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The collective was known as The Velvet Underground, and over the course of nine years, five records, lineup changes and immense artistic differences, the musical project was the start of something new in music history: a forefront towards a more experimental, contemporary and undiscovered form of rock and roll. Their new documentary, titled under the same name as the group, is made in honor of their spiritual and artistic connections, and is perhaps a perfect treatment for fans.

Director Todd Haynes’ filmography does not go musically unnoticed. His previous work consisted of various musical themes like his meta Bob Dylan tale, “I’m Not There,” and British glam rock films like “Velvet Goldmine.” The theme and backdrop of “The Velvet Underground” are the explosive newcomings New York City’s art scene brought out in the 1960s, when poet Allen Ginsberg, filmmaker Jonas Mekas and painter Andy Warhol fueled a storm of immense cultural change. As much as it’s a look at one of the more impactful musicians in rock and roll history, it’s also a historical essay and love letter to New York City’s melting pot of artistic expression.

“The Velvet Underground” is told entirely in a split-screen/multi-framed format in an ode to Warhol’s 1966 experimental classic “Chelsea Girls.” The film is played off in different chapters, some of them being solely about the important figures from the band’s span of life.

Each chapter of the film is a dense, explorative piece on the evolution of each bandmate. Narrated mostly by multi-instrumentalist and band member John Cale, it feels authentic and close-to-home. It focuses on the roots of their love in music: Cale’s upbringing as an avant-garde viola composer, and Sterling Morrison and Maureen “Moe” Tucker’s childhood friendship that ultimately glued the band into its final form.

The chapter titled “ANDY” delves into Warhol’s role as producer of “The Velvet Underground & Nico” album and creator of the famous banana cover for the project. Warhol was the backbone of the group, and he became their manager in 1965.

It was Warhol who suggested that they use singer and actress Nico, who had been in his recent experimental pictures, “The Closet” and “Ari and Mario.” A German model who progressed into the music scene as a centerpiece for avant-garde folk, Nico sang alongside Lou Reed on almost every song on that first record.

Reed, the band’s lead songwriter, singer and guitarist may be a familiar name for the Syracuse community. He attended Syracuse University in the early sixties, playing under numerous band names (one being L.A. and the Eldorados) throughout campus. The documentary takes some time to talk about Reed’s time at Syracuse, looking back as a moment of change for the musically progressive individual. It was here at SU that he met Sterling Morrison, a friend of Reed’s and later co-guitarist in the band.

The film reveals many intriguing elements that made the band’s sound, one being the use of drones — continuously sounding notes or chords in a song — in Cale’s production. La Monte Young, a famed minimalist composer who lived with Cale for some time, believed that using “drones” would benefit the compositions of the Velvet Underground’s dark horse. Through great exposition, Haynes makes a clean-cut record of a short-lived masterclass of a band, whose detailed experimentation influenced the rest of the world.

Fans of The Velvet Underground band will be pleased with the in-depth glimpse of the subjects in this documentary. But if you’re looking for a detailed look on every year, every record and every moment of the band’s nine years, you won’t find that — more than half the runtime is dedicated to the years of 1964-67. As a cumulative readthrough of New York City’s previous film, music and art waves, however, it’s the near-perfect examination. “The Velvet Underground” is a relished and honest voyage on the band members’ upbringings as musical prodigies.

Published on November 2, 2021 at 11:50 pm