the shooting scene


Now Im not an expert on Andy warhol or the fact and fiction of the movie, however the shooting scene striked me as a bit unrealistic and left me kinda irked. In the movie, when Solonas shoots Warhol there are absolutely NO screms, shouts or any other signs of being startled despite the fact that there were a bunch of his assistants in the room at the time. Now i suppose it would be a reasonable explination that they were all speechless from utter shock however, thats not the feeling i got when the scene eventually finishes playing out and she interacts with the two other guys. Anybody else feel that the scene was awkward?

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According to everything I've ever read on the actual shooting by people who were there, "I Shot Andy Warhol"'s portrayal of the events is amazingly accurate, even down to Jed Johnson (a role that I believe is uncredited here) riding the elevator with Andy and Valerie while carrying light bulbs, and locking himself in the darkroom after Andy was shot, with the exception of what Warhol was wearing that day. To watch films like this and "Factory Girl" (a travesty unto itself), you would think that all Andy owned was one pair of black jeans, one black leather jacket, black boots, and a black/white striped t-shirt.

As for screams, shouts, etc., I can see your point, though again, according to the people who were actually present when Andy was shot, everything happened so quickly that the only thing on Fred Hughes' mind at that moment was getting Valerie out of The Factory and saving his own life (given that her gun jammed when she was trying to shoot him, after shooting Warhol and Amaya), and the crying and screaming started after she left, when Billy Name came in and was holding Andy while in hysterics, which made Andy laugh. Then Jed came out of his hiding hole and almost passed out.

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I agree, my understanding is that it is painstakingly accurate, down to everyone's exact dialog. Even when she handed the gun to the cop. It doesn't surprise me that there wasn't screaming and crying immediately, everyone must have been in a state of shock and disbelief.

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Yes the film's portrayal is very accurate according to every source I've read(the best being the readings of Warhol historian Wayne Koestenbaum).

This film also did very good in even capturing the exact dialogue in many scenes as well. Though there is one thing that DID bother me. When Valerie first meets Andy Warhol, he is being interviewed and their dialogue is precisely from a real interview Warhol did, however in real life that exact interview happened in 1964 while Solanas did not meet Warhol until several years later in 1967. It's a small detail but when you recognize precise dates it comes across as the filmmakers just trying a bit too hard at times to insert authenticity.

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From what I understand there is little footage of the real Solanas (except for the scenes in I, A Man) or even detailed information about her. I think the filmmakers originally considered a documentary (or maybe a "docudrama") but didn't have the material for one.

A detail: Valerie actually gave up her gun to a cop in Times Square; in the movie I think she's in front of the Seagram Building. Not that it matters much, but I wonder why that was changed.

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