| Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story | |
|---|---|
 Cover of a black-market video release of the film | |
| Directed by | Todd Haynes |
| Written by | Todd Haynes Cynthia Schneider |
| Produced by | Todd Haynes Cynthia Schneider |
| Starring | Merrill Gruver Michael Edwards |
| Narrated by | Gwen Kraus Bruce Tuthill |
| Cinematography | Barry Ellsworth |
| Edited by | Todd Haynes |
| Music by | The Carpenters |
Production company | Iced Tea Productions |
| Distributed by | American International Video Search, Inc. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 43 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story is a 1987 American experimental biographical film that portrays the last 17 years of singer Karen Carpenter's life, as she struggled with anorexia. Directed by Todd Haynes, the film features archival documentary footage and stop motion animation using Barbie dolls with actors' voiceovers. 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The film was withdrawn from circulation in 1990 after Haynes lost a copyright infringement lawsuit filed by Karen's brother and musical collaborator, Richard Carpenter.[1][2] The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.[3][4] 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'.[5]
- ^ Holden, Stephen (November 8, 1998). "FILM; Focusing on Glam Rock's Blurring of Identity". The New York Times.
- ^ Short of the Week
- ^ Dirks, Tim. "Top 50 Cult Movies". Entertainment Weekly/AMC. Retrieved January 1, 2013.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
EWwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Lodge, Guy (August 11, 2016). "Superstar: Todd Haynes's banned Karen Carpenter movie is visionary". The Guardian. Retrieved January 26, 2019.