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Clarence Tsui

Factory Girl

Starring: Sienna Miller,  Guy Pearce,  Hayden Christensen

Director: George Hickenlooper

The film:  George Hickenlooper's film about socialite-cum-actress Edie Sedgwick  and her life as a 'Warhol superstar' has been mired in controversy from the start.

Lou Reed  said it was 'disgusting' and 'foul'; Bob Dylan's lawyers threatened to sue, claiming the  film implied that he  was responsible   for Sedgwick's  death; Sony sued (unsuccessfully) over distribution rights; and  additional shooting was  needed - nearly a year after the principal filming was complete.

Producer Harvey Weinstein   delayed Factory Girl's American release in an attempt to get the film's star, Sienna Miller, a best actress  award at the Oscars.

It's not hard to see why;   this is  one of the most intense performances Miller (right with  Guy Pearce) has given in a career that has been filled - apart from  Factory Girl and Steve Buscemi's  upcoming Interview - with superficial pretty-face roles in  films  such as Alfie or Casanova.

Miller is riveting as Sedgwick,  the poor little rich girl who left  her troubled past as a Californian heiress to become Warhol's muse and the queen of his artistic fiefdom, the Factory.

Her swift fall from grace - both  in the eyes of her mentor-cum-confidante and the gossip-loving tabloids - and the confusion and collapse she  spirals into are aptly played out. It's a performance  well matched by Pearce's turn as  the fey, narcissistic, detached and exploitative Warhol.

The film provides an interesting and sometimes chilling account  of the poisonous tango being danced by Sedgwick and Warhol,  as the former becomes  yet  another piece of art  in the latter's  glittering collection.

No wonder Reed was miffed.  In Factory Girl, Warhol comes  across as a heartless, self-obsessed manipulator - a 'bloodsucker', according to Billy (Hayden Christensen), the Dylanesque  folk singer with whom Sedgwick  falls in love.

'You've got the world on a string - but inside there,' Billy says, pointing to Sedgwick's heart, 'it's as empty as your friend's soup can.'

Billy's remark could also apply  to Factory Girl.  Hickenlooper  relies too hevaily on hbis cast,  and the film runs the risk of being  a showcase for  Sedgwick's breakdown  rather than a more interesting study  of the fame game at its most malicious.

The extras:  Apart from  the usual extras,  there's The Real Edie, a piece about Sedgwick's life told through  interviews with her family, friends and people from the Factory.

Miller appears  in a  segment  of her audition for the part, while Pearce's video diary provides a more jaunty account of the behind-the-scenes camaraderie - a joy that mirrors the best days of the Factory.

The verdict: The actors provide interesting high points to a film lacking in narrative strength.



Factory Girl