John Cale Movies

This Andy Warhol art film was first released in 1966. It is his chronicle of the Velvet Underground jamming while blonde German model Nico sits on a stool. Unlike other Warhol art films, the camera becomes an active participant in the film as it zooms in, pans, and moves chaotically around the performers Lou Reed, John Cale and other Undergrounders. The film is not really edited and includes a scene where the police burst in to stop the noise. Warhol himself also appears briefly. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Considered the quintessential "girls in prison" flick of the 1970s, novice director Jonathan Demme's Caged Heat is set in a hellish American woman's penitentiary run by vicious, wheelchair-bound Barbara Steele. Statuesque convict Erica Gavin is forced to undergo horrible (but legal) tortures when she is falsely accused of trying to escape. Gavin and fellow con Juanita Brown decide to make a real break, but return to prison to rescue a friend who is about to be lobotomized by the sadistic prison doctor. Then they stage a robbery, only to find a group of male robbers at the bank ahead of them. A final shootout in the prison yards brings the film to a bloody climax. Caged Heat was also released under the title Renegade Girls. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Isabelle Huppert plays an attractive Parisienne out looking for some fun during her vacation on the ski slopes of Courchevel in the Alps when she starts up a relationship with a great-looking sportswear salesman (Thierry Lhermitte), but at the same time, she is entranced by a little chubby disk jockey in a night club (Coluche). Come to find out, the salesman and the disk-jockey are best friends, complicating matters for everyone, especially when the disk-jockey begins to find his buddy's new flame irresistible. Although this is a sexual comedy meant as a vehicle for the talents of Coluche, it unfolds as a rather run-of-the-mill, sentimental, two-handkerchief story about the classic love triangle. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

The documentary Words for the Dying follows director Rob Nilsson as he attempts to capture the working process between collaborators John Cale and Brian Eno while they record an album consisting of songs inspired by the poetry of Dylan Thomas. Everyone goes to Russia to record, but things grow complicated when Eno wants nothing to do with the director and the camera. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

A founding member of revolutionary rock group the Velvet Underground, John Cale has produced albums for such artists as the Stooges, Patti Smith, Jonathan Richman, and Happy Mondays, and as a solo artist has produced a remarkable body of work marked by powerful songwriting and an uncompromising musical vision. John Cale: Fragments of a Rainy Season preserves a solo performance from Cale, alone at his piano. The songs include "Paris 1919," "Ship of Fools," "Fear (Is a Man's Best Friend)," "The Style It Takes," "Hallelujah," and "The Chinese Envoy." ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

This Spanish thriller is set in the seamy side of Barcelona during the mid-'80s and tells the story of Maria, a drug addict and dealer. She is trying hard to clean up her act, but first she wants to do one more major deal with her friend Rafa. Unfortunately, their well-laid plans begin unraveling right from the start and soon they find themselves forced to flee from corrupt policemen. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This German documentary offers a tragic profile of the notorious "death angel," Nico. Long after her death in 1988, the German model and entertainer has remained a darkly mysterious cult figure. She was born Christa Paffgen in Cologne and took her professional name from photographer Nico Papatakis. She began modeling in the early '50s, and this led to a brief appearance in Fellini's classic La Dolce Vita. Though Nico was blessed with the rare combination of beauty and intelligence, she was depressive and utterly lacking in ambition; she spent much of her life simply drifting about through various film and commercial appearances until she met artist Andy Warhol. He introduced her to the band The Velvet Underground, which resulted in the tone-deaf beauty occasionally singing with them -- much to the discomfiture of the band members; she became addicted to heroin and eventually could no longer disguise its effects. Nico went on to become a solo act until her death as the result of a brain hemorrhage. Nico -- Icon includes film clips, commercial clips, archival photos, songs, and interviews with those who knew her, including members of the Velvet Underground, Paul Morrissey, ex-Factory members Viva and Billy Name, songwriter Jackson Browne, and avant-garde filmmaker Jonas Mekas. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Andy Warhol was a phenomenon who warrants a lot of explaining: a completely colorless mega-star celebrity, and a kind of LaBrea Tarpit for a vivid and talented collection of oddballs in the New York scene. He fostered their continued degeneration into weird lifestyles and heavy drug use; and at the same time acted as their mentor, agent, and sponsor. One artist who came to be part of Warhol's "scene" was Jean Michel Basquiat, an antisocial street-bum who went from writing graffiti on alley walls to being the toast of New York City's art world. This film biography chronicles the progression of Basquiat (Jeffrey Wright) and his progression from living in cardboard boxes to penthouses, his romances, his drug use, and his death in 1988 at age 27. Along the way, he never stopped detesting the rich, including art agent Bruno Bischofberger (Dennis Hopper), and he never lost his naivete. Warhol (David Bowie) picks up some of the pieces as Basquiat lurches through the art scene. Cameo appearances by Tatum O'Neal and Courtney Love add spice to this interesting film. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

This downbeat Welsh drama is set in a mining town that's been crushed by an economic collapse. Sid (Steven MacKintosh), Gwenny (Lisa Palfrey), and Boyo (Matthew Rhys) are three grown siblings who must care for their emotionally unstable mother (Sian Phillips) as they try to scrape together a living. Fascinated with American culture, the siblings emulate the hard-living lifestyle of the Beat Generation authors of the 1950s; their mother has told them that their father moved to the United States 15 years ago, and they often write him, hoping to someday join him there. However, he never returns their messages, and no one can explain why. Desperate for money, Sid and Boyo learn that a coal mine in a nearby town is looking for workers, but their mother is terrified that her children will abandon her and begs them not to go. Eventually, Gwenny and Sid, both desperate for comfort, fall into an incestuous relationship. House of America was the first theatrical feature for director Marc Evans after a number of television films; he was the recipient of the "Best Directorial Debut" award at the 1997 Stockholm Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

French superstar Catherine Deneuve stars in this downbeat drama about the fine line between love and need. Deneuve plays Hélène, an attractive but aging housewife who keeps a lover, a young artist named Paul (Xavier Beauvois). Hélène is strongly attracted to Paul, but isn't sure if he's interested in her mind, her body, or merely her checkbook. Paul, on the other hand, is attracted to Hélène, but finds her too clingy and possessive; he wants to get away, and sometimes uses heroin as a means of escape. One day, Paul meets Serge (Daniel Duval), a well-known artist Paul would like to work for some day. Paul learns Serge's story is a troubled one; he took part in the student uprisings of the May '68 General Strike, ended up in a mental hospital, and lost a wife to suicide. Le Vent de la Nuit (Night Wind) features an original score by John Cale, a founding member of the ground-breaking rock band the Velvet Underground. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Infused with a mood of apprehension and decay, this film concerns theatrical luminary Bertolt Brecht (played by Josef Bierbichler) and his inner circle on the final day of their summer vacation in 1956. Set entirely in Brecht's summer house in the East German countryside, the guests consist largely of the writer's lovers, past and present. Brecht's wife Hellene Weigel (Monika Bleibtreu) -- Helli for short -- has taken a remarkably charitable view of her husband's philandering. Brecht's current mistress, young actress Kathe Reichel (Jeanette Hain) is one of their guests, along with political dissident Wolfgang Harich (Samuel Fintzi) and his wife, who is having an affair with Brecht with her husband's approval. Also, there is ex-lover and dissolute drunk Ruth Berlau (Margit Rogall); Brecht's editorial assistant, Elisabeth Hauptmann (Elfriede Irrall); and the playwright's teenaged daughter, Barbara. Each guest angles to garner Brecht's attention. Preparing to leave for a rehearsal in Berlin, Helli is visited by a young Stasi officer who informs her that Wolfgang will be arrested and charged with treason. Fearing for her husband's bad heart, she entreats the apparatchik to do the deed after Brecht has left. As arrangements are made behind Brecht's back, a feeling of doom soon pervades the cottage. This film was screened at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi