I Shot Andy Warhol

Stephen Dorff and Lili Taylor and Jared Harris are all great in this film, particularly Dorff. But the film's biggest weakness is that everyone in the movie is so weird you don't really care what happens to them. Only Dorff manages to invest his character with enough humanity and vulnerability that you are actually interested to learn of his ultimate fate. I was kind of surprised to learn that Solanis is held up as some kind of proto-feminist lesbian guru when it is obvious she's only twisted and insane.

Imagine if the situation were reversed and Solanis was a man calling for the cutting up of all women and denouncing women as an inferior race. Such a viewpoint would be considered monstrous! Solanis is a crank and a fool, so it's impossible to take her character's world view any more seriously than the guy down by the subway station who mumbles to people who aren't there.

The entire Factory scene is rightly exposed as the pretentious, ridiculous collection of sub-mediocre talent it was. So the viewer isn't surprised when Solanis shoots Warhol, as he couldn't say no to anyone around him and surrounded himself with so many weirdos it was inevitable.



Would this film have been lauded had it been a biopic of Mark David Chapman? I don't see much difference between Solanis and Chapman frankly...both complete, colossal failures in life who managed to gain notierity through murder or attempted murder.

In summary, this was a well-executed take on a rather idiotic topic. I'd rather see the director use her talents to make a movie about people who deserve the effort. Not worthless no-talents like Warhol and Solanis.

On 1968, Valerie Solanas (Lili Taylor) shots Andy Warhol (Jared Harris) and turns herself in to the police. Her reason lies in her anti-male Society for Cutting Up Men (SCUM) manifesto. She was molested as a child. She attended University of Maryland from 1954 to 58 where she developed her theory of the superiority of women. She prostituted herself and became a lesbian. Homeless in 1966 NYC, Valerie and friend Stevie (Martha Plimpton) meet transvestite Candy (Stephen Dorff). Candy is invited to Warhol's Factory. Valerie tags along hoping to get Warhol produce her play. Valerie meets avant-garde publisher Maurice Girodias while doing her aggressive panhandling.

Lili Taylor is absolutely amazing. However Valerie's aggressively grating character makes it difficult to fully embrace this movie. There is no real tension. The ending is already shown. It's basically an one-woman show. It goes a long way but for me, it doesn't go far enough for greatness. It's one note played over and over again.

I Shot Andy Warhol, is based on the true life story of Valerie Solanas, who was a female radical in the 60's and was a lesbian and very against men. She wrote a play and came to New York, with a friend of hers who is a drag queen named Candy Darling to meet Andy Warhol. Valerie, gives Andy Warhol's company (called the factor) her play and soon she comes back and talks to Andy about it and Andy gets her to star in a couple of movies that he directs. Soon, Valerie gets a place and meets a publisher who inspires her to write a novel about her revolution and he plans to publish it. But soon Valerie starts to get paranoid and thinks that Andy Warhol, has to much impact on her life and thinks that he and the book publisher are setting her up so she plans to make herself famous by shooting him. Andy Warhol survived the shooting but died several years later due to complications and Valerie, was sent to a mental hospital and was homeless for quite awhile until she died of pneumonia. Her book SCUM Manifesto, is now published all over the world. Winner of the award for Best Art Direction at The Gijon International Film Festival, The Golden Space Needle Award for Best Actress (Lili Taylor, who plays Valerie Solanas) at The Seattle International Film Festival, The Best Actress Award at The Stockholm Film Festival and the special recognition for Lili Taylor at The Sundance Film Festival. I Shot Andy Warhol, has good direction, a good script, good performances from everybody involved, good original music, good cinematography and good production design. I Shot Andy Warhol, is a fascinating character study and a very interesting film. It shows the many different stages in a time of Valerie's life and it is compelling and played very well by Lili Taylor and all of the other actors. Also being a fan of Andy Warhol, I found the scenes with his factory and underground lifestyles with his films and art to be really interesting as well. This film shows a lot of different lifestyles and gives these characters interesting personalities and gives them good character development. The film is also a good looking film and looks like it probably would have back then. A very entertaining and fascinating look at an interesting person who you might not know of and of someone you do know of.

I Shot Andy Warhol (1996) was an interesting movie that I saw on satellite t.v. a few years ago. The movie was about the lesbian neo-feminist and founder of S.C.U.M. Valerie Solanis (Lili Taylor). She's an aspiring writer who's trying to fit in the mid sixties lifestyle of New York City. Valerie lives with her sometimes lover (Martha Plimpton) and co-worker. The two turn tricks, roll certain customers and hang out with a transvestite named Candy Darling (Stephen Dorff). One day Candy suggests to Valerie that she meet with Andy Warhol (Jared Harris). The rest is history. Michael Imperioli co-stars as a very catty Ondine, Tahnee Welch guest stars as Viva and Donovan Leitch appears as Gerald Malanga.

If you want to see how Warhol's "Factory" and it's atmosphere then this is the movie you want to see. Jared Harris was perfect as Andy Warhol and Lili Taylor made Valerie Solanis into a tragic person who's life was filled with madness and heartbreak. I was also impressed with Stephen Dorff, I never knew how great of an actor he has become. This movie is perfect and ideal for those who always wanted to know what happened to Warhol during the late sixties and how his life and attitudes were changed forever.

Highly recommended.

Lili Taylor, as I think I've said here before, is one of my favorite actresses, but I have to admit I was hesitant about seeing this film, especially when a friend told me he found it overrated. I have a hard time with people who type people in general terms, and this movie seemed, at first, to say "All men are scum." And the opening 15-30 minutes seem to indicate this is just going to be a rant. However, you do gradually get to empathize with all the people involved, and you do get an idea of how things were at that time. Taylor and Jared Harris were fine as Valerie Solanas and Andy Warhol, respectively, but the real surprise for me was Stephen Dorff as Candy Darling. I've never thought much of Dorff, but he really shone through here, refusing to stereotype Candy or inject too much pathos.