The most often-repeated thing said about the Velvet Underground is Brian Eno’s quip that the band didn’t sell many records, but everyone who bought one started a band. You won’t hear that line in Todd Haynes’ documentary “The Velvet Underground,” nor will you see a montage of famous faces talking about their vast influence. You won’t even really hear a fairly full Velvet Underground track until nearly an hour into the two-hour film. Haynes, the filmmaker of “Carol,” “I’m Not There” and “Far From Heaven,” denies the conventional, just as the Velvet Underground did. His movie, which arrives Friday in theaters and on Apple TV+, is, like the Velvets, boldly artful, a little confrontational and stimulating.
Todd Haynes: Finding the frequency of the Velvet Underground
