on how well-liked they are by their followers. That’s not a concern for The Velvet Underground documentary because (a) The band is defunct, and (b) Being likeable was never really a concern of theirs — at least according to my understanding — though they are pioneers in the history of rock music .

Director Todd Haynes deftly captures the avant-garde spirit of the band comprising Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison, Angus MacLise (then replaced by Moe Tucker), and German singer Nico that mushroomed during a time when the New York avant-garde art scene was at its peak. It is structurally and aesthetically framed, unlike typical music documentaries I am familiar with. Through the cinematic medium, Haynes creates an art gallery-like experience; it’s like watching an immersive multimedia installation, but on a screen.

The screen’s often split into two – one with the interviewee talking and on the other Reed or Cale, in black and white, peering in — and once into 12 boxes each featuring a clip or an image telling a different story. surviving band members like Cale, Tucker, Jonas Mekas (often referred to as the godfather of avant-garde cinema), composer La Monte Young, photographer Stephen Shore relive the past, and share in-depth anecdotes from that time. If only Reed, Morrison and Nico were around, there would have been so much more to dig into.

Haynes goes all the way back to the genesis of the band, starting with Reed who had always envisioned a life of rock and roll for himself. He formed a group that in spite of being terrible never turned down an opportunity to perform. The personal experiences that inspired Reed’s songwriting are also touched upon. Reed’s voice admits that “we had to change our name a lot because nobody would hire us.” Then there’s the journey to releasing their debut album The Velvet Underground & Nico in the making of which Warhol was keenly involved. Haynes also takes the audience through the band’s dissolution and Reed embarking on his solo career in the ‘70s. Fans will relive this, and for newer viewers it will be an

The band was never a commercial success, for the themes they sang about, and their eclectic sound was probably way ahead for the sensibilities of an average radio listener or record buyer at that time. The Velvet Underground’s aesthetic also stood out starkly against the flower power era. “We hated that, get real,” Tucker tells the camera. They were outsiders in a time when being an outsider, rebelling against the preset notions of how things work was cool.

Haynes does not let Reed overshadow or become the focal point of the documentary, as it could have been a safer, more popular choice. Every band member gets their due, especially the women. This is a documentary that will allow fans of the band to reminscence, and relive the band's highs and lows, but also introduce new viewers to the novelty, the freshness and the sometimes devil-may-care music and atittude that The Velvet Underground stood for.