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New York Doll
Contributed by Sara Schieron   
Tuesday, 06 December 2005

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Director: Greg Whiteley
Producer: Ed Cunningham, Seth Gordon
Stars: Nina Antonia, Bishop Bragg, Clem Burke, Lee Black Childers, Steve Conte, Bob Geldof, Chrissie Hynde , Frank Infante , David Johansen, Mick Jones, Arthur Kane, Barbara Kane, Brian Koonin , Don Letts, Bishop MacGregor, Morrissey, Iggy Pop, Sylvain Sylvain, Sirius Trixon , & Sammy Yaffa.
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Year of Release: 2005
Running Time : 75 minutes

 


A film review by Sara Scherion

New York Doll, is an idiosyncratic human-interest story centering on the peculiar and endearing character of New York Dolls ex-base player Arthur "Killer" Kane. The film follows this born again Mormon through the retelling of epic, if unfamiliar, histories. Animated timelines map the band's rise and fall, along with the band's place in the larger history of Rock. In the end, that chart of Rock proves important; because it's the musicians the Dolls inspired that save the day, finally translating a story that might have been about a legendary band, into another step in the legacy that is the New York Dolls.

 

Arthur, the self-proclaimed "schlub on the bus" now works at the Family Library at the LA Mormon Temple. Poetically reuniting individuals with their lost community ties, he works with and is inspired by a cast of comically average people. The filmmakers' sense of humor towards his content makes a striking comment on the characters in the film as well as the project as a whole. Questions from behind the camera are seldom heard, which makes the film feel somewhat agenda-neutral, but when the camera op asks two old Sisters working in the library if they're Arthur's "groupies", directorial character is not hard to identify. Throughout the film, prosaic details like these are depicted in ways that emphasize their status as mundane, giving the audience a sense of the untouched grandeur of the everyday. As Arthur, in his white shirt and tie, stands at the bus stop in front of the Temple, he extols the luxuries of his lost life: the booze, the women, the parties, the recognition ... the absence of public transport.

When Morrissey, hosing the annual Meltdown Festival, asked the remaining NY Dolls to regroup for a concert, the dream of revisiting the past was made into a reality. And the public life that Arthur had disclosed so longingly is explained by the accounts of major musicians whose life was changed by this drag, glam band that America almost forgot.

The fear they'd find the past wasn't the greatness they remembered affected the band and fans alike.  Sir Bob Geldof explains that his children, more content with their NY Dolls albums and posters, refused to come to the concert for fear "it wouldn't be as good".

Though the film contains a strain of apparent religious subtext, the greater message of the film is crystallized in ironically sweet moments. David Johansen, the band's front man and Arthur's adversary (up until the final moments of the film) prods Arthur's religion but finally seems somewhat inspired by Arthur's accomplishments. When David says "you're not going back after this are you?" Arthur responds: "They are expecting me back Monday". In his reticence and calm, we sense Arthur's contentment. The value he had ascribed to his past and the meaning of his present are finally reconciled. At peace, we wonder if there is much else for him yet to complete. Soon we learn there is one thing he has left to do. Sadly, it's a path we can't follow him down.