Search - A Walk into the Sea: Danny Williams and the Warhol Factory on DVD

MPAA Rating: NR Movie Release: 2006 DVD Release: 10/28/2008 Format: DVD - Black and White,Color Audio Tracks: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 32 mins Studio: Arts Alliance Amer Members Wishing: 0 Genres: History, Film, TV & Radio, Biography, Media Studies

In 1963, Danny Williams dropped out of Harvard (over the strong objections of his family) and set out to make a career for himself in filmmaking. After editing several documentaries for Albert Maysles and David Maysles (including the award-winning Salesman), Williams met Andy Warhol, and soon became a member of the inner circle at Warhol's "Factory." Williams soon became both an advisor and a lover to the artist, and for a while lived with Warhol. When Warhol gave Williams a 16 mm movie camera, he began making films that displayed his sure and striking visual sense and sharp rhythms. Williams also was a key advisor to Warhol as they created "The Exploding Plastic Inevitable," the multimedia show which launched the career of the groundbreaking rock band the Velvet Underground. But Williams fell victim to the clashing egos that were a large part of Warhol's circle, and when he began receiving press attention that suggested the EPI was as much Williams' creation as Warhol's, Warhol broke off their relationship and a shattered Williams returned home to his family. After a few days, Williams went out for a drive and vanished, never to be seen again. Danny Williams' niece, Esther B. Robinson, offers an intimate look at the remarkable life and unexplained death of an important but little-known creative force in A Walk Into the Sea: Danny Williams and the Warhol Factory, which features interviews with a number of Factory associates (including John Cale, Billy Name, Gerard Malanga, Paul Morrissey, and Brigid Berlin), as well as highlights from several of Williams' long-lost experimental films. A Walk Into the Sea received its North American premiere at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Brigid Berlin
Paul Morrissey
Danny Fields
John Cale
Callie Angell
Gerard Malanga

Danny Williams was one of the more interesting but least celebrated members of the retinue that surrounded Andy Warhol in the mid-1960's, in part because Williams disappeared under mysterious circumstances in 1966 and has never been found. Williams' niece Esther B. Robinson directed this documentary about his life and what might have happened to him, which has been released on DVD by Art House Films and Arts Alliance America. A Walk Into the Sea has been transferred to disc in the full-frame aspect ratio of 1.33:1. Most of the footage seems to have been shot with a low-definition video camera and the image is soft and sometimes flickery, though Robinson often uses this to the film's advantage; the highlights from Williams' rare experimental films, shot on high-contrast black and white 16mm film stock, look superb. The audio has been mastered in Dolby Digital Stereo and the interviews are fine but could sometimes stand to be miked a bit closer; the music sounds significantly better. The interviews are in English, with no multiple language options or subtitles included. Bonus materials included outtakes from interviews with Gerard Malanga, Brigid Berlin, Billy Name, Chuck Wein and others, as well as additional footage from Williams' long-lost films. The pace of A Walk Into the Sea is sometimes a bit too languid, especially given the kinetic pulse of Williams' own films, but it does offer a new and fascinating perspective on the inner workings of life at the Warhol Factory as well as confirming that Williams was a precocious talent who could have grown into one of the leading experimental filmmakers of his generation. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide