David Bowie was an icon of music, performance art, and fashion and passed away in 2016 at the age of 69. He was a rock god, a queer icon, and an '80s-era sellout. The task of condenseing the life and legacy of a man of many personas into a feature-length film was a Herculean one. If you're expecting this music doc to play standards of the genre, you're in for a rude shock.
It's not about making a movie, it's about creating an experience. Be aware that your mileage may change.
Credit: Neon
Don't even think about talking-head interviews or an opening sizzle reel. The documentarian behind On The Ropes and The Kid Stays In the Picture doesn't want anyone else to speak for him.
The film has a flooded voice from the man, which changes over time as he gets older. Moonage Daydream pulls from an array of archival sources, including video and audio interviews, to expose audiences to the mind and spirituality of a man named David. Fans are entranced by his bedazzled body suits and sexual appeal when watching clips from his talk shows. The building blocks of a biographical documentary are not put together in a row. Stock photos are splashed with violent colors. Trippy swirls play over music. It's pretty, but I wouldn't refer to it as deep.
Credit: Neon
If you want to learn about the highs and lows of the artist, you won't find it here. The film has a lot of visual flare but not much in the way of facts. The omission of his first wife makes his relationship with Iman seem more pure and fated. There is a clamorous sound mix that implies drama without divulging details.
From the early days of his make-up to his final album, there is a trajectory. There isn't much to grab onto in the way of musings over hishodgepodge philosophy, his passion for painting, and his evolving musings on the nature of art. You will be lost if you don't know the steps of his story.
Credit: Neon
Are you aware of the new trend of art exhibits that are interactive? The paintings of van Gogh and Klimt can be seen in a 3D space. Their long-ago brush strokes become interactive as they are projected across huge walls surrounding the viewer in masterpieces. This is what Morgen seems to want with Moonage Daydream, and I like his ambition.
The film will be released at the Toronto International Film Festival and in a limited theatrical run in IMAX. The treatment of the footage is supposed to be displayed in a way that will make the audience feel like they are in a movie. The sound of the interviews and music with a rat-a-tat-tat of sputtering gears might encourage you away from the concreteness of common bio doc in favor of something more ethereal and inexplicable.
I was very excited to be caught up in the swell. I felt the music vibrating my ribcage as it played. It was divine that Ziggy Stardust's songs playfully threatened to break me. I was transported to a time before my own when I could see a crowd of British youths. A daydream comes true.
However, as Morgen proceeds, he strays away from such concert footage to moody re-enactments and film clips. It is possible that the artist's own works are connected to the artist's influences to show a continuum of imagination and daring. Before the movie's 134-minute run time ended, I had grown tired of the movie's meandering allusions to rock history.
I did not see this in IMAX but in a small theater. Moonage Daydream is best experienced while drunk. I was expecting to learn more about the man over being immersed in his vibes. It was difficult for me to find the flow of the film as it shifted from young and old voices and scampers past darkness to a more chaotic collision of color and sound. I was left feeling disconnected from the film because the enthrallment died before the curtain.
After its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in the Special Presentations slate, Moonage Daydream will be showing in IMAX theaters.
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