DVD: Lou Reed, Lou Reed's Berlin, (Artificial Eye)

Reviewed,Hugh Montgomery
Sunday 04 January 2009 01:00 GMT
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Panned on release, Lou Reed's 1973 album 'Berlin' – documenting the downs and downs of an abusive relationship – has been reappraised as a miserabilist masterpiece.

This 2006 concert film shows why: performed with the Brooklyn Youth Chorus and a seven-piece orchestra, the 10-song cycle becomes as musically transcendent as it is lyrically sordid. And while director Julian Schnabel throws in footage of actress Emmanuelle Seigner as doomed anti-heroine Caroline, he ensures Reed's deadpan persona remains the star.

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