Valerie Solanas, feminist hero? or total maniac? Considering she tried to assassinate Andy Warhol, you tell me. Meet one of the angriest feminists in American history, in all of her glory, in a beautifully done film by American Psycho director Marry Harron. It's a journey of rejection, loathing, and pain. Lilli Taylor is great, and so is the rest of the cast. The script is top notch, and the editing is fabulous, and surprisingly exuberant. Biopics shine when they are brought to the screen with more panache than.. lets say an A&E documentary.

The number of people who misunderstand the goals of feminism is astonishing. To the kiddos who live by the word of conservatives and close-minded nefarios, the term is synonymous with man-hating, or, a case of female empowerment too supposedly vicious and oppressive for its own good. All feminists want is for the female race to have the same basic rights as men, which is fair, not terrifying. (Another case exemplifying why putting labels on issues can be a dangerous thing.) The meninists of our time, unfortunately, have feminists mixed up with combative revolutionaries akin to, I don't know, Valerie Solanas. Who is Valerie Solanas, you ask? Valerie Jean Solanas (born 1936, died 1988), Wikipedia reads, was an American radical feminist writer best known for the "SCUM Manifesto" and as the would-be murderer of pop artist Andy Warhol. Solanas despised men, not as people but as society's weak links: she figured that men, with their Y chromosomes, were genetic accidents, and that women were meant to rule the world. Not like Beyoncé currently preaches, though: Solanas' goal was to completely exterminate the sex, thus ending the possibilities of future generations and setting the female example in stone.If her logic sounds crazy to you, then you, of course, are of sound mind. But don't let her fanatical blueprints undermine your interest in her. Anything written about Solanas, understandably, makes her sound like a lunatic on the move — that's why 1996's "I Shot Andy Warhol" is such an impactful film. Sure, she still seems like a lunatic on the move. But unexpected is how fascinating of a woman she is, a staggering example of a highly intelligent force of nature who was so struck down during their formative years that using a high IQ for something rational in adulthood seems too mad of a thought. "I Shot Andy Warhol" is so much more than a true crime story set to the screen; it's more comparable to a brilliant character study that just so happens to be based on true events. Harron is invested in Solanas but is also attentive toward the people that surround her. We are understanding of Solanas' view of herself and the view from the judgmental eyes of The Factory and beyond — Harron is so subtly thorough that there are times we forget we aren't actually watching a Candy Darling biopic or a Factory documentary. Every character, compelling or not, is damaged in some way, making the film much more resonant. Solanas' entrance only adds wood to the personal fires of the people she continually harasses; explosive results should have been expected originally.More remarkable is the acting. When it comes to biographical tales, often tiresome is the idea that more attention is given to the fact that hey, _______ _______ is playing ______ ______!, when, in actuality, real figures should have as much depth, if not more, than your average movie character. Astonishing is the way "I Shot Andy Warhol" makes the situation feel as though it is happening before our very eyes. Solanas is not glorified nor portrayed as a crazy person left to expire in the throes of infamy. Instead, she is a misunderstood genius so unrelentingly cast aside by society that Warhol's emotional standoffishness causes an already unstable person to completely snap. Taylor embodies Solanas so convincingly that the increasing madness of her character does instill fear in us.Supporting players Dorff and Harris also make a huge impression: Dorff is terrific as Candy Darling. Never leaning toward caricature-ish body movements or stereotyped predictabilities, he touches deep as a transsexual who made it (kind of) in a time where most were stamped on by culture. Harris turns Warhol into the eccentric we never knew he was, as an artist so hypnotized by the looks, feelings, and auras of others that he never really knew how to be himself. He's polite to Solanas, never turning her down like he should, but is it because he's nice or because she acts as a distraction to his unhealthy habit of consuming himself with the other?"I Shot Andy Warhol" is gigantically effective; it tells a story coercive even to the most casual of a viewer while also authentically investing in the neuroses of the real figures it brings to the celluloid.

I had never heard of Valerie Solanas before seeing "I Shot Andy Warhol", but the movie does a very good job telling the story. We see Valerie as a misunderstood - but strong-willed - person disenchanted with the world around her. Lili Taylor does a really good job showing what sort of person Solanas was. The movie doesn't try to deify Solanas in any way, it shows what kind of world she came from, and that she tried to make a new life for herself. Above all, one gets a sense of how weird (and mildly depraved) it must have been in Andy Warhol's world. I recommend the film.Also starring Jared Harris. Director Mary Harron later directed "American Psycho".

I Shot Andy Warhol, is based on the true life story of Valerie Solanas, who was a female radical in the 60's and was a lesbian and very against men. She wrote a play and came to New York, with a friend of hers who is a drag queen named Candy Darling to meet Andy Warhol. Valerie, gives Andy Warhol's company (called the factor) her play and soon she comes back and talks to Andy about it and Andy gets her to star in a couple of movies that he directs. Soon, Valerie gets a place and meets a publisher who inspires her to write a novel about her revolution and he plans to publish it. But soon Valerie starts to get paranoid and thinks that Andy Warhol, has to much impact on her life and thinks that he and the book publisher are setting her up so she plans to make herself famous by shooting him. Andy Warhol survived the shooting but died several years later due to complications and Valerie, was sent to a mental hospital and was homeless for quite awhile until she died of pneumonia. Her book SCUM Manifesto, is now published all over the world. Winner of the award for Best Art Direction at The Gijon International Film Festival, The Golden Space Needle Award for Best Actress (Lili Taylor, who plays Valerie Solanas) at The Seattle International Film Festival, The Best Actress Award at The Stockholm Film Festival and the special recognition for Lili Taylor at The Sundance Film Festival. I Shot Andy Warhol, has good direction, a good script, good performances from everybody involved, good original music, good cinematography and good production design. I Shot Andy Warhol, is a fascinating character study and a very interesting film. It shows the many different stages in a time of Valerie's life and it is compelling and played very well by Lili Taylor and all of the other actors. Also being a fan of Andy Warhol, I found the scenes with his factory and underground lifestyles with his films and art to be really interesting as well. This film shows a lot of different lifestyles and gives these characters interesting personalities and gives them good character development. The film is also a good looking film and looks like it probably would have back then. A very entertaining and fascinating look at an interesting person who you might not know of and of someone you do know of.