The usual way to make a documentary about a famous, no longer alive popular musician is to weave talking head interviews (with colleagues, journalists, random celebrities) around video clips of the star on stage or in the studio. . Stories tend to follow a standard script: an initial struggle followed by victory, disaster, and redemption. Movies like this clog up his streaming platform, catering to die-hard fans and nostalgic dads.
Brett Morgen’s new film about David Bowie is something different.Titled ‘Moonage Daydream’ after Bowie’s semi-deep cut “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and Spiders from Mars” It’s been shown in IMAX and other formats, so this is more of a seance than a biography. Rather than laying out the chronology of Bowie’s life and career, Morgen conjures Bowie’s presence through a masterful collage of archival material, including concert footage, feature films and music videos. There are so many great songs, and thanks to Morgen’s skillful editing, it looks like Bowie himself is providing the narration. It’s a ghostly effect (he passed away in his 2016) and resonates with some of his thoughts on time, consciousness and the universe. He’s more of a living spirit than a movie subject.
“Does it matter? Do I care? , the answer is a resounding yes.
Morgen, who has made documentaries about the Chicago 7, Kurt Cobain, Jane Goodall, and Hollywood producer Robert Evans, subordinates the insipid facts of history to the mystery of personality. “Moonage Daydream” is about how it felt to be David Bowie and, by corollary, how it felt to be particularly interested in him in the 1970s and his 80s. I am very interested. Context and Evaluation — the sources and influences of his music. Relations to what was happening in the wider world—it’s up to the viewer to provide or infer. The presence of the work and the artist is of utmost importance.
This approach works in most cases. Morgen bends and twists the timeline to suit his own convenience, but it arcs from the early ’70s to his ’90s, beginning with Ziggy’s Stardust era and bowie’s otherworldly charisma at the time. engage the audience in With his bright orange hair, brilliantly original fashion sense, outspoken bisexuality, and almost casual use of diverse musical idioms, he is a fascinating puzzle for the media, restless and curious. She was an idol for young people.
Appearing on stage in dresses, flowy suits, and shiny spacesuits, he blithely subverted gender conventions with ease. He changed his look and sound with each album, causing critics to question his authenticity and interviewers to question his true self.
That mystery seems easier to solve than it did at the time.In “Moonage Daydream” Bowie’s process and many of his thoughts are explained. Perhaps more than most of his peers, he takes an Apollonian perspective in an essentially Dionysian form, approaching excesses and even violations in certain intellectual separations. It seems that
His post-war childhood is quickly addressed. He notes the callousness of his parents’ marriage and the influence of his half-brother Terry Burns, who introduced young David to jazz, outlaw literature, and contemporary art. But mostly “Moonage Daydream” is a break from Bowie’s personal life, editing sex and drugs from a rock and roll version.
His first marriage to Angie Barnett is not mentioned at all. His second, Iman, marks the transition from restless loneliness to contented middle age. Highlighted in both the narration and imagery is Bowie’s work. His descriptions of stylistic and genre shifts are clear and explained by shrewd selections. All the obvious hits are inaudible. “Young Americans”—but you get a sense of his range and ingenuity and a taste for less memorable tunes. “Rock’n’Roll With Me”.
Watching Bowie move through the stages of his career from avant-garde to unrelenting pop, at least in retrospect, shows that his creative life has been an impressive series of experiments in various media. is clear. Morgen splits his time between painting and sculpting Bowie and acting in films such as The Man Who Fell To Earth and Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, as well as Broadway’s The Elephant Man.
Bowie was a very good actor and, although this is shown rather than said, a very good dancer. Moonage Daydream” theme. It’s a portrait of the artist as a thoughtful, happy-go-lucky man. And perhaps surprisingly, given the mythology surrounding so many of his contemporaries, it’s a happy thing.
moon age daydream
Rated PG-13. Old fashioned rock’n’roll. Running time: 2 hours 15 minutes. at the theater.