Fans of The Velvet Underground are hoping for an adaptation of Lou Reed’s life in a similar style to Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown.
In a now-deleted post to r/VelvetUnderground on Reddit, one user proposed the idea of adapting the life of Reed after The Velvet Underground’s debut album. The struggle, many users have suggested, is in how to adapt the film. A post from the now-deleted user reads: “I wish they would make a movie about Lou Reed like A Complete Unknown.” One user has suggested further treatment to John Cale should be made too, with the Paris 1919 mastermind tipped by one Reddit user as needing an adaptation. They wrote: “I think they should make an avant-garde movie about John Cale.”
Another user suggested adapting Reed’s life to the big screen would play host to a series of difficulties. They wrote: “I think it’s an interesting idea precisely because Lou Reed is so unlikeable as a person, (but the results probably wouldn’t set box office records). An aspect of his personality that’s interesting to me is that he never pretended to be a nice guy, but at the same time, he wasn’t afraid to show vulnerabilities as well.
“Unlike, say, Frank Zappa, who also had no problem presenting himself as an asshole, but as far I know never portrayed himself as being anything other than right all the time about everything. A Lou Reed movie couldn’t be a ‘triumph against the odds’ Dewey Cox type of thing, it would have to be something a bit more challenging and difficult.
“What that would be and who would interested, well who knows. I once saw a film about John Lennon (played by Ian Hart who then went on to play Lennon in Backbeat) and Brian Epstein, where Lennon mercilessly (if I remember correctly) taunts Epstein about his sexuality. It was a one-set, two-actor sort of thing and in no sense hagiographical towards either character.
“So the Lou Reed / Velvet Underground movie in my head would be something like this, maybe exploring Lou’s cruelty towards [Andy] Warhol, (or apparently everyone who knew him for that matter) or something.”
I wish they would make a movie about Lou Reed like a complete unknown
by inVelvetUnderground
Others have suggested a Reed adaptation would be possible given the success in adapting Nico’s life. One wrote: “Nico 1988 was surprisingly good, but it only focused on her last years touring.” Another disagreed with presenting Reed in an unfavourable light, though say they would struggle to watch an adaptation of his life.
They wrote: “I love the guy, but can’t say I’d want to watch two hours of him acting like a lunatic.” Another agreed, adding: “Yeah, and… how do I say this about one of my musical heroes? He was, how do you say, kind of a jerk. He’d have to be kind of an anti-hero. I’m totally down with that, but it would be tough for a wide release.”
Some users joked there were simply too many biopics releasing of late and held out hopes for an “animated Donovan biopic”. They wrote: “How many Dylan movies do we need about the same period in Dylan’s career? Don’t Look Back covered it. No Direction Home covered it. I’m Not There covered it. Inside Llewyn Davis was about the same era/milieu. Can we get, like, an animated Donovan biopic or something?
