Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story (1987)

Directed by

Todd Haynes

Genre

biographical film, musical film

Country

United States

Runtime

43 min

Rated

NR

Rating

7.0 of 10 from 63 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This experimental film uses Barbie-like dolls and voiceovers to tell the story of singer Karen Carpenter's final years as she battled anorexia. It presents her life through an unusual mix of puppetry, archival footage, and Carpenters songs, focusing on her personal struggles rather than her career.

melancholicunsettlingexperimentalslow-burnbleakintimatedetachedpoignant

What happens

Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story is a 1987 American experimental biographical tragedy film directed by Todd Haynes that portrays the last 17 years of singer Karen Carpenter's life as she struggled with anorexia. The film features live action puppetry of Barbie-like dolls along with actors' voiceovers, plus archival and on-location footage. Superstar was co-written and co-produced by Haynes and Cynthia Schneider, with an unauthorized soundtrack consisting mostly of the hit songs of the Carpenters. It was filmed over a ten-day period at Bard College in the summer of 1985. Barry Ellsworth collaborated on the film and was the cinematographer for the Barbie-themed interior segments of the film. The film was withdrawn from circulation in 1990 after Haynes lost a copyright infringement lawsuit filed by Karen's brother and musical collaborator, Richard Carpenter. The film's title is derived from the Carpenters' 1971 hit "Superstar". Meanwhile, over the years Superstar has developed into a cult film, has notably been bootlegged, and is included in Entertainment Weekly's 2003 list of top 50 Cult Movies. Its apparent metamodern purpose as a film, including multiple perspectives on anorexia nervosa, the pop music industry, the Carpenters themselves, and the definition of a biographical film, has also given it a legacy among fans of avant-garde cinema; Guy Lodge, writing for The Guardian, expressed that "while Haynes is working in a vein of very rich irony, there's not a hint of snark here". (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

More like this

• The Karen Carpenter Story (1989)
• Karen Carpenter: Goodbye to Love (2016)
• La Bamba (1987)
• Barbie and the Sensations: Rockin' Back to Earth (1987)
• Au-dela du souvenir (1987)
• All That Jazz (1979)
• Control (2007)
• The Hero's Journey (1987)