It had been a while since I had gone to the movies and even longer since I sat down to write about that, but I am hoping to change both of those things in the near future. David Bowie’s life, philosophy, music, and art were brought together by the kaleidoscopic vision of Brett Morgen. Moonage Daydream is an ethereal experience worthy of the big screen.
There is no shortage of music documentaries these days. Most of them are good-quality films from what I have seen. However, many do not have the kind of instantaneous magnetism that comes from David Bowie as the subject. Writer/Director Brett Morgen understood that very well.
With the film coming a little more than six years after Bowie’s death, the documentary isn’t intended as a plot point stroll through his life. Instead, Morgen carved a path of sumptuous visuals to accompany his vision of the enigmatic superstar that celebrates him, as a fan, rather than codifying his career as a series of events.
The film is comprised of archive footage, although it appears as though the artistic license was taken to enhance the unique visual experience that accompanies this project. Everything was sanctioned by the Bowie estate which should give you a good idea of the film’s intent.
There are, of course, seminal moments of Bowie’s career laid out to provide structure to the narrative. There is concert footage from the first Ziggy Stardust tour, to subsequent talk show interviews, to Bowie’s Berlin period, to the height of his fame as an international music superstar, but what I loved about this movie was Morgen’s ability to present all of that as a way to read between the lines of Bowie’s story.
The visual presentation is fantastic, even hypnotic at times, but it had a disarming quality that allowed me to see Bowie as Morgen saw him: eloquent, intelligent, innovative, and imperfect. While the film looks and sounds great, the real beauty of it is how it presents the artist’s own journey of self-discovery.
There are a number of interviews, from different stages in Bowie’s career, that hold more value when presented together than they did when they initially took place years and sometimes decades apart. It pulled back the curtain on how unsure Bowie was of himself but also showed how much conviction he had in his beliefs anyway. In doing so, the film captured not just his public and private personas but served as a larger commentary on the duality of the self.
This was the first film I went back to theaters to see after recovering from Covid, so maybe that had something to do with it, but I really loved it. I’m bummed I didn’t get a chance to see it in IMAX.
Recommendation: This is a must-watch for Bowie fans and a great introductory point for everyone else.
Thanks for reading! I still believe word of mouth is the best way to help, so if you enjoy what I’m doing, please tell somebody. And if you have a comment, I’d love to hear it! Liking, subscribing, and sharing go a long way too. As usual, be well, be safe, and have fun no matter how you get your movies!