Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story (1987)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Todd Haynes

Writers:

Todd Haynes (writer)
Cynthia Schneider (writer)

Genre:

Short

Plot:

Karen Carpenter's battle with anorexia nervosa and the cultural influence of the Carpenters in the 70s. |

Plot Keywords:

Anorexia | Obsession | Cult Favorite | Ken Doll | Showbiz

Cast

Rob LaBelle	...	Dad / Mr. A&M (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Gwen Kraus	...	Narrator (voice)
Bruce Tuthill	...	Narrator (voice)

Runtime:

43 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Not Rated (Banned)

Company:

Iced Tea Productions

Trivia:

This movie is a biography of Karen Carpenter with a slight twist - all of the parts are played out by Ken and Barbie style dolls.

Movie Connections:

Version of The Karen Carpenter Story (1989) (TV)

A great, if currently illegal, short film.

A marvelous film made by Todd Haynes, a Brown University student at the time, later the director of "Poison" and the brilliant, hypnotic "Safe" (1995), "Superstar" details the rise and fall of Karen Carpenter entirely through an inspired formal devise: Carpenter, her brother Richard, family, and friends are all "portrayed" by Barbie dolls. The film is not merely about fame or anorexia (the disease of which Carpenter died), but conjures the suburban California of the 1970's, indeed the whole plastic experience of America and American pop culture (of which, of course, The Carpenters and Barbie dolls are most certainly a part). The sincere lite-rock of The Carpenters is juxtaposed with the emptiness and powerful sorrow of these "people"; the film isn't merely a satire--it's deeply touching in a way that many "human stories" fail to be. Upon its appearance, the film became a minor cause celebre in hip, arty New York circles; unfortunately, when Richard Carpenter, proprietor of The Carpenters' music (who doesn't exactly come across as a hero in the film), got wind of it, he called his lawyers. The fact of the matter is that Haynes and his producers never cleared the use of the music--the film was never intended to be shown for profit. Simply, though, there is no film without the music. The still-standing cease-and-desist order prevents the film from being distributed in any form; I saw a third- or fourth-generation copy on video, and it was still better than virtually anything I saw that year. "Superstar" is worth seeking out; it's genuinely (and I rarely use this word) inspiring.