Velvet Goldmine (1998)

Director:

Todd Haynes

Writers:

James Lyons (story) and
Todd Haynes (story) ...
(more)

Release Date:

16 October 1998 (Sweden)

Genre:

Drama | Music

Tagline:

Leave your exceptions at the door

Plot:

In 1984, British newspaper reporter Arthur Stuart is investigating the career of 1970s glam rock star Brian Slade...

Plot Keywords:

Glam Rock | Reporter | 1970s | Male Full Frontal Nudity | Recording Studio

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 4 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Ewan McGregor	...	Curt Wild
Jonathan Rhys Meyers	...	Brian Slade
Christian Bale	...	Arthur Stuart
Toni Collette	...	Mandy Slade
Eddie Izzard	...	Jerry Devine
Emily Woof	...	Shannon
Michael Feast	...	Cecil
Janet McTeer	...	Female Narrator (voice)
Mairead McKinley	...	Wilde Housemaid (as Maraid McKinley)
Luke Morgan Oliver	...	Oscar Wilde, 8
Osheen Jones	...	Jack Fairy, 7
Micko Westmoreland	...	Jack Fairy
Damian Suchet	...	BBC Reporter
Danny Nutt	...	Kissing Sailor
Wash Westmoreland	...	Young Man
Don Fellows	...	Lou
Ganiat Kasumu	...	Mary
Ray Shell	...	Murray
Alastair Cumming	...	Tommy Stone
Zoe Boyce	...	Girl on the Subway
Jim Whelan	...	Mr. Stuart
Sylvia Grant	...	Mrs. Stuart
Tim Hans	...	Manchester Teacher
Ryan Pope	...	Arthur's Brother
Stuart Callaghan	...	Boy in Record Shop 1
James Francis	...	Boy in Record Shop 2
Callum Hamilton	...	Brian Slade, 7
Lindsay Kemp	...	Pantomime Dame
Carlos Miranda	...	Pianist
Emma Handy	...	Mod Girlfriend
Matthew Glamour	...	Mimosa
Daniel Adams	...	Curt Wild, 13
Bryan Torfeh	...	Bartender (as Brian Torfeh)
Joseph Beattie	...	Cooper
Sarah Cawood	...	Angel
David Hoyle	...	Freddi
Winston Austin	...	Micky
Ivan Cartwright	...	Cecil's Friend 1
Peter King	...	Cecil's Friend 2
Justin Salinger	...	Rodney
Roger Alborough	...	Middle Age Man
Peter Bradley Jr.	...	30's Style Singer
Jonathan Cullen	...	Reporter 1
William Key	...	Reporter 2
Vincent Marzello	...	US Reporter 1
Corey Skaggs	...	US Reporter 2
Nathan Osgood	...	US Reporter 3
Nadia Williams	...	Teenage Girl
Brian Molko	...	Malcolm (Flaming Creatures)
Antony Langdon	...	Ray (Flaming Creatures)
Xavior	...	Pearl (Flaming Creatures)
Steve Hewitt	...	Billy (Flaming Creatures)
Guy Leverton	...	Trevor (The Venus in Furs)
Vinney Reck	...	Reg (The Venus in Furs)
Keith-Lee Castle	...	Harley (The Venus in Furs)
Eden Ford	...	Bass Guitar (The Wild Ratz) (as Alan Fordham)
Jono McGrath	...	Lead Guitar (The Wild Ratz)
Perry Clayton	...	Drummer (The Wild Ratz)
Donna Matthews	...	Polly Small (Polly Small's Band)
Ritz	...	Lead Guitar (Polly Small's Band)
Stefan Olsdal	...	Bass Guitar (Polly Small's Band)
Trevor Sharpe	...	Drummer (Polly Smalls band)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ralph Morse	...	Rhythm Guitarist (uncredited)

Directed by
Todd Haynes

Writing credits
James Lyons		(story) and
Todd Haynes		(story)
Todd Haynes		(written by)

Produced by
Christopher Ball	....	co-executive producer (as Chris J. Ball)
Scott Meek	....	executive producer
Sandy Stern	....	executive producer
Olivia Stewart	....	co-producer
Michael Stipe	....	executive producer
William Tyrer	....	co-executive producer
Christine Vachon	....	producer
Bob Weinstein	....	executive producer
Harvey Weinstein	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Carter Burwell
Craig Wedren

Cinematography by
Maryse Alberti

Film Editing by
James Lyons

Casting by
Susie Figgis

Production Design by
Christopher Hobbs

Art Direction by
Andrew Munro

Costume Design by
Sandy Powell

Makeup Department
Nuala Conway	....	crowd makeup artist
Peter King	....	hair designer
Peter King	....	makeup designer
John Munro	....	assistant hair stylist
John Munro	....	assistant makeup artist
Kirstie Stanway	....	assistant hair stylist
Kirstie Stanway	....	assistant makeup artist
Liz Tagg	....	assistant hair stylist
Liz Tagg	....	assistant makeup artist

Production Management
Wendy Broom	....	unit manager
Chris Catterall	....	executive in charge of production: Zenith
Pamela Koffler	....	executive in charge of production: Killer Films

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Phil Booth	....	second second assistant director
Andi Brown	....	second assistant director
Mark Fenn	....	third assistant director
Waldo Roeg	....	first assistant director
Jon Williams	....	assistant director

Art Department
Mark Baldwin	....	scenic artist
George Ball	....	property master
Graham Caulfield	....	drapesmaster
Colin Ellis	....	dressing props
Andy Evans	....	construction manager
Hugh Fottrell	....	stand-by propman
Simon Hague	....	scenic artist
Sean Hedges-Quinn	....	propmaker
Paul Purdy	....	chargehand stand-by props
Amy Beth Silver	....	art director: additional photography
Howard Weaver	....	scenic artist

Sound Department
Ajae Clearway	....	assistant sound editor
Steve Finn	....	sound assistant
Dan Korintus	....	dialogue editor
Peter Lindsay	....	sound recordist
Michael Miller	....	adr mixer
Michael W. Mitchell	....	sound effects editor
David Novack	....	sound re-recording mixer
Eliza Paley	....	supervising sound editor
Donna Powell	....	foley artist
Malcolm Rose	....	sound maintenance
Paul P. Soucek	....	supervising sound editor
Daniel Ward	....	sound editing intern

Special Effects by
James McKeown	....	special effects technician
Richard Van Den Bergh	....	special effects supervisor
Chris Trice	....	senior model maker (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Martin Body	....	optical cameraman
Jason Chalmers	....	model maker
Eric Person	....	digital compositor
Richard Thomas	....	model maker
Kitty Veevers	....	digital compositor
David Smith	....	optical cameraman (uncredited)
John Swinnerton	....	motion control cameraman: Peerless Camera Company (uncredited)

Stunts
Rob Inch	....	stunts
Glenn Marks	....	stunts (as Glen Marks)
Rod Woodruff	....	stunts (as Roderick Woodruff)

Camera and Electrical Department
Joe Arcidiacono	....	camera operator
Richard Broome	....	grip
Terry Eden	....	best boy
Danny Espey	....	electrician
Simon Finney	....	focus puller
Sam Levy	....	assistant camera
Zac Nicholson	....	clapper loader
Gary Nolan	....	lighting technician
Nigel Permane	....	assistant camera: model unit
Chris Plevin	....	director of photography: second unit
Larry S. Prinz	....	gaffer (as Larry Prinz)
Laurie Shane	....	gaffer

Casting Department
Kate Bryden	....	casting assistant
Ali Farrell	....	casting associate: USA
Laura Rosenthal	....	casting: USA

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Suzanne Barnes	....	assistant costume buyer
Lee Clayton	....	costume cutter
Lee Clayton	....	tailor
Joe Kowalewski	....	wardrobe assistant
Debbie Scott	....	assistant costume designer
Sunita Singh	....	costume assistant
Clare Spragge	....	costume supervisor

Editorial Department
Regan Avery	....	apprentice editor
Brad Katz	....	Avid effects
Myron I. Kerstein	....	assistant editor
Mia Lee	....	apprentice editor
Lynn True	....	post-production assistant
Shelly Westerman	....	assistant film editor

Music Department
Jim Dunbar	....	music maven
Todd Kasow	....	music editor
Annette Kudrak	....	music editor
Tristin Norwell	....	music recordist
Randall Poster	....	music supervisor

Other crew
Lea Anderson	....	choreographer
René Brar	....	production assistant
John Eccleston	....	assistant accountant
Daniel Falcone	....	research intern
Angela Frye	....	voice looping
Ryan Green	....	production assistant
Neil Hobbs	....	research intern
Tamiz J. Kanji	....	production assistant
Rachel Kittner	....	assistant film conformist
Sheryl Leonardo	....	production accountant
Wendy Lilly	....	production coordinator
June McDonald	....	script supervisor
Gina Meyers	....	production staff
John Nixon	....	dog handler
Tristan Parker	....	stand-in
David Pinnington	....	location manager
Tracy Rowe	....	assistant production executive: Zenith
Jonathan Scott	....	stand-in
Bradford Simpson	....	assistant production executive: Killer Films
David Torn	....	solo guitar & textures
Jane Trower	....	first assistant accountant
Romany Turner	....	assistant to director and producer
Wash Westmoreland	....	stand-in
Karrie Melendrez	....	story analyst (uncredited)
Derek Yip	....	production assistant: development (uncredited)

Thanks
Brian A. Kates	....	special thanks
Jack Lechner	....	special thanks
Oren Moverman	....	special thanks
Lauren Zalaznick	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Channel Four Films
• Goldwyn Films
• Killer Films
• Miramax Films
• Newmarket Capital Group
• Single Cell Pictures
• Zenith Entertainment

Distributors

• CiBy Sales (1998) (worldwide) (all media) (sales)
• Miramax Films (1998) (USA) (theatrical)
• Tobis Filmkunst (1998) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Scanbox Entertainment (1998) (Finland) (theatrical)
• RCV Film Distribution (1999) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• RCV Film Distribution (1999) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Laurenfilm (1999) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Buena Vista Home Entertainment (BVHE) (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Atalanta Filmes (1999) (Portugal) (theatrical)
• Cine 3 (1999) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Buena Vista Home Video (2000) (USA) (VHS)
• Film Four Distributors (2000) (UK) (DVD)
• RCV Home Entertainment (2000) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• RCV Home Entertainment (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Cult Filmes (Brazil) (DVD)
• Cult Filmes (Brazil) (VHS)
• RCV Film Distribution (Luxembourg)
• Soul media (2011) (Denmark) (all media)
• TF1 Vidéo (200?) (France) (DVD)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2010) (Australia) (TV)

Special Effects

• Evolution FX
• Peerless Camera Company (visual effects)

Other Companies

• Bureau  title design
• Dream Cars  picture vehicle supplier
• Film Finances  completion guarantor
• Lee Lighting  lighting

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated R for strong sexual content, nudity, language and drug use

Runtime:

124 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Rankcolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

UK:18 (original rating) | Argentina:18 | Australia:MA | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:R (Manitoba/Ontario) | Chile:18 | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Germany:12 | New Zealand:R16 | Peru:18 | Portugal:M/16 | South Korea:18 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 (video rating) (1999) | USA:R | Iceland:14 (original rating) | Iceland:16 (video rating)

Filming Locations:

Croydon, London, England, UK

Company:

Channel Four Films

Trivia:

Osheen Jones, who plays Jack Fairy as a little boy, is the son of Howard Jones, British pop star of the 1980s.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: The light switches in the New York newspaper office are British.

Quotes:

Curt Wild:[sitting in cafe with Jack Fairy talking about Brian] I dunno... I dunno. It got too big I guess. It got too schizold, you know? I mean he thought he was Maxwell Demond in the end, you know? And Maxwell Demond... he thought he was God.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Shakespeare in Love and on Film (1999) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Gimme Danger

A glittery glam-rock piece of slash fanfiction

Slash Fanfiction is when a person writes a story involving two (usually) males characters from a television show or movie in a homoerotic romantic relationship. And this is what Velvet Goldmine is. A visually stunning, incredibly tasty piece of slash fanfiction. But instead of Kirk & Spock or Mulder & Krycek, it's someone who's a lot like David Bowie and someone who's a lot like Iggy Pop. Perhaps that appeals to you. Perhaps it doesn't. But despite its fanfiction feeling, this movie is absolutely visually stunning. The imagery will last with you long after you leave the movie, your eyes blinking as you adjust to a rather grey drab world. The movie isn't about substance, it's about style; about creating and rearranging yourself to fit the time, to fit the world around you. It's about fluidity, fluidity of gender, personality, ideas, and romance. Because, like all Slash fanfiction, above everything else, it's a love story.