For my second trip this weekend, I opted for the documentary Moonage Daydream. It was playing on the IMAX screen, and that’s a wee bit unusual for a documentary. Then again, the trailers promised something different. And that much is true. However, I was also one of three people there. I had a seat in the back row where I normally go, a woman maybe ten or so years my senior with a Bowie t-shirt sat about dozen or so rows ahead of me–she was friendly and we chatted a bit before the movie started–and then an older man with a walker came in and sat at the floor level.
That’s a lot of empty seats for a 300 seat auditorium.
Well, the trailers promised an unconventional documentary, and I can guarantee there was truth in advertising here. I go to documentaries, especially ones about musicians, hoping to learn something. As I have mentioned many times in the past, I have tinnitus in one ear and never developed much appreciation for music. So, any big documentary on a musician, I hope to go and learn something about them and their work. Considering Bowie’s relatively recent death, it seemed even more appropriate. However, anyone expecting a lot of talking heads who knew Bowie, to say nothing of Bowie himself, sandwiched between musical numbers while retelling the story of Bowie’s life and career in something like chronological order. That is not what happens here. The only real voice on display here is Bowie himself.
Instead, the music is nearly nonstop, and the Bowie talk comes in the form of voiceover and the occasional old interview. The film does have over 40 of Bowie’s songs during the runtime, and if you can name one of his works, you’ll hear it or maybe see a glimpse of Bowie performing it as is the case with Labyrinth and a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it glimpse of his appearance with Bing Crosby for a Christmas special. If anything, the movie is filled with clips not just of Bowie but also bits from movies and news footage and the like that somehow fit into whatever it is Bowie is talking about.
It’s hard to say what the order of events here is, but the film seems to start around his Ziggy Stardust period, or at least in the midst of his 70s androgynous rock star period. Instead of having a chronological turn, at least at first, the film seems to just follow along and try to get a handle on Bowie’s thoughts on art, life, and religion. Now, I don’t know much about Bowie’s life in the grand scheme of things, but I did get the impression there was some chronological progression, following Bowie from the 70s through the 80s and on into the early part of the 21st century. That said, given the soundtrack and the IMAX speakers and my tinnitus, I did have a hard time understanding many of the things that were said.
Essentially, the movie is trying to not so much tell Bowie’s life story but to give an idea of what it was like to experience Bowie as an artist. There are moments, as the film goes on, where Bowie comments on how his views evolved over time, as the older or more mature Bowie seems mildly embarrassed by the more youthful Bowie from the earlier part of the movie. That said, the movie isn’t exactly dedicated to Bowie’s life. No mention is made of his death, and the last lines heard at the end of the credits are Bowie apparently saying goodbye to the filmmakers–this documentary did get the full approval of his estate–so it’s not the story of Bowie’s life. It’s the story of his art, musical or otherwise, and that’s a must-see for Bowie’s many fans.
Grade: A-
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