Derby Girl
Derby Girl
I know award-quality when I see it, and Sienna Miller's capturing of Edie Sedgwick -- the doomed mid '60s scenester and Andy Warhol girl who died in '71 at age 28 -- in George Hickenlooper's Factory Girl (Weinstein Co.) totally rates. It may be the most eerily accurate reviving of a dead person I've ever seen in a film. And yet Miller projects dimension and gravitas in spades -- an unmistakable sadness and snap and aliveness like nothing I've gotten from an actress in any movie so far this year.
Sienna Miller as Edie Sedgwick in George Hickenloooper's Factory Girl (Weinstein Co.)
If and when the Weinstein Co. puts Factory Girl into theatres before 12.31 (which may happen, I'm now hearing), Miller will be right in there against Prada's Meryl Streep, The Queen's Helen Mirren, Notes on a Scandal's Judi Dench and maybe Running With Scissors' Annette Benning. She's playing the only tragic figure in the group -- the only one who goes to her doom with mascara running down her face.
Miller isn't just a dead ringer for the real McCoy -- she gets her fluttery debutante laugh, that mixture of Warholian cool and little-girl terror, the giddy euphoria, the cracked voice. It's more than convincing -- it's a kind of rebirthing. (I feel I can say this with some authority having seen the real Sedgwick in John Palmer and David Weisman's Ciao Manhattan! way back when, and having looked at her photos for years.)
Hickenlooper's film is a kind of rebirthing also. Most of it feels like a mid to late '60s Paul Morrissey film. It has a grungy Manhattan, Collective for Living Cinema, 16mm street quality, like it was shot two or three years before Flesh and Lonesome Cowboys and maybe a year or two after Empire State and Blow Job.
Hickenlooper gives it discipline and tension, working from a tight script by Captain Mauzner but styling in the realm of the Warhol-Morrissey aesthetic, which could be summed up as "don't recreate anything, just behave and let it happen."
This is obviously a nervy approach (the person who recently informed a WWD writer that Factory Girl is "kind of a mess" has probably never seen a Warhol -Morrisey film) but with nerve comes a feeling of other-ness. For my money the raw-funk approach works without the viewer needing a NYU degree in Film Studies.
Guy Pearce as Andy Warhol
I'm not going to do a review because the disc I saw was rough and incomplete -- there's plenty of time to get into it down the line. But I should at least mention Guy Pearce's Warhol portrayal, which for me is much drier and colder and more delicious than Jared Harris's portrayal in I Shot Andy Warhol or Crispin Glover's in The Doors. The rumble in the jungle is that Weinstein Co. execs feels Guy's performance is Oscar-worthy also.
And Hayden Christensen's performance of an obviously Bob Dylan-ish figure is, for me, the most engaging thing he's ever done.
Here are some thoughts from a critic friend who caught Factory Girl under similar circumstances:
"Sienna Miller's performance is a revelation on several levels -- most importantly of her great solar talent; she's riveting and charismatic in every instant, whether Edie is in meteor-mode or downfall. Hickenlooper was so right to fight for her to play the role. I'm a highly dedicated devotee of the real Edie so I began watching the film with the bar of expectation set extra-high. Well, old Sienna not only vaulted that bar, she blasted the tiles right out of the ceiling and kept going. Edie Lives.
"I'm also still marveling at Guy Pearce's otherworldly Andy Warhol -- a breathtaking creation of a man whose ghost haunts himself. I'm also deeply impressed with Hayden Christensen's osmosis of the Mystery-Tramp-Who-Shall-Remain- Nameless. I've always thought highly of this young actor -- he's still developing, but his instincts are first-rate. As one who has long loved Dylan, I deeply respected where Hayden was able to fish within himself to bring that very difficult prodigy to light.
"I think of Factory Girl as a kind of female Lawrence of Arabia. I'm serious. Edie is an opaque, enigmatic figure by definition, just as T.E. Lawrence was. There is never any 'explaining' such a character -- we can only experience them, the way anyone who loved them in life might have. That way we can love Edie. Start slow, and people will adore the rush as the film takes off, and maybe even feel a bit scared on her behalf as we lose sight of the girl she is in the film's beginning moments.
"I feel quite highly of the energy and verve of Mauzner's screenplay, and feel that Hickenlooker has gone one better and energized the story. Hickenlooper and Mauzner have located Edie in a kind of 'permanent present-tense' (as opposed to a period), and I'm willing to bet audiences will embrace her anew, and with her, the film."
Sienna Miller, George Hickenlooper at the Spirits Awards last March
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on August 17, 2006 at 5:28 PM
comment #1
ZacharyTF
says ...
This is the second film in as many weeks that has jumped from never heard of it to must-see. The other is Half Nelson which Richard Roeper and Kevin Smith raved about this past weekend. I sense a busy fall for me. :)
Posted by ZacharyTF
at August 17, 2006 10:12 PM
comment #2
D.Z.
says ...
It's nice to know she's talented, because she deserves something after getting treated like crap by Jude Law.
Posted by D.Z.
at August 18, 2006 12:45 AM
comment #3
AH
says ...
Ms. Miller's been in a couple of movies and, one of my fave shows, "Keen Eddie" and been great in them all. Unfortunately she's been getting killed in the tabs.
I hope that her performance isn't impacted by the tabs coverage. She is obviously a very good actress who is making some very interesting acting choices.
Posted by AH
at August 18, 2006 1:56 AM
comment #4
pauly
says ...
It will be hard to know if Sienna Miller gives an accurate portrayal of Edie Sedgwick because almost nobody under 45yrs old will know who Edie Sedgwick was. Guy Pearce as Andy Warhol sounds interesting though.
Posted by pauly
at August 18, 2006 4:57 AM
comment #5
Circumvrent
says ...
Took my brain an extra moment to realize that those last two pictures weren't of Miller and Pearce. Wow.
Posted by Circumvrent
at August 18, 2006 6:45 AM
comment #6
Nicol D
says ...
"I think of Factory Girl as a kind of female Lawrence of Arabia. I'm serious."
Sentences like this, just make people lose so much credibility.
Is there a reason why we should care about the Edie Sedgwick's of the world?
I know I often come off as Mr. Grumpy Pants to many but really, when I think of all of the historical figures who have not had stories told about them in modern cinema...
If Sienna Miller can faithfully recreate the incarnation of a vapid, brain dead groupy who accomplished nothing in her life...so what?
I mean really... at this stage, the dude who wants to do the version of Mother Theresa with Paris Hilton seems to at least be striving.
We need a serious bio of Edie like we need a fourth Pirates film.
Posted by Nicol D
at August 18, 2006 10:43 AM
comment #7
Joshua Mooney
says ...
This is damn good news. Edie's life has haunted me for many years. There are SO many ways to fuck it up on film, but sounds like much care was taken to avoid these pitfalls. Cool.
And assuming for the sake of argument, Nicol D, that Edie "accomplished nothing in her life," why on earth does that render her story not worth the telling? I marvel, briefly, at pronouncements such as yours. And then I move on. "Is there a reason we should care" about Edie? Well, yeah. "Homo sum: humani nil a me alienum puto." Anyway, anyone who seems to have determined that Edie was a "vapid, brain dead groupy [sic]" probably won't appreciate the film. Fine. But why the resentment?
Guy Pearce is WAY too pretty for Warhol, so I hope the makeup crew went all out to roughen him up appropriately. Otherwise, I'm expecting he'll be the best Andy yet.
Posted by Joshua Mooney
at August 18, 2006 12:25 PM
comment #8
Nicol D
says ...
Why the resentment?
When you think of all of the people and events and history that have not been told in modern American film (still waiting for that modern epic on the horror's of Stalinist Russia), the life of a flaky groupie is of little consequence.
All I'm sayin' is loving this film and subject matter is fine...but then lets not get all pissy about how America is 'moron nation'.
I'm just sayin'...
Posted by Nicol D
at August 18, 2006 1:36 PM
comment #9
natfinkelsein
says ...
guy pearse is perfect as Andy
Sienna is great
I've worked with all 4 of them being consultant and photographer on Factory Girl
the photo of Andy and Edie together is under my copyright and should be credited
Posted by natfinkelsein
at August 18, 2006 4:36 PM
comment #10
natfinkelsein
says ...
guy pearse is perfect as Andy
Sienna is great
I've worked with all 4 of them being consultant and photographer on Factory Girl
the photo of Andy and Edie together is under my copyright and should be credited
Posted by natfinkelsein
at August 18, 2006 4:36 PM
comment #11
natfinkelsein
says ...
Why are the some of the posters on lj so possessive of Edie
that they cant stand to think of either sienna or guy to be worthy
of representation.......;these kids are nuts its like a shark tank
Posted by natfinkelsein
at August 18, 2006 4:45 PM
comment #12
addison
says ...
I wonder if they are going to use the old Cult song about Edie "Ciao Baby" in the soundtrack. I'm not a big fan of the Cult but something about that song is haunting and has stuck with me for years. It made me want to look up Edie to find out more about her. Anyway, I'll definitely see this film, but mostly because I think Miller was good in Layer Cake and Alfie and Pearce has made some really interesting film choices. Not necessarily because I expect to find out so much more about the life of Warhol and Sedgewick.
Anybody want to make a bet that after paris hilton dies "tragically" from a drug overdose or some such idiocy in 30 years there will be a biopic about her? Just sayin' ...
Posted by addison
at August 18, 2006 6:24 PM
comment #13
fnt
says ...
The script was so bad I have a hard time believing the movie is as good as you say. I guess we'll see.
Which is not to say that her performance couldn't be fantastic...
Posted by fnt
at August 18, 2006 11:40 PM
comment #14
Filthy Rich
says ...
I can't say I'm surprised at Snakes on a Plane tanking. The trailers and ads were so bad for that show that it killed my desire to see even see the thing.
It sounded like a fun little kitchy movie until those ads started playing and then it just looked like a stupid, cheap action movie that should have gone straight to vid.
Posted by Filthy Rich
at August 21, 2006 11:57 PM
comment #15
Dave Polands Gut
says ...
Is it me or did that letter just compare this to Lawrence of Arabia? Lay off the shrooms.
Posted by Dave Polands Gut
at August 22, 2006 11:46 AM
comment #16
JET
says ...
Oscar nomination for Sienna Miller ??? NO WAY
I'm sorry but I still remember Sienna Miller, after last year's Academy Awards, trying to have public sex with Sean Penn at the bar of the Chateau Marmont Hotel on Sunset Strip, in full view of hundreds of Hollywood producers, directors, and other moguls.
In "Factory Girl" Sienna Miller attempts to portray Edie Sedgwick, who was a real life muse of PITTSBURGH'S Andy Warhol.
After Sienna Miller's RECENT crude comments and bizarre DIVA behavior in Pittsburgh during the filming of "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh", do you really think that the hundreds of producers, directors, actors and writers in Hollywood that were either born in Pittsburgh or attended College in Pittsburgh would ever vote for the idiot Sienna Miller ???
Harvey & Bob Weinstein, save your money instead of wasting it on a Sienna Miller campaign.
Posted by JET
at October 27, 2006 2:14 AM
comment #17
natfinkelstein
says ...
OK GUYS HERE IS SOME INSIDER .I WAS A CONSULTANT TO GUY
AND SIENNA AS WELL AS EDIES PHOTOGRAPHER AND SOME TIMES FRIEND . I HAVE NOT SEEN THE MOVIE BUT GEORGE HICKENLOOPER WORKED LIKE A DOG RECREATING THE AMBIENCE OF A 80 S COUNTER CULTURE FILM .GUY IS A PERFECT ANDY .WHEN HE CAME TO MY STUDIO I TURNED MY BACK AND SAID "BE ANDY ' THE VOICE I HEARD COULD HAVE COME FROM
A GYPSY SEANCE,IT WAS ANDY FROM BEYOND SIENNA ..OH IF I WAS =40 YEARS YOUNGER .PERFECT EDIE AND SOMEWHERES IN THE ETHOS EDIE SEDGWICK IS LOOKING DOWN AND SAYING "NAT DO I LOOK LIKE SIENNA " THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SIENNA AND EDIE IS THE SIENNA WORKED TO ACTUALIZE HER TALENT EDIE THREW IT AWAY
Posted by natfinkelstein
at December 31, 2006 12:04 PM