Factory Girl

Directed by George Hickenlooper
Written by Aaron Richard Golub, Captain Mauzner, Simon Monjack
On general release from 16th March 2007

Reviewed by Colin Serjent

There are few, if any, redeeming features about this film. It is one-dimensional in its portrayal of the likes of American icons Andy Warhol (Guy Pearce) and Bob Dylan (Hayden Christensen). Whatever one can say about Mr Zimmerman - and he does have his critics - he is a full rounded character who has left an indelible mark on the history of rock music.

The story is centred around Edie Sedgwick (Sienna Miller) which chronicles her dramatic fall from being a 'superstar' and muse to Warhol to a pitiful state of drug addiction and poverty, even though she was born into money.

The problem is it is difficult to feel any sense of anguish or empathy at her plight. She wants to be famous, and after achieving that aim, she is still exploited and abused by those around her and ultimately tossed aside like a piece of waste. As the Stones sang around that time in the mid-1960s, 'I can't get no satisfaction'.

Warhol is depicted as a manipulative,unscrupulous and egotistical ogre. I am sure some people loved him! There is no question he surrounded himself with sycophants and plastic people. The film fails to convey why his art work was and is so highly rated by many. His current prestige is such that his painting of Marilyn Monroe was recently sold for $15 million. Like Sedgwick she was another fallen star.

The resentment of Warhol towards Sedgwick is triggered off when she meets Dylan for the first time. The romance between the two proves to be shortlived, and her descent into oblivion gathers pace.

Like her two brothers - who were killed in accidents - Sedgwick dies prematurely as a result of a barbiturate overdose.

She may have been famous for more than 15 minutes but I have to admit I had never heard of her before the release of this film. Such is the shallowness and transitory nature of so-called fame.

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