Interview: James Rasin, Director of Beautiful Darling
STORY BY: Alex Frank
http://www.thefader.com/2011/05/06/interview-james-rasin-director-of-beautiful-darling/Beautiful Darling is a new documentary about Candy Darling, the legendary Queen of Andy Warhol's downtown New York who was born a man, James Lawrence Slattery, in 1944, and died a celebrated woman in 1974. People have used labels like drag queen or transsexual to describe Candy, but as the movie explores, she's neither, always just that singular creation, Candy. She was one of the most glamorous figures in early 1970′s New York, so obsessed by Kim Novak and cinema luster that, even broke and destitute, she turned herself into a Hollywood swan, gracing the dirty New York streets in pearly dresses and peroxide-blonde hair. Lou Reed wrote two songs about her, one by himself and one with The Velvet Underground, and Candy acted in some Off-Broadway plays and a few Warhol films. No role was more important to her, though, than the role of Candy Darling. Even on her deathbed, she filled the room with flowers and had the scene dramatically photographed.
Catch our interview with director James Rasin about the film, which was made in conjunction with Candy's best friend Jeremiah Newton, and see the movie yourself.
