Michael's Movie Grade: A-
A wonderful and very unique documentary on David Bowie.
This film does not feel like your average music documentary at all. Instead of having friends and fans talk about David or having a narrator tell his story, this film uses decades old interviews with him. So the only people we hear talk about David Bowie are him and the people who interviewed him. Because of this the movie is Bowie's take on Bowie. This works incredibly well because David was a very intelligent man and had thought provoking takes on every part of his career. You see a man who at first is looking for meaning in this world but is not sure what the meaning is. He feels a strong spiritual connection to something but cannot tell what it is. This movie explores his journey to find out what it is. This is a fascinating and quite different look at this musical great that we seldom see and it even brings new meaning to many of his songs and the stages of his career. Other than these interviews the main focus of the film is his music. We get many of his classic songs here. They are as wonderful as ever and I can picture someone who has never heard of David Bowie quickly becoming a fan after watching this movie. As for me these song sequences only gave me an even greater respect for David Bowie as an artist. If you see this movie in a theater, I highly recommend you see it in IMAX. The great sound system used on these great songs makes for a wonderful experience. Yet despite anything I said, this is not simply an auditory movie where you could close your eyes and watch. This is a wonderful cinematic experience. Director Brett Morgan turns this documentary into a visual treat. He combines live performances from David Bowie, with clips from various classic films (as well as films David Bowie was in), music videos, personal clips of Bowie and much more to create the feeling of one large scale music video mixed with great avant-garde filmmaking. Yet somehow this never becomes overwhelming or gets tiring. Any who wishes to study how to use montage to good effect should definitely watch this movie. What truly makes this film special though is that all these elements work together and never distract from one another.
A wonderful movie and a must watch whether you are a David Bowie fan or not.
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