The Real Edie (2007 Video) User Reviews

An interesting and informative documentary on Edie Sedgwick

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 1 February 2009]

This short, but compelling and illuminating documentary interviews a handful of people who knew Edie Sedgwick during her fleeting, but eventful and memorable burst of fame in the 60's. Among the folks interviewed are Edie's supportive brother Jonathan, her loyal friend Richie Berlin, photographer Nat Finkelstein, art gallery curator Sam Green, record producer Danny Fields, fashion designer Betsey Johnson, artist Gerard Malanga, and "Factory Girl" writer/director George Hickenlooper. We learn that Sedgwick hailed from a wealthy, yet disturbed family (two of her brothers committed suicide and her father might have had an incestuous relationship with her), had been institutionalized in sanitariums several times as a little girl, craved both fame and attention in order to compensate for the love she didn't receive as a kid, Andy Warhol basically used her as a means to an end to make himself a celebrity (although Warhol essentially invented post-modernism, Edie was nonetheless instrumental in his success), had her own singular style, glamorous persona and sense of irresistible charisma that made her an automatic star (she was also a terrific uninhibited dancer to boot), and her romance with Bob Dylan caused her relationship with Warhol to fall apart. Edie's subsequent disintegration beget by her drug addiction is frankly addressed. As one interviewee notes, one of Edie Sedgwick's fatal flaws was that she was a frail and vulnerable damaged soul who never asked anyone for help. A poignant and sobering portrait of the original 60's It girl who was quite possibly the first performance artist of her time.