The Velvet Underground
Movies

The Velvet Underground Joins The Criterion Collection

Moe Tucker, John Cale, Sterling Morrison and Lou Reed from archival photography from “The Velvet Underground,” now streaming on Apple TV+.
Written by:Danielle SolzmanPosted on:

The Velvet Underground, a 2021 documentary directed by Todd Haynes, is now available on Blu-ray and DVD through the Criterion Collection.

Nominated for multiple Critics Choice Documentary Awards in 2021, the Color/Black-and-White film is presented in a 1.77:1 aspect ratio with Dolby Atmos/5.1 surround sound.

Synopsis

Emerging from the primordial soup of glamour, gutter sleaze, and feverish creativity that was New York’s 1960s underground culture, the Velvet Underground redefined music with its at once raw and exalted blend of experimentation and art-damaged rock and roll. In his kaleidoscopic documentary The Velvet Underground, Todd Haynes vividly evokes the band’s incandescent world: the creative origins of the twin visionaries Lou Reed and John Cale, Andy Warhol’s fabled Factory, and the explosive tension between pop and the avant-garde that propelled the group and ultimately consumed it. Never-before-seen performances, interviews, rare recordings, and mind-blowing transmissions from the era’s avant-garde cinema scene come together in an ecstatic swirl of sound and image that is to the traditional music documentary what the Velvets were to rock: utterly revolutionary.

Bonus Features

  • New 4K digital master, approved by director Todd Haynes and cinematographer Ed Lachman, with Dolby Atmos soundtrack on the Blu-ray
  • Audio commentary featuring Haynes and editors Affonso Gonçalves and Adam Kurnitz
  • Outtakes of interviews shot for the film with musicians John Cale, Jonathan Richman, and Maureen Tucker; filmmaker Jonas Mekas; and actor Mary Woronov
  • Conversation from 2021 among Haynes, Cale, and Tucker
  • Complete versions of some of the avant-garde films excerpted in the movie, including Piero Heliczer’s Venus in Furs (1965)
  • Teaser
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • Optional annotated subtitle track that identifies the avant-garde films seen in the movie
  • PLUS: A 2021 essay by critic Greil Marcus

DIRECTOR: Todd Haynes

The Velvet Underground is now available on Blu-ray and DVD via the Criterion Collection.

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Danielle Solzman

Danielle Solzman is native of Louisville, KY, and holds a BA in Public Relations from Northern Kentucky University and a MA in Media Communications from Webster University. She roots for her beloved Kentucky Wildcats, St. Louis Cardinals, Indianapolis Colts, and Boston Celtics. Living less than a mile away from Wrigley Field in Chicago, she is an active reader (sports/entertainment/history/biographies/select fiction) and involved with the Chicago improv scene. She also sees many movies and reviews them. She has previously written for Redbird Rants, Wildcat Blue Nation, and Hidden Remote/Flicksided. From April 2016 through May 2017, her film reviews can be found on Creators.