The Velvet Forum

According to online sources the Blue-Ray and DVD versions of Todd Haynes's VU documentary both include a complete version of Piero Heliczer's Venus In Furs among their bonus extras. I'm looking for confirmation of that, especially of the DVD, before I buy a copy.

With sound?

The Venus in Furs film is included on the blu-ray and the 2-disc DVD set BUT it is silent. There are details of the extras if you scroll down through the reviews here:

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Velv ... 41/#Review

https://www.criterionforum.org/Review/t ... on-blu-ray

Thanks, I appreciate it.

Welcome!

It kills me that Piero Heliczer's archive is mostly lost / scattered / was probably never properly saved in the first place. He would have had so much valuable stuff from the earliest flashpoint days of the VU - the fabled version of Heroin (or was it Venus in Furs) used for this film, recordings from the Dream Weapon happenings, who knows what else. All gone.

I think I might've found the reason that the film is silent. Per this comprehensive documentation of Heliczer's work:

https://writing.upenn.edu/epc/mirrors/t ... te/ph.html

Format:
8mm, 16 minutes, color, silent / sound on tape

which suggests that a soundtrack was to be provided by an unsynchronized tape, itself perhaps now lost.

Note also the quote from Variety, which shows what may've been an alternate title, of Venus In Furs Meets The Velvet Underground.

Correct, most of Heliczer's films were shot on silent 8mm and had soundtracks on separate tapes. Presumably for this he just taped the audio from the CBS broadcast, which may have had audio from the band (unlike the released version of that footage, which has a suspicious silence where you'd expect to be able to hear the Velvets playing).

Venus in Furs is available to view here, although I'm not sure it's a particularly legal website! https://m.ok.ru/video/5255182289594

Sheila Klein wrote: ↑04 May 2025 02:00
Note also the quote from Variety, which shows what may've been an alternate title, of Venus In Furs Meets The Velvet Underground.

According to the Village Voice March 10, 1966, the Film was played at The Bridge March 9-15, 1966 with that tittle : "VENUS IN FURS MEETS THE VELVET UNDERGROUND Where a nun and a nurse go to hell because of their sinful life in St. Vincent´s Hospital"

On March 30-31, 1966 at the Film-Maker´s Cinematheque as "VENUS IN FURS"

alfredovu wrote: ↑09 May 2025 09:30

Sheila Klein wrote: ↑04 May 2025 02:00
Note also the quote from Variety, which shows what may've been an alternate title, of Venus In Furs Meets The Velvet Underground.

According to the Village Voice March 10, 1966, the Film was played at The Bridge March 9-15, 1966 with that tittle : "VENUS IN FURS MEETS THE VELVET UNDERGROUND Where a nun and a nurse go to hell because of their sinful life in St. Vincent´s Hospital"

On March 30-31, 1966 at the Film-Maker´s Cinematheque as "VENUS IN FURS"

System did not allow me to edit my post ...Sunday February 13, 1966 At The Bridge as Piero Heliczer´s "The Velvet Underground"