Lou Reed: Rock & Roll Heart

Rating:
Summary: A must see!
Review: 'Rock n' Roll Heart' captures everything that is magical about Lou Reed both as a musician and an icon. The documentary charts his career from the Velvet Underground to his current position as an elder statesman of the rock scene. There are key interviews with John Cale, David Bowie, Patti Smith, David Byrne and Thurston Moore, illustrating how Reed's influence has remained strong through time. The director also focuses on the main influences on Reed which range from Delmore Schwartz to Andy Warhol. Overall, an excellent film.

Rating:
Summary: LOU IS GOOD
Review: I just watched this video and it totally rocks! It covers his whole life, from his Pickwick songwritting days, his factory days with Andy Warhol, his amazing Velvet Underground days, and his solo work up to present day. This video has a whole bunch of intelligent people (David Bowie, Jim Carrol, Sonic Youth members, Suzanne Vega, and lots more!) who talk about thier strong feelings for Lou's music and Lou himself. An added treat is interviews with Velvet Underground members John Cale and Maureen Tucker. A really amazing video for an amazing man.

Rating:
Summary: should have concentrated on his early career
Review: Lou Reed, like many artists, peaked early. He put out a few interesting solo albums, but by the mid seventies, his creativity had dried up. It would have been better to have spent more time on the early Velvet years, and skimmed over the years following 1975. It's amazing, though, to see that the film makers could line people up to heap praise on Reed's arid, barren pieces of his later period. Just shows how bogus the art and music world is. The filmmakers should have sought out impartial commentators, at least that would have rung true.

Rating:
Summary: The Icon In Context
Review: The strong use of vintage footage, and interviews of contemporaries places Lou Reed in his proper cultural context.

Iconic Isolation

Lou Reed's lack of need to fit himself into a readily commercially exploitable groove, and stay there for more than a minute, his keeping away from a recognizable group aside from the Velvet Underground places him in niche by himself. The information provided about Reed, his music and the influences on him removes him from that isolation.

Interesting On Many Levels

This video is intellectualy, musically and photographically interesting.

Intellectual and Artistic Roots

The examination of Reed's poetic roots dating back to Reed's time at Syracuse helps to explain the literacy of his lyrics. The material covering his interaction with the Warhol Factory also gives some depth to what Reed was doing with the Velvet Underground. How he fit into the New York art scene, and how he didn't fit into the San Francsico art scene, provides some insight into his personality.

Musical Development

The roots of Reed's music, its development, its changes are fairly well covered. This video is somewhat lacking in covering the period after "Rock and Roll Animal" and before "New York". This is one of it's few failings.

Eye Candy +

The videographers made excellent use of the vintage footage available. What they did on their own is also quite interesting. Although some might see it as a gimmick the use of a dissolve from a older portrait to a contemporary video still of the interviewee was effective. It helped to reinforce in the viewer's mind just who was being interviewed.

Rating:
Summary: Great documentary on an American Classic
Review: This is an oustanding documentary on Lou Reed. Although I would have liked to see a little more about the Velvet Underground, especially their break up.

Rating:
Summary: Lou the Artist
Review: This PBS video makes the case that Lou Reed is not just a guy who makes thrilling rock music. He is an Artist (with a capitol A) in the great modernist tradition who experiments with his life in order to test the limits. This sounds forbidding, but this documentary is fun and unpretentious and exhilarating.

Rating:
Summary: Lou the Artist
Review: This PBS video makes the case that Lou Reed is not just a guy who makes thrilling rock music. He is an Artist (with a capitol A) in the great modernist tradition who experiments with his life in order to test the limits. This sounds forbidding, but this documentary is fun and unpretentious and exhilarating.