Factory Girl

REVIEW
So, would everyone in this film like to be famous for another fifteen minutes? If you were/are the original stars and superstars of Andy Warhol’s Factory, the answer would be a resounding, yes! George Hickenlooper (Mayor of Sunset Strip) carefully recreates the aura of early-to-mid-sixties Lower East Side, New York City. He and his production designer resurrect the Factory in all its silver glory and pack it with the madcap antics of Ondine, International Velvet, the Velvet Underground, Gerald Malanga and of course, little miss Edie Sedgwick herself, dancing to wild abandon under the watchful eye of the immaculate Warhol. Miss Sedgwick, played with graceful aplomb by Sienna Miller, is eager to go to the big Apple and prove that she is the quintessential party girl of the sixties, which she does almost immediately. Soon, she meets Warhol (played with solid conviction by Guy Pearce) who falls for her as only the consummate pop icon could.

Of course, some will malign this film as superficial and one-dimensional, but it hardly fails here. Much of what occurred then was exactly that, no surprises there. And it sketches its characters quickly and to great effect, especially the questioning natures of the principal actors. Life (and death) is but a play in the Factory and all kinds of freaks are the players, says Factory Girl.

The film surprisingly exudes a sympathetic air that envelopes the entire cast, making the viewer more able to empathize with an era and behavior long passed by. It is sad and melancholic to watch the beautiful flower that was Edie, wither and fall so quickly from the stem, almost shocking in its swiftness of descent. In the end, it becomes apparent that no one really cared about anyone else. The dark, reflecting mirrors of Warhol’s Screen Tests were perfect signifiers of the rampant narcissism exemplified by the stars and Superstars.