MOONAGE DAYDREAM
****
Director: Brett Morgen
Screenplay: Brett Morgen
Principal cast:
David Bowie (archive footage)
Country: USA/Germany
Classification: M
Runtime: 135 mins.
Australian release date: 15 September 2022
“It’s what you do in life that’s important, not how much time you have or what you wish you’d done.”
"Life is fantastic.” - David Bowie.
Directed by Brett Morgen, with the approval of the Bowie estate, Moonage Daydream is a glorious homage to one of the most significant musical artists of late-20th and early-21st century contemporary culture - David Bowie - whose multi-faceted output spanned five decades. He had one of the most mercurial solo careers in the history of modern music and for those who were fortunate enough to see him perform live, the memories remain vivid. For those who weren’t so lucky, Moonage Daydream may be the next best thing. In the eponymous title song, which he penned in 1971, Bowie sang “I’m an alligator…,” but he should have sung “I’m a chameleon…” because it would have been more accurate. He studied art and design as well as music before meeting the legendary choreographer and teacher Lindsay Kemp, from whom he learnt dance, mime and theatre skills. This artistic immersion later led him to create iconic characters like Ziggy Stardust, the Thin White Duke, Major Tom, Aladdin Sane and the Starman, to name a few. He was an actor, too, and had significant roles in The Man Who Fell to Earth, Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence and Labyrinth and made regular appearances on TV chat shows. In these, his wit and intelligence always shone through: during a 1973 interview with Russell Harty shown in the film, Bowie disarmed his host when he was asked whether his colourful platform boots were “men’s shoes, women’s shoes or bisexual shoes” and he simply replied that they were “Shoe shoes, silly!”
Morgen was able to draw on thousands of hours of footage for Moonage Daydream, much of it supplied by the David Bowie Estate, which granted him unprecedented access to their vast collection of never-before-seen video and catalogue of Bowie’s art and poetry. It took him four years of exhaustive work to compile all this material into its final form, and then another 18 months to design the sound and colour palette, but all his effort was worth it – the fascinating result could have been subtitled ‘The Philosophy of David Bowie.’ Through the use of excerpts of interviews made throughout the singer’s career, Bowie himself speaks about his evolution as a human and a performing artist. He always described himself as “a collector,” a word which encompassed his ever-changing beliefs and approaches to his work. At various times, he claimed he was a generalist, then “a Buddhist on Tuesday and a Nietzschean on Friday,” while also opining that “Everything’s rubbish and all rubbish is wonderful.” He truly was a chameleon.
This not the first time the US director has covered the work of popular musicians; he has previously made documentaries on the Rolling Stones (Crossfire Hurricane) and Nirvana lead singer Kurt Cobain (Cobain: Montage of Heck), among other musical docs, so he has solid form in this neck of the woods, but Moonage Daydream is in a class of its own. It has a dream-like intensity that delivers a trippy, fully immersive experience to the viewer. There’s no ‘voice of god’ to guide you through its kaleidoscopic montage of sound and image, just Bowie’s own words gently propounding his thoughts. It doesn’t do the standard thing of going through his various incarnations in chronological order, yet it does manage to provide a timeline of sorts. It’s a mash-up of its subject’s extraordinary life, music and legacy, a kind of ‘thank you’ for the genius’s oeuvre. You get the feeling that Bowie would have approved.
Screenplay: Brett Morgen
Principal cast:
David Bowie (archive footage)
Country: USA/Germany
Classification: M
Runtime: 135 mins.
Australian release date: 15 September 2022
“It’s what you do in life that’s important, not how much time you have or what you wish you’d done.”
"Life is fantastic.” - David Bowie.
Directed by Brett Morgen, with the approval of the Bowie estate, Moonage Daydream is a glorious homage to one of the most significant musical artists of late-20th and early-21st century contemporary culture - David Bowie - whose multi-faceted output spanned five decades. He had one of the most mercurial solo careers in the history of modern music and for those who were fortunate enough to see him perform live, the memories remain vivid. For those who weren’t so lucky, Moonage Daydream may be the next best thing. In the eponymous title song, which he penned in 1971, Bowie sang “I’m an alligator…,” but he should have sung “I’m a chameleon…” because it would have been more accurate. He studied art and design as well as music before meeting the legendary choreographer and teacher Lindsay Kemp, from whom he learnt dance, mime and theatre skills. This artistic immersion later led him to create iconic characters like Ziggy Stardust, the Thin White Duke, Major Tom, Aladdin Sane and the Starman, to name a few. He was an actor, too, and had significant roles in The Man Who Fell to Earth, Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence and Labyrinth and made regular appearances on TV chat shows. In these, his wit and intelligence always shone through: during a 1973 interview with Russell Harty shown in the film, Bowie disarmed his host when he was asked whether his colourful platform boots were “men’s shoes, women’s shoes or bisexual shoes” and he simply replied that they were “Shoe shoes, silly!”
Morgen was able to draw on thousands of hours of footage for Moonage Daydream, much of it supplied by the David Bowie Estate, which granted him unprecedented access to their vast collection of never-before-seen video and catalogue of Bowie’s art and poetry. It took him four years of exhaustive work to compile all this material into its final form, and then another 18 months to design the sound and colour palette, but all his effort was worth it – the fascinating result could have been subtitled ‘The Philosophy of David Bowie.’ Through the use of excerpts of interviews made throughout the singer’s career, Bowie himself speaks about his evolution as a human and a performing artist. He always described himself as “a collector,” a word which encompassed his ever-changing beliefs and approaches to his work. At various times, he claimed he was a generalist, then “a Buddhist on Tuesday and a Nietzschean on Friday,” while also opining that “Everything’s rubbish and all rubbish is wonderful.” He truly was a chameleon.
This not the first time the US director has covered the work of popular musicians; he has previously made documentaries on the Rolling Stones (Crossfire Hurricane) and Nirvana lead singer Kurt Cobain (Cobain: Montage of Heck), among other musical docs, so he has solid form in this neck of the woods, but Moonage Daydream is in a class of its own. It has a dream-like intensity that delivers a trippy, fully immersive experience to the viewer. There’s no ‘voice of god’ to guide you through its kaleidoscopic montage of sound and image, just Bowie’s own words gently propounding his thoughts. It doesn’t do the standard thing of going through his various incarnations in chronological order, yet it does manage to provide a timeline of sorts. It’s a mash-up of its subject’s extraordinary life, music and legacy, a kind of ‘thank you’ for the genius’s oeuvre. You get the feeling that Bowie would have approved.