Lou Reed's Berlin

After the Labour disaster, England deserved a Red Victory. No matter if it didn’t happen on the shore of Albion – it happened in Russia, no less. Well done Manchester, I’m sure it was a great game. Sorry but I wasn’t there with my nose glued to a TV screen. Instead of rejoicing in red, I was slumped in the deep black of Lou Reed’s Berlin.

The New York minstrel had published the concept-album Berlin in 1973 and it was a commercial failure. In 2006 he and producer Bob Ezrin took over the project again and performed it live for five nights at St. Ann’s Warehouse. Over those five nights director Julian Schnabel ( The Diving Bell and Butterfly, Before Night Falls)  captured the performance, which also features short visionary films shot by the director’s daughter Lola projected onto the background of the venue.
The main film footage is shot in a grainy stock that embraces Reed and his band, plus a string quartet, a brass ensemble, the Brooklyn Youth Chorus and guest vocalist Antony of Antony and the Johnsons. Needless to say, all performers are exceptional and Reed’s desperate novellas of abysmal grief have not lost an ounce of their power. They’re Taking Her Children Away and the bleak Rock Minuet give goosebumps that stay with you long after the credits roll. Antony’s version of Candy Says is so tender and moving that even stone-faced Lou Reed melts into a grateful smile.
Lola Schnabel's short films of rivers, glaciers and Emmanuelle Seigner’s beautiful face engulf the musicians in a surreal, bluish haze. But Julian Schnabel’s visual style reminds of embers hiding the burning fire of visionarity - exactly like Lou Reed's spoken word, at times vitriolic, at times poignant. A wonderful experience.

Vera Brozzoni

Lou Reed’s Berlin is released on 25th July at  selected West End venues and selected U.K. cinemas nationwide