In case you’ve wondered what happened to Brigid Berlin, the loud-mouthed, needle-fiend star of Warhol’s Chelsea Girls, Pie in the Sky offers quite a feast. More than Brigid’s artistic efforts (which underwhelm) and her messy Warhol escapades, the central material of the film concerns her fierce addiction to overeating. From her earliest days, Brigid recalls that food and sweets came first. More out of shame than love her storied, aristocratic mother spent decades trying to fix her, shipping her off to European health farms, expensive hospitals and fasting retreats, none of which stopped her from ballooning up to 260 pounds. Yes, there is a lot of rare Warhol material here, but her life struggle with food obliterates all else. At age 60, Brigid still likes to eat an entire Key Lime pie (or two) in one sitting. “I’ve spent my whole life getting thin and getting fat,” she barks with resignation at the camera.

The scope of her addiction staggers and the extent of her efforts to keep it at bay are hard to imagine. Brigid’s seesaw life of rigorous control and freefall relapse is a fascinating peek into the life and mind of a serious addict.

- S.C.

Footnotes –
Brigid’s legend has spawned more than a few downtown tales that are not all easy to believe. An occasional movie pal of mine and one-time factory denizen told me that when Brigid’s mother died, the mortician was unable to remove a large and costly ring from her finger, so Brigid barged into the morgue and ‘claimed’ the ring with bone-breaking force. She allegedly wore it to the funeral with pride.