MovieChat Forums > New York Doll (2005) Discussion > breif summarization

breif summarization

posted 16 years ago by Millpool87
4 replies | jump to latest

a documentary that lacked any real substance- you never fully realize what happened to this guy or the years after the breakup of The Dolls, only brief explanations that seem confused and disoriented. They present the Dolls as some sort of rock heroes throughout;they were nothing special(stone wannabes)- theres no mention of T.rex or Roxy Music in this, far more influential. Theres also seems to be this arrogant notion throughout that everything else(music wise) around this time was dismissed as boring and non-important(another reason this documentary failed- it didn't present its theme/subject in an unbiased light- taking the cheaper way and mocking music that was far superior to it) as the guy from the old grey whistle test put it, its nothing more than "mock rock".

[–] WarpedRecord 15 years ago

I enjoyed this documentary a bit more than you did, but I agree it was rather thin on context. I like the Dolls, but they were hardly the trailblazers in the '70s this film makes them out to be. They were seen as borrowing heavily from Alice Cooper, the Rolling Stones and the glam acts you mentioned, and they crashed and burned before making much of a dent. That's not to put them down, but I hardly think they can take credit (blame?) for acts like Mötley Crüe in the '80s.

I fully agree that Arthur's years between the Dolls and his Mormon conversion were very sketchy in this film. I suspect he didn't want to talk about those wasted years, but that is a significant gap in this film. At times, I wondered even if he was really a devout Mormon or merely going from one extreme to another just to belong. The depth of his faith wasn't really clear to me (though the prayer before the concert was a nice touch).

This is not a criticism of the Dolls in general or Arthur Kane in particular, but I think either this film assumes the audience knows the complete Dolls story, or doesn't care.

[–] eryckhamr 15 years ago

"but I hardly think they can take credit (blame?) for acts like Mötley Crüe in the '80s"

In fact, Motley themselves credited the Dolls as a big influence back in the 80's. I read it myself in "Hit Parade" or some other such mag back in the day. That article was how I found out about the Dolls.

[–] WarpedRecord 15 years ago

I'm glad the Crüe gave credit where credit is düe!

[–] Tommy N 15 years ago

The movie is titled, New York Doll. It is singular.

This movie is about Arthur "Killer" Kane and is outstanding, more in the context of who he was, what he went through in his life as a Doll, more specifically the downhill spiral, recovery, rejuvenation of a career; but most, how fragile life is and how it all came to an end.

The movie is both uplifting and tragic, yet it shows at the time of his death Arthur Kane lived.

I will note that I was not a Dolls fan, but this movie has made me one. Rock on David Johanssen (sp.)