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LOU REED'S BERLIN
Directed by Julian Schnabel
Produced by Jon Kilik & Tom Sarig
Music & Lyrics by Lou Reed
Released by the Weinstein Company
USA. 85 min. Not Rated
With Lou Reed, Steve Hunter, Fernando Saunders, Sharon Jones, Antony, the Brooklyn Youth Chorus & Emmanuelle Seigner

For those die-hard Lou Reed fans who have been waiting for Reed's 1973 magnum opus-cum-rock opera Berlin to finally become a live concert, this is totally ironic bliss. For those who haven't, and may not have ever heard of the album and only know Reed from his "Walk on the Wild Side" hit record, and wonder what I mean by "ironic bliss," I will explain.

Lou Reed's Berlin is a tale of the "sad song" of Caroline, a woman living in West Berlin who goes through the painful motions of lovers lost, heroin, and living in the era of the Berlin Wall, told through songs which, like The Who's Tommy and Pink Floyd's The Wall (the latter produced, like Berlin, by Bob Ezrin), are more stream of consciousness than lineal narrative. There is also, as with any opera, an air of pure theatricality to how it's performed on stage as opposed to simply listened to on a CD.

This works in favor for Reed since he is as much of a poet as he is a rock and roller. One wants to hear every lyric as much as possible for Reed’s eerie, poetic prose, maybe even more than the music at times, which in and of itself is a combination of great rock and roll from Reed's band. The orchestrations are often extraordinary.

But what's really creative about this live-concert film is how the director, Julian Schnabel (Before Night Falls, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly), puts an avant-garde cherry on top of what is already a strange, esoteric work of substance. The footage of Reed and his band—plus the Brooklyn Youth Chorus and the orchestra—are mixed in with footage shot by Schnabel's daughter, Lola, of Emmanuelle Seigner playing Caroline in rough, 8mm footage.

To say much more of Schnabel's style might ruin it for some. Suffice to say, it's sometimes feels like Stan Brakhage was let into the editing room, with it's intermingling colors from the lighting and 8mm footage (reds, greens, oranges, violets), an iridescent production design (by Schnabel) and overlapping, surreal footage and occasional out-of-focus cinematography.

It's definitely not Shine a Light, Martin Scorsese’s filmed concert of the Rolling Stones, which was enthralling and shot with a pristine eye and astoundingly paced editing. It's raw, rough, and melancholy, much like the songs of Berlin. For those looking for something different in their rock concert movies, it's an event like few others.

One more note: for those seeing the film at New York’s Film Forum, Reed himself has personally supervised the audio presentation for maximum impact. In short, this movie is played loud, like at the actual concert. Just a warning for those with fragile eardrums. Jack Gattanella
July 18, 2008