Velvet Buzzsaw: A Review
- Daniella van der Horst
- Feb 22, 2019
- 4 min read
Velvet Buzzsaw (2019) is a film that falls into the supernatural/ horror genre category. The film follows the mysterious journey of stolen art, that is quietly taken away from a dead man. It is assumed that the art will make its “thieves” unbelievably rich, however what this unleashes on the world is far more terrifying. The film critiques the world of art and how it is often pretentious, greedy and driven by capitalism. The film draws on both Modernist and Postmodernist ideas. It can be seen as a Modernist piece due to its obsession with breaking away from the traditional. It can, however, also be seen as a Postmodernist piece due to its nature of not being easily categorised. In the film, we watch the ideas advance from the seemingly more logical, modernist approach, to the abject, abstract thinking of the postmodernist approach.
Modernism in action:
Almost everything about Velvet Buzzsaw screams postmodernism, however, one often forgets that postmodernism has its roots in modernism. To begin with, let us look at the actual art of fictitious artist, Vetril Dease. Dease’s myriad paintings look strikingly similar to that of impressionists such as Monet, Renoir and Manet. This style is typically linked to the modernist movement. Quite literally, this film draws on aspects of modernism. One of the main characters, art critic Morf (Jake Gyllenhaal), is portrayed to be disinterested and unfulfilled in both his life, relationship and with the art that he observes. He is searching for something new, something more. This is characteristic of modernism’s boredom with the traditional and its desire to breakaway from it. Modernism tends to focus on the signified rather than the signifier, this is clearly the case in the beginning of the film. The emphasis seems to be placed on the actual content, be it the art or the people, the focus is geared towards their search for the next big thing. This is seen in Morf’s attempt to find art that he finds unique enough. It is also seen in Morf's desire to explore new things such as a sexual relationship with Josephina (Zawe Ashton)instead of his usual male partner. Modernism can almost be observed as the idea of striving towards absolute presence through absolute abstraction. Therefore, it is fitting that instead of absolute presence or completeness, Morf finds himself in complete turmoil. The film visually shows the unraveling of the myth of completeness.
Postmodernism in action:
Personally, I find that the film progresses naturally from modernism to postmodernism. Order and rationality transcend into disorder and chaos. The paintings begin simply as haunting expressions of Dease’s troubled past but later they physically embody Dease’s troubled past. This shows the change in emphasis from signified to signifier. The paintings become Dease’s demons instead of simply representing them. Postmodernism is characterised by its desire to not be characterised. The mere fact that the film does not fit into a single genre is a clear marking of this. The sudden obsession with chaos, which begins to creep in during the middle of the film, marks the move from modernist t postmodernist. Ethics and morality are prominent themes in this film. The total disregard of Dease’s wishes, the abuse of power for self-gain and simply, pure greed, begin the supernatural turmoil. Ethics and morality in a postmodernist viewpoint, are entirely up to the individual. Therefore, the film does not critique their personal ethics and morality per se but rather, it critiques their traditional position of power and how corrupt and false it is. The idea of distrust of authority is carried through again. I find the film to be extremely symbolic. I feel like the main critique is that of humankind’s inherent greediness, especially once one has reached a certain level of status. It shows, quite beautifully, how capitalism consumes and destroys society. My interpretation of the film, albeit not necessarily true, is that it is protesting the self-centred ways of traditional authorities such as capitalism.
Critiquing the critic:
Meta-fiction is the idea that a text is aware of its status as a fictional text. I found that, in a sense, the criticism of Morf as a critic played into this whole idea of self-awareness. Although, meta-fiction applies mainly to literature, I felt that it could be applied to the film. Postmodernism is characterised by hyper-reality, the idea that life has surpassed the point of what one would define as real life. This is clear in Velvet Buzzsaw, the idea that life imitates art is put into practice. The wrath of Dease’s soul is so dire and supernatural it can only be described as hyper-real. As the film is a part of the horror genre, it makes use of the idea of paranoia. This is clearly seen through the life of Morf, yet again. Originally his paranoia is masked as anxiety and uncertainty. This is evident in his crumbling relationship with his boyfriend and his lack of inspiration in the art world. Slowly his logical anxiety and uncertainty turns into supernatural paranoia. The art becomes the embodiment of human fear. It becomes a symbolic representation of morality. Postmodernism is known for taking well known ideas and flipping them around. In this case, the critic (Morf) becomes the criticised.
Velvet Buzzsaw cannot simply be described as modernist or postmodernist. It finds itself falling into a unique hybrid category, borrowing from both schools of thought. The film covers an array of issues and ideas that can be overwhelming at times. I suppose this is the reason for its mixed reviews. It is experimental in nature, a trademark of the modernist approach. It also simultaneously seems to reject modernism by rejecting rationality. The film is complex and slow paced at times. It requires the audience to draw most of their own conclusions. This is why I felt that, although it is a mixture of both approaches, the film leaned more towards the postmodernist idea of thinking for yourself.
[961 Words]
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