As some sort of final day of vacation (I returned over a week ago but it has been non-stop ever since), I stayed home today and watched movies. And by some coincidence, the common theme was women of questionable behavior on a downward spiral in New York City.
I started my day with "Factory Girl" starring Sienna Miller as Edie Sedgwick, the darling of Andy Warhol's heyday and his muse. She was the original It-Girl, named by Vogue magazine as a "youthquaker" of her time. This is a photo of the real Edie, before drugs overtook her life and her relationship with Andy fell apart.
I was fascinated with Edie when I was in college, after reading Jean Stein's biography "Edie" - she was young, stylish, original, and fearless. She was inseparable from Andy, famous for being famous, the poor little rich girl with the great legs and cool hair. Her disintegration was tragic, as was her death from an overdose at age 28, when she had moved back to her birthplace of Santa Barbara and was trying to rebuild her life. She made one last movie called "Ciao Manhattan" before she died, which she starred in and basically told the story of her life. It's so sad to watch. Even though "Factory Girl" was not a critical or box-office success, I thought that Sienna Miller did a great job of capturing her spirit.
As an interesting note, Sienna Miller was taken off of the project originally, because she was not known enough at the time, but was brought back because of her controversial relationship with Jude Law. She definitely shows her chops in this role, as if to prove her worthiness for the part.
I spent my afternoon with "Butterfield 8", which is one of the few Elizabeth Taylor movies that I have never seen. And now, one of my favorites. She is just wonderful in this role. And, as a bit of trivia - she only played this part to finish off her contract with MGM, and hated the film. Somehow she channeled this resentment into a powerful performance, and won an Oscar for it.
The story line is a little melodramatic - wild girl Gloria falls for a rich, married man and sees the error of her ways, while her pureness of heart awakens him and saves his life...and tragedy ensues. What is riveting is how Taylor plays the part - she really sinks her teeth into it, and you are able to see the layers being peeled back to reveal the woman within, which she does without sentimentality.
The story was based on a true story, adapted from a book by John O'Hara, about a call girl who was found dead on the highway. The movie elevates her status to model (although even that job is sort of dubious as well), and adds her real-life husband Eddie Fischer as her lifelong friend and the only man with whom she has a healthy relationship.
Both Gloria and Edie have in common that their fathers are physically or emotionally absent, and their fierce fight for attention and independence stems from a little girl's desire to have the comfort of a loving father to fall back on. Men are drawn to them and enamored with them, but both women are ultimately alone. They use New York as their stage, feeding upon its energy and lighting up its nights with their presence, but end up escaping New York when their dreams are shattered. Both of them do find real, true love - but the nature of their lifestyles gets in the way and they are only able to experience this love in a fleeting, although life-altering, way.
Live fast, die young - it's a train wreck that you can't look away from.
