What more can you ask from a film? I did find the Warhol style a little jarring at the beginning, with some of the flashing imagery, but it did calm down and seems fully appropriate to the subject and so much better than it being a dull series of interviews with talking heads.

Its very much a celebration of the bands music and legacy and a few of the interviews made me laugh and the closing montage may have made me cry a little. Very much enjoyed this, as a fan of the bands music, I'm not sure I learned much that I didn't know before but I loved seeing a lot of this archive footage and photographs, which I don't think have been seen before publicly. Reed, of course, became a rock icon as a solo artist, but, the band's impact stands apart as a singular achievement, something which Haynes captures brilliantly.

It paints a vivid picture of the rise and premature fall of the group (Co-founder John Cale only appeared on the first two albums singer Nico only on their debut). The interview subjects range from John Waters to Warhol scenesters like Mary Woronov, to go along with the generous archive footage. They never sold many records at the time, but their influence was profound. By hooking up with Andy Warhol and becoming his 'house band', the Velvet Underground not only got attention, but it also guaranteed that film and still photography would document their every move. He creatively makes the link between the avant-garde and the 'underground' which sets the stage for the band to flourish. Haynes doesn't use narration but he builds his movie with ample footage from the time period. Todd Haynes' artful documentary on the pioneering art rock band fronted by Lou Reed and John Cale takes almost 40 minutes before Reed and Cale even meet.

The velvet underground 2021 online