Sienna Miller does a remarkable job of bringing the ultimate "it" girl Edie Sedgwick to life in Factory Girl, the re-creation by documentary style director George Hickenlooper [Heart of Darkness, Mayor of the Sunset Strip] of the story between pop artist Andy Warhol and his discovery Edie.
Based somewhat on George Plimpton's interview book Edie, Factory Girl retells the story of Edie Sedgwick during the 60s and 70s and her infancy years masking her deep dark secrets and the insanity that ran in her family. She escapes from California and finds herself mixed up in the life of Andy Warhol and the Factory, an artist's warehouse space where Warhol directed his amateur films such as Vinyl starring his entourage and created the Campbell soup cans montages.
The shots during the film are perfectly faithful to the photographs of Edie Sedgwick who became the "it" girl - with her stunning waifish looks she was the poster model for her generation. Parts in the films such as the tryptich Chelsea Girls and Poor Little Rich Girl - to see and be seen with the Andy Warhol was the apex of her "career". Warhol portrayed in Factory girl as fey and callow by [Memento, The Time Machine, The Proposition star] Guy Pearce is seen as the leading cause of her ultimate demise, abandoning her and leaving her destitute in her exploited and drug-addicted decline. One bright moment of happiness is seen in the company of It ain't me babe Bobby Quinn [a veiled Bob Dylan] nailed by Hayden Christensen, and her biggest mistake was staying with Andy instead of leaving with him. It ain't me babe.
The movie is tragically bookended by her "obituary" in the park about how she wants to be remembered followed by the ending credits with real photos and commentary by actual participants in Edie's life that underly the tragedy but also remember how brightly she shone.
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