In 1973, punk rock progenitor Lou Reed made an album called ‘Berlin.’ Arranged as a narrative suite of songs, it was dark and decadent, mixing imagery of drug and spousal abuse against a sonic background that ranged from Teutonic bombast to lilting lullabies.
It was a colossal commercial failure. Go figure. Naturally, it won a cult following.
Reed never performed the album. Never, that is, until last December, when he put on a series of ‘Berlin’ shows in Brooklyn. The creators of redbankgreen, having been among the album’s admirers from the start, were there for the final show, and can attest that it was one gorgeous dollop of sound.
Visual artist Julian Schnabel was part of the production, and filmed the concerts. Schnabel has now made an 85-minute feature from the footage. Also titled ‘Berlin,’ it will be the closing feature at the Two River Film Festival on Sunday night at 9:30, at Red Bank’s Clearview Cinemas.
Other selections from the festival, which runs through Sunday at Monmouth University’s Pollack Theatre, will also be shown on the Clearview’s screens for event’s final night.
At 7p, “The Relationship Expert,’ a six-minute short, will be shown, followed by the feature-length “The Walker.” The pairing repeats at 9:15p. That’s in theater A.
Here’s a blip from the press materials for “The Walker:”
Woody Harrelson plays the role of Carter Page III, a gay gadabout and gossip in the Washington DC establishment, who entertains the wives of the rich and powerful with card games and tittle-tattle, accompanying them to the highbrow cultural events that bore their husbands. He values his reputation above all else, but a murder forces him to put that on the line.
The film, by “Taxi Driver” screenwriter Paul Schrader, also stars Lauren Bacall, Ned Beatty and Kristin Scott Thomas.
Preceding ‘Berlin’ in theater B is “Nanking,” at 7:30p. A documentary, it looks at the Japanese rape of that Chinese city in the early days of World War II. Narration is by Woody Harrelson (presumably no longer in gay gadabout mode) and Mariel Hemingway, among others.
Tickets for the Clearview shows are $10, $7 for seniors, available only at the box office. Tickets for the Pollack screenings are available online.
