‘I find only freedom in the realms of eccentricity...’
David Bowie has always been an artist I’ve admired from afar. Like every right-thinking music fan, there is loads of Bowie’s stuff that I absolutely love, but I’ve never absorbed one of his albums, for example. I find his ever-changing persona and chameleonic properties difficult to warm to over extended periods. In that respect, Moonage Daydream is probably the perfect way for casual fans and devotees alike to explore the thin white duke…
Forgoing the more traditional method of music documentary making, director Brett Morgen instead opts to make Moonage Daydream into more of a collage. A cinematic odyssey that spans Bowie’s entire career merely through interviews with the man himself played over esoteric and experimental imagery. Somehow, however, this is not an avant-garde or experimental film generally. Any self-respecting Bowie fan could sit down to Moonage Daydream and find something to enjoy. I loved the incredible live performances, and also Bowie’s extended philosophical musings – he really was a wonderful orator and an accomplished raconteur.
Morgen has already redefined what the music documentary can be with his pioneering Kurt Cobain documentary Montage of Heck in which he brought Kurt’s adolescent doodling and diary entries to life. With Moonage Daydream, Morgen has again questioned the purpose of a music documentary, and the answer he has come up with for this documentary is that the filmmaker should try to put us into the head of the subject. I’ve sat through a bunch of Bowie documentaries over the years, but none have brought me closer to the artist than this one.
For fans of Bowie, and if you’re not a fan of Bowie you need to seriously question your life choices, Moonage Daydream is a rare treat. A genuine delight. A film that does justice to Bowie’s unique genius without softening his more experimental side or apologising for his various idiosyncrasies. I loved it.