John Cale

Acting

John Cale

Born

1942-03-09 (84)

Place of birth

Garnant, Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK

Known for

Acting

Credits

73 titles

John Davies Cale, OBE, is a Welsh musician, composer, singer, songwriter and record producer. At an early age Cale discovered a talent for the viola, and became a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Wales at the age of 13. He was later awarded a scholarship at Goldsmiths College, London, England. In 1963, he travelled to the United States to continue his musical training with the assistance and influence of Aaron Copland. He was a founding member of the American rock band The Velvet Underground. Over his five-decade career, Cale has worked in various styles across rock, drone, classical, avant-garde and electronic music.

Known for

Film credits

2020s · 4 titles

2010s · 7 titles

Gimme Danger poster
6.9

No other band in rock'n'roll history has rivaled The Stooges' combination of heavy primal throb, spiked psychedelia, blues-a-billy grind, complete with succinct angst-ridden lyrics, and a snarling, preening leopard of a frontman who somehow embodies Nijinsky, Bruce Lee, Harpo Marx, and Arthur Rimbaud all rolled into one. There is no precedent for The Stooges, while those inspired by them are now legion. The film will present the context of their emergence musically, culturally, politically, historically, and relate their adventures and misadventures while charting their inspirations and the reasons behind their initial commercial challenges, as well as their long-lasting legacy.

Gimme Danger

2016

Danny Says poster
7.0

DANNY SAYS is a documentary unveiling the amazing journey of Danny Fields. Fields has played a pivotal role in music and culture with seminal acts including: the Doors, the Velvet Underground, the Stooges, MC5, Nico, the Ramones and beyond.

Danny Says

2015

Barbara Rubin and the Exploding NY Underground poster
NR

The 29-minute experimental film Christmas on Earth caused a sensation when it first screened in New York City in 1964. Its orgy scenes, double projections and overlapping images shattered artistic conventions and announced a powerful new voice in the city's underground film scene. All the more remarkable, that vision belonged to a teenager, 18-year-old Barbara Rubin. A Zelig of the '60s, she introduced Andy Warhol to the Velvet Underground, Bob Dylan to Kabbalah and bewitched Allen Ginsberg. The same unbridled creativity that inspired her to make films when women simply didn't, saw her breach yet another male domain, Orthodox Judaism, before her mysterious death at 35. Lifelong friend Jonas Mekas saved all her letters, creating a rich archive that filmmaker Chuck Smith carefully sculpts into this fascinating portrait of a nearly forgotten artist. An avante-garde maverick, a rebel in a man's world, Barbara Rubin regains her rightful place in film history.

Barbara Rubin and the Exploding NY Underground

2018

Tony Conrad: Completely in the Present poster
7.6

Feature documentary on the pioneering life and work of iconoclastic filmmaker/musician/composer/artist Tony Conrad.

Tony Conrad: Completely in the Present

2016

Andy Warhol, Fluorescent poster
5.0

A documentary on the legendary creator and victim of pop art. Warhol, revolutionary and controversial, was never afraid to break the mold and reshape the reals of art, advertising, and directing. But who was the real man being behind the colors in which he hid?

Andy Warhol, Fluorescent

2016

Love Twice poster
5.0

"What do you do when the spark touches down-brief and hot?" So begins award-winning director Rob Nilsson's (Permission to Touch, MVFF 2015; A Bridge to a Border, MVFF 2014) provocative meditation on the Möbius relationship of fiction to reality, and the notion of creative control. In Love Twice, Luz and Ken are star-crossed lovers in screenwriter Sal's script, until their desire takes shape, inscribing itself into a movie of their own design. Risking his sanity to save the screenplay, Sal struggles to regain control of his characters and satisfy the demands of his producer Lester (legendary Velvet Underground founder John Cale), driving a wedge between the lovers with a desperate attempt to seduce Luz.

Love Twice

2016

Lou Reed - Remembered poster
6.5

Film tribute to Lou Reed, who died in October, which looks at the extraordinarily transgressive life and career of one of rock 'n' roll's true originals With the help of friends, fellow musicians, critics and those who have been inspired not only by his music but also by his famously contrary approach to almost everything, the documentary looks at how Reed not only helped to shape a generation but also helped to create a truly alternative, independent rock scene, while also providing New York with its most provocative and potent soundtrack. With contributions from Bob Ezrin, Mick Rock, Lenny Kaye, Paul Auster, Moe Tucker, Boy George, Thurston Moore, Andrew Wylie, Victor Bockris, Holly Woodlawn, Mary Woronov and Steve Hunter.

Lou Reed - Remembered

2013

2000s · 13 titles

A Walk Into the Sea: Danny Williams and the Warhol Factory poster
6.2

Esther Robinson's portrait of her uncle Danny Williams, Warhol's onetime lover, collaborator and filmmaker in his own right, offers a exploration of the Factory era, an homage to Williams's talent, a journey of family discovery and a compelling inquiry into Williams's mysterious disappearance at age 27.

A Walk Into the Sea: Danny Williams and the Warhol Factory

2007

No artwork available
5.9

A man wanders around Venice, still bruised from a failed marriage, lost in an empty city, finding old books, memories, and a momentary ghost.

n[eon]

2002

Salamander poster
5.5

Writer-director Pablo Agüero's feature debut follows Inti (Joaquin Aguila), a 6-year-old boy caught up in the madness of post-"Dirty War" Argentina. Upon her release from prison, Inti's mother, Alba (Dolores Fonzi), a former dissident, whisks him away from his grandmother's care. Still unsure of her own direction in life, Alba takes Inti to live in a hippie commune in Patagonia. Velvet Underground founder John Cale co-stars.

Salamander

2008

No artwork available
8.0

How the squalid streets of '70s New York gave birth to music that would go on to conquer the world - punk, disco and hip hop.

Once Upon a Time in New York: the Birth of Hip Hop, Disco and Punk

2007

New York Rock at the BBC poster
6.5

Celebrating the cream of the New York rock scene, including classic performances from the Ramones, New York Dolls, Television, Blondie, Lou Reed and more. 01.New York Dolls - Jet Boy (Nov 1973) 02.Patti Smith Group - Horses (May 1976) 03.Talking Heads - Psycho Killer (Jan 1978) 04.Television - Foxhole (May 1978) 05.Ramones - Don't Come Close (Sep 1978) 06.Blondie - I'm Alway Touched By Your Presence Dear (Mar 1978) 07.Lou Reed - Waiting For The Man (Dec 1984) 08.John Cale - Dying On The Vine (Dec 1985) 09.Sonic Youth - Sugar Kane (Dec 1992) 10.Patti Smith - Because The Night (Apr 2002) 11.Lou Reed - Perfect Day (May 2003) 12.John Cale - Venus In Furs (Oct 2003) 13.David Byrne - This Must Be The Place (May 2004) 14.Antony And The johnsons - Hope There's Some One (Jun 2005) 15.The Strokes - Last Nite (Jun 2006)

New York Rock at the BBC

2008

Punk: Attitude poster
7.1

From London's 1970 mod scene to Sonic Youth, punk music has always been about attitude and anarchy. This comprehensive rockumentary traces the roots of punk, from The Velvet Underground and the New York Dolls to the Sex Pistols and The Clash.

Punk: Attitude

2005

No artwork available
6.0

Velvet Underground Under Review is a 75 minute film reviewing the music and career of one of rock musics most influential collectives; a band which esteemed music journalist Lester Bangs claims started modern music. It features rare musical performances never available before as well as obscure footage, rare interviews and private photographs of and with Lou Reed, Andy Warhol, Sterling Morrison and John Cale. The film also features; rarely seen promo films; material from Andy Warhols private film collection; interviews with colleagues, producers, musicians and friends; TV clips; location shots and a host of other features.

Velvet Underground: Under Review

2006

Vies et morts d'Andy Warhol poster
NR

Icon of pop art, Andy Warhol has marked the 20th century. This film pays tribute to him with the exceptional participation of Ultraviolet, never-before-seen images of the "private" Warhol and archival documents from the Velvet Underground, Mick Jagger, David Bowie, Truman Capote.

Vies et morts d'Andy Warhol

2005

No artwork available
8.0

Andy Warhol, one of the most influential artists of the 20th century (who also coined the immortal catchphrase "In the future, everyone will be famous for 15 minutes"), gets the definitive treatment. This film includes a look into his inner circle and examines both his artistic and personal impact on society. From day-glo Marilyns and Elvises to Campbell's Soup cans to the groovy 1960s and '70s, step into the limelight of the Warhol world.

Andy Warhol: The Complete Picture

2001

Beautiful Mistake poster
10.0

This documentary film follows a group of Welsh musicians interacting and playing in the studio. Combining shots of the city with the music of John Cale as performed by Welsh stars such as Catatonia, Big Leaves and Manic Street Preachers.

Beautiful Mistake

2000

No artwork available
9.0

A search for the poetic soul of Wales - a feature documentary which explores poetic responses, historical & contemporary, to the issues of social & cultural survival; and celebrates this enduring 2500 year poetic experience.

Still: Here/Now

2003

Velvet Underground's First Public Appearance poster
NR

This is the only filmed record of this historical performance of the pioneering music group. They are shown with Lou Reed, Eddie Sedgwick, Gerard Malanga, John Cale, Andy Warhol, and others. A dance party at Stephen Shore’s apartment follows the Psychiatrists Convention footage. Sound: Nico at the Dom, New York City, later same year. From the cycle of FIRST FORTY I made in late 2006 as an introduction to my work for my new, Internet audience. All of them are based on my earlier films but slightly, sometimes more than slightly, changed. I consider them works complete in themselves, seperate from the main body of my film work.

Velvet Underground's First Public Appearance

2006

No artwork available
6.1

A look at post-9/11 America by the Danish documentarian.

New Scenes from America

2003

1990s · 14 titles

Scenes from the Life of Andy Warhol: Friendships and Intersections poster
6.6

Jonas Mekas’s intimate diary film spans 1963 to 1990, capturing Andy Warhol alongside friends and collaborators from the New York avant-garde. Featuring figures such as Allen Ginsberg, John Lennon, Yoko Ono, and George Maciunas—as well as rare footage of the Velvet Underground’s first performance—it offers a personal portrait of Warhol’s world and his intersections with art, music, and counterculture.

Scenes from the Life of Andy Warhol: Friendships and Intersections

1990

The Banana poster
NR

The Velvet Underground's John Cale tells the story behind Andy Warhol's famous LP cover, Auberon Waugh and John Walters recall their first encounters with the fruit after the war, and footballer Brendan Batson considers how they became a symbol of racism hurled from the terraces

The Banana

1997

Superstar: The Life and Times of Andy Warhol poster
7.2

Iconic American artist and filmmaker Andy Warhol is the subject of this documentary, which looks at both his life and his influence on pop culture. The film provides details about Warhol's upbringing in Pittsburgh and follows his move to New York City, where he found massive success turning pop imagery into art and eventually founded "The Factory," his famed studio and party venue. Among the many notables interviewed are Dennis Hopper, David Hockney, and Roy Lichtenstein.

Superstar: The Life and Times of Andy Warhol

1990

Brian Wilson: I Just Wasn't Made for These Times poster
7.0

I Just Wasn't Made for These Times is a documentary about the life of Brian Wilson, the musical mastermind and songwriter for the Beach Boys. The film examines the ups and downs of Wilson's life, including the early years of the Beach Boys, his years of substance abuse, and his long road to recovery.

Brian Wilson: I Just Wasn't Made for These Times

1995

Lou Reed: Rock and Roll Heart poster
7.7

An incredible retracing of the evolution of Reed's remarkable career over three decades. Filled with interviews with Reed, his friends and some of the major artists influenced by Reed including David Bowie, David Byrne, Patti Smith, Suzanne Vega, Dave Stewart, Philip Glass and more. Production Notes, Biographies, Discography, Scene Access, Screen Test, Rare Velvet Footage

Lou Reed: Rock and Roll Heart

1998

Nico Icon poster
8.1

A look into the many lives of Christa Päffgen, otherwise known as Nico; from cutie German mädchen to the first of the supermodels, to glamorous diva of the Velvet Underground, to cult item, junkie and hag. Many faces for the same woman, whom, you realize, just couldn't bring herself to care enough to live.

Nico Icon

1995

Lou Reed and John Cale: Songs for Drella poster
6.6

Songs for Drella is a concept album by Lou Reed and John Cale, both formerly of The Velvet Underground, and is dedicated to the memory of Andy Warhol, their mentor, who had died unexpectedly in 1987. Drella was a nickname for Warhol coined by Warhol Superstar Ondine, a contraction of Dracula and Cinderella, used by Warhol's crowd. The song cycle focuses on Warhol's interpersonal relations and experiences, with songs falling roughly into three categories: Warhol's first-person perspective (which makes up the vast majority of the album), third-person narratives chronicling events and affairs, and first-person commentaries on Warhol by Reed and Cale themselves. The songs on the album are, to some extent, in chronological order.

Lou Reed and John Cale: Songs for Drella

1990

John Cale: Fragments of a Rainy Season poster
6.0

Solo live concert recorded in Brussels, April 12, 1992. Tracks: 1) On A Wedding Anniversary 2) Lie Still, Sleep Becalmed 3) Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night 4) The Soul of Carmen Miranda 5) Cordoba 6) Ship Of Fools 7) Leaving It Up To You 8) The Ballad Of Cable Hogue 9) Chinese Envoy 10) Fear Is A Man's Best Friend 11) Dying On The Vine 12) Heartbreak Hotel 13) Paris 1919 14) (I Keep A) Close Watch 15) Hallelujah

John Cale: Fragments of a Rainy Season

1992

John Cale: An Exploration of His Life & Music poster
NR

Follows John Cale, a Welsh musician and producer, who founded the legendary 60s and 70s NY rock band - the Velvet Underground, with Lou Reed. Cale delved into other mainstream and experimental music genres as well.

John Cale: An Exploration of His Life & Music

1998

Rhinoceros Hunting in Budapest poster
8.0

A young man's odyssey from a small town in Colorado to Budapest, in search of his estranged girlfriend.

Rhinoceros Hunting in Budapest

1997

The Velvet Underground - Velvet Redux Live MCMXCIII poster
8.0

Seminal experimental rock band The Velvet Underground, who initially disbanded in 1970, perform a set at L'Olympia in Paris, France in June 1993, during their brief reunion tour. The set features original founding members Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison and Maureen Tucker performing 15 songs, including a new, previously unreleased track, "Coyote."

The Velvet Underground - Velvet Redux Live MCMXCIII

1993

No artwork available
6.2

In this 1995 made-for television biopic, see legendary musician and filmmaker Ivan Kral as he made music history. With guitar and camera in the 70s, playing with Iggy Pop, Blondie and Patti Smith Group, he triumphed, rising from refugee to rock icon.

Dancing Barefoot

1995

Words for the Dying poster
8.0

An 80-minute documentary following John Cale and Brian Eno in Moscow, London, and Wales during the creation of the album "Words for the Dying."

Words for the Dying

1993

Curious: The Velvet Underground in Europe poster
NR

Spotlights the Velvet Underground's 1993 reunion tour of Europe, interspersing footage of the band's Paris concert and interviews with the members of the group. Concerts in Prague and Berlin included.

Curious: The Velvet Underground in Europe

1993

1970s · 3 titles

1960s · 15 titles

Diaries, Notes, and Sketches poster
7.3

Also known as Walden, Jonas Mekas’s first diary film is a six-reel chronicle of his life in 1960s New York, interweaving moments with family, friends, lovers, and artistic idols. Blending everyday encounters with portraits of the avant-garde art scene, it forms an epic, personal meditation on community, creativity, and the passage of time.

Diaries, Notes, and Sketches

1968

The Velvet Underground: Psychiatrist's Convention, NYC, 1966 poster
3.0

The Velvet Underground's first public appearance, filmed in Super 8 at a Psychiatrist's Convention, at the Delmonico Hotel, New York, January 14, 1966. Andy Warhol was invited to speak at the annual banquet of the New York Society for Clinical Psychiatry. He brought along the Velvets and other factory regulars.

The Velvet Underground: Psychiatrist's Convention, NYC, 1966

1966

The Velvet Underground in Boston poster
NR

This newly unearthed film, which Warhol shot during a concert at the Boston Tea Party, features a variety of filmmaking techniques. Sudden in-and-out zooms, sweeping panning shots, in-camera edits that create single frame images and bursts of light like paparazzi flash bulbs going off mirror the kinesthetic experience of the Exploding Plastic Inevitable, with its strobe lights, whip dancers, colorful slide shows, multi-screen projections, liberal use of amphetamines, and overpowering sound. It is a significant find indeed for fans of the Velvets, being one of only two known films with synchronous sound of the band performing live, and this the only one in color.

The Velvet Underground in Boston

1967

Andy Warhol Screen Tests poster
8.0

The films were made between 1964 and 1966 at Warhol's Factory studio in New York City. Subjects were captured in stark relief by a strong key light, and filmed by Warhol with his stationary 16mm Bolex camera on silent, black and white, 100-foot rolls of film at 24 frames per second. The resulting two-and-a-half-minute film reels were then screened in 'slow motion' at 16 frames per second.

Andy Warhol Screen Tests

1965

Andy Warhol + Roy Lichtenstein poster
NR

This program profiles Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, two of pop art's greatest icons. Back-to-back interviews highlight their differences. The voluble Lichtenstein, interviewed in his studio, discusses his methods and the use of familiar objects in his art. The reticent Warhol baits the interviewer, who attempts to extract concrete statements from the elusive artist. The Warhol segment is supplemented by footage of his band, the Velvet Underground; a clip of one of his short films, "Nancy Worthington Fish"; and brief comments from Edie Sedgwick, one of Warhol's proteges.

Andy Warhol + Roy Lichtenstein

1966

The Velvet Underground and Nico: A Symphony of Sound poster
6.8

The film depicts a rehearsal of The Velvet Underground including Nico, and is essentially one long loose improvisation.

The Velvet Underground and Nico: A Symphony of Sound

1966

Moe Gets Tied Up poster
6.0

Or "Moe in Bondage" - The "Moe" of the title is the Velvet Underground's drummer, Maureen Tucker, whose band-mates have tied her to a chair and are now hanging around nibbling on sandwiches and pieces of fruit.

Moe Gets Tied Up

1966

Screen Test: John Cale poster
NR

Reel 24. Test #3

Screen Test: John Cale

1966

The Velvet Underground Tarot Cards poster
NR

Documents each member of The Velvet Underground having their cards read at a big apartment party. The tarot reader is continually interrupted in her readings by the chaos created by the characters around her.

The Velvet Underground Tarot Cards

1966

The Velvet Underground Rehearses poster
NR

A film of the Velvet Underground performing only discovered in recent years directed by Danny Williams shortly before his dissapearance.

The Velvet Underground Rehearses

1966

Four Stars poster
4.7

Photographed entirely in color, Four Stars was projected in its complete length of nearly 25 hours (allowing for projection overlap of the 35-minute reels) only once, at the Film-Makers' Cinematheque in New York City. The imagery in the film is dense, wearying and beautiful, but ultimately hard to decipher, for, in contrast to his earlier, and more famous film Chelsea Girls, made in 1966, Warhol insisted that two reels be screened simultaneously on top of each other on a single screen, rather than side-by-side. The film's title is a pun on the rating system used by critics to rank films, with "four stars" being the highest rating. From Wikipedia.

Four Stars

1967

Screen Test #3 poster
7.5

One of Andy Warhol's screen tests, focusing on an actor's face for 4-5 mins.

Screen Test #3

1966

Screen Test [ST43]: John Cale poster
NR

Screen Test of John Cale

Screen Test [ST43]: John Cale

1966

Exploding Plastic Inevitable poster
6.3

Exploding Plastic Inevitable was a series of multimedia events organised by Andy Warhol between 1966 and 1967, featuring musical performances by The Velvet Underground and Nico, screenings of Warhol's films, and dancing and performances by regulars of Warhol's Factory. It is also the title of a 18-minute film by Ronald Nameth filmed during one week of the show in Chicago, Illinois in 1966.

Exploding Plastic Inevitable

1967

Whips poster
NR

Whips was one of the films mentioned in a half page ad in the April 7, 1966 issue of the Village Voice, advertising The Exploding Plastic Inevitable show at the Dom.

Whips

1964

Series credits

Behind the camera