Andy Warhol

Released 1987
Directed by Kim Evans

This is the first major profile of Andy Warhol's life and work since his death in 1987 and includes some previously unseen footage of the artist, shot in London shortly before his death. Warhol's was the classic American rags to riches story: he was born in the industrial slums of Pittsburgh--the child of poor Czech immigrants. He grew up dreaming of Hollywood stars and eventually became a star himself, famous for his pop art, his bizarre underground films and for being the celebrity who for twenty years attended every party in town. This program shows Warhol performing for the media in interviews ranging over 25 years and examines his artistic achievements in a career which spanned painting, film, publishing, rock music and television.

Summary from www.netflix.com

This documentary was put together shortly after Andy's death by his own people, so it has a pro-Andy slant. That's fine, but I wanted to get to know who Andy Warhol was. This documentary doesn't give you much insight into Andy himself (except that he gave the worst interviews ever), but it is good for an overview of his art. After seeing Pollock, I had some sense of the prevailing mood of the art world at the time Andy came to New York, and it was interesting how he was one of the few brave enough to do something different. What's even more interesting is that he chose to do commercial art in the fine art world to create a new pop art. The only problem to me was what was fresh in the early 60's seemed repetitive in the late 60's. Also, I had the same question before and after this documentary: why was Andy Warhol famous? His friends even asked this question during the movie, and the answer seemed to be he was famous for being famous. As weird as it may sound, I'll buy that. --Bill Alward, February 25, 2002