Songs For Drella

Zwei Männer in einem leeren Theater, die, begleitet von Gitarre, Keyboard und manchmal Viola, einen Songzyklus zwischen Lakonik und gedämpfter Emphase interpretieren. Die „Songs for Drella“, geschrieben von Lou Reed und John Cale für ihren kurz zuvor verstorbenen Mentor Andy Warhol, gelten mittlerweile als klassisch. Die vorliegende Restaurierung konturiert die Gesichter schärfer und lässt die Klänge noch trockener und bissiger klingen, als man das in der Erinnerung hat. Wie die beiden längst verkrachten Velvet- Underground-Masterminds sich zusammenraufen und aus ihrer gegenseitigen Abneigung künstlerische Funken schlagen, ist sehens- und hörenswert! (Thomas Mießgang)

In Anwesenheit von Ed Lachman.

Andy Warhol had once brought them together in his Factory and also succeeded in this feat a second time – at least indirectly. In 1990, two years after Warhol’s death, Lou Reed and John Cale dedicated the album “Songs For Drella” to him (“Drella” was a nickname given to the art legend, a combination of Dracula and Cinderella). By then, the differences between the two musicians were already part of the legend of The Velvet Underground. “Songs For Drella” is a single set of songs about Warhol in which they usually introduce him as his own biographer.
Memories are celebrated with the sort of cool, reserved sincerity that evokes emotions without ever drifting into sentimentality. Filmed in the empty Brooklyn Musical Hall, Ed Lachman’s concert film brilliantly reflects the minimalism of this gesture of appreciation, only allowing itself a sort of restrained pathos. Shots and counter-shots of a dialogue between piano, viola, and guitar, staring glances, and briefly flaring passions all set the stage for an act of pop art reminiscence, while Warhol and objects flash on a canvas behind it. Now the material has been remixed for its 30th anniversary. “Some say pictures have no feeling, I think there is a deeper meaning.” (Dominik Kamalzadeh)

In the presence of Ed Lachman.

Ed Lachman: REPORT FROM HOLLYWOOD (1984), RED HOT AND BLUE (1990, TV), KEN PARK (2002), CARMEN ELECTRA’S AEROBIC STRIP- TEASE (2003), LIFE FOR A CHILD (2008, K), IN THE HEARTS OF AFRICA (2010, K)