It’s true that The Velvet Underground were a rock band from the 60s. But to say that that’s all they were would not be the full picture. To know the legendary rockers–fronted by songwriters Lou Reed and John Cale–is to also know the scene where they were birthed.

This was New York City in the 1960s. Poets, painters, filmmakers and artists of all kinds came from Paris, Berlin and beyond during this time. They brought radical, challenging visions of art to popular culture. It led to a new movement in art and culture called “avant-garde.”

This new way of thinking produced work that defied convention and dared to be dangerous–which The Velvet Underground did as well. In the new documentary, The Velvet Underground, director Todd Haynes uses a variety of these same experimental techniques from the avant-garde to tell the story of this band.

A stimulating use of mixed media and visual art

Most conventional documentaries use a standard formula. Digging up images and video of the subject and simply placing over talking heads interviews.

But Todd Haynes isn’t here to make a traditional documentary. In his first documentary feature, Haynes–an art major in college himself–shows his art school chops by using a variety of mixed media to tell the story of The Velvets.

Montages of fragmented clips that loop in dizzying array produce a whirlwind effect. Haynes does use talking head interviews to tell the story (only of those who were there). But he uses a split-screen format to combine interviewees with artfully edited mixed media, making for a unique viewing experience.

And who else would these experimentations harken back to, but the pop art master himself: Andy Warhol. The documentary shows to a great degree how influential and important Warhol was to the band’s success. We learn of his meeting Lou Reed and discovering the band, them all hanging out at “The Factory,” and producing their debut album and touring their “Exploding Plastic Inevitable” live show (all with the radiant singer Nico).

Screeching, hypnotizing, droning and distortion

One of the challenges that rock docs face is needing to make the music shine in such a way that shows how powerful it was. Todd Haynes uses a variety of sonic techniques to evoke the band’s presence.

Of course we get the hits like “Waiting For My Man” and “Venus in Fur.” But Haynes also features a sound that the Velvet Underground became so famous for: a single droning, harmonic note.

John Cale–a trained classical musician–discovered how using a viola to sustain a single note over long periods of time could produce a hypnotic effect. Lou Reed’s guitar and vocals combined to make for a sound that blew people away.

There are also numerous moments where amplified feedback is the center of attention. I saw the film in theaters, and when heavy distortion showed a lot of people needing to cover their ears.

It’s challenging in form–like the band

I don’t think that people of all kinds are going to take to this documentary. For, as far as documentaries go, it’s a fairly challenging watch. And that’s why it’s perfect in form for its subject.

The Velvet Underground challenged all the conventions of their time. Lou Reed had a troubled childhood, in which he said that shock therapy was used on him to get rid of his homosexual attractions. His demons would grow, using heroin regularly. But his artistry grew too, being inspired by the Beat poets and the Beatles alike.

Todd Haynes highlights themes like repressed homosexual eroticism that he has used in previous films like Carol. Drug use isn’t glorified, but it’s not shied away from either.

Along with distortion and intentionally abrasive amplifier feedback, Haynes also uses some strobing light effects to evoke a different sort of consciousness.

All of these choices make the documentary something that you might think could play in a gallery or museum. It challenges you to stay with it. And I don’t believe that everyone will.

And that is what makes avant-garde artistry: challenging the norm, to push people out of their comfort zones, to be enlightened in a way that they otherwise wouldn’t have. The Velvet Underground knew this, and Todd Haynes clearly does, as well.