FILMMAKERS’ obsession with Andy Warhol never seems to fade. The latest entry is “A Walk Into the Sea,” a documentary about Danny Williams, one of the artist’s lesser-known disciples.
A budding filmmaker, Williams was Warhol’s lighting designer – and lover. In 1966, at a family gathering in Massachusetts, Williams said he needed some air, took his mother’s car and drove off. He was never seen again.
Did the 27-year-old commit suicide, did he OD, or did he – as his mother suggests – drown while taking a dip in the ocean?
“A Walk Into the Sea” director Esther B. Robinson – his niece, born after he died – interviews relatives as well as others who crossed paths with Williams.
Among them are filmmaker Paul Morrissey, Velvet Underground musician John Cale, music vet Danny Fields, and pudgy rich girl turned Factory hanger-on Brigid Berlin (her father was a big shot in the conservative Hearst newspaper empire).
“[Williams] was just a kid, and so talented,” says respected documentarian Albert Maysles, who used the young man on some of his films. We’ll probably never know what became of Williams, but his short life and mysterious disappearance make for diverting viewing.
Running time: 78 minutes. Not rated (mature themes). At Cinema Village, 12th Street between Fifth Avenue and University Place.