Absolute Andy

"Absolut Warhola" must be the most entertaining documentary ever made. In a sense, it's not really a documentary at all, but a work of art. Modernist art, that is. So don't expect an Academy award for this one!

The pop artist Andy Warhol was born in the United States, but his parents were immigrants from Slovakia. They originally lived in the village of Mikova, close to the town of Medzilaborce. This is probably *the* backwater in Slovakia, something akin to Bum Shmuck Arkansas in the US. Still today, Medzilaborce (population 6000) lacks a railway station, Gypsies roam the countryside, and the former Soviet Union is only a stone throw away (well, almost).

However, this Godforsaken town houses the only Andy Warhol Museum in Europe!

"Absolut Warhola" takes us to both Mikova, where Andy Warhol's relatives still live, and to Medzilaborce, where a museum manager attempts to hold the obviously underfunded operation floating. The whole thing virtually smells of manure, backwater and fly-over country, with a slight whiff of Jim Crow, since "dirty Gypsies" aren't allowed to enter the museum (which is near-empty anyway).

Some people consider this documentary to be an insult against Slovakia. Personally, I rather consider it an involuntary exposure of Andy Warhol and his art. In the movie, one of Warhol's relatives reveal that Warhol send some of his "artwork" to the family in Mikova. The family had no idea that the pieces were supposed to be paintings and gave them to their children, who quickly cut them into pieces! Poor Andy. I wonder how his relatives would have reacted, had he sent them some Brillo boxes?

:-D

"Absolut Warhola" is almost ten years old. Perhaps the museum (which still exists, being the fanciest building in Medzilaborce) has more funding these days. After all, it was set up with the aid of the Slovak Ministry of Culture.

But don't count on it, LOL.