Moonage Daydream
Equal parts enigmatic and illuminating, as well as entirely engrossing, Moonage Daydream is unique window into the force of musical and artistic talent that was David Bowie that is certainly worthy of its subject.
Written, directed, produced and edited by Brett Morgen, Moonage Daydream depicts the career of David Bowie, portraying both his public life as a performer as well as his personal journey as an artist and as a human being. This film stands starkly apart from others in the genre in that there are no talking heads, no footage filmed specially for the production and no narration. Instead, the feature is composed entirely of historical footage, much of which is previously unreleased footage from Bowie’s personal archives. Morgen strings together concert footage, recorded interviews of Bowie, as well as much of Bowie’s personal film from his travels and videography to tell a unique story of a truly unique life.
The documentary’s structure is vaguely chronological, though it often jumps to older vision of Bowie throughout, though in service of greater thematic points. Indeed, Moonage Daydream is not a traditional narrative and is far more of a sensory experience through which the goal is not so much to recount his life story but rather to paint a dynamic picture of the man as he developed throughout his life.
The cinematic approach taken by Morgen is greatly enhanced by the soundtrack which extensively features David Bowie’s storied discography and overlays the visuals perfectly. To cap off the kaleidoscopic endeavour, there is consistent usage of interviews by journalists and other recordings of Bowie that cover topics from his childhood and career, to his existential anxieties and his musings on life, relationships and creativity. Together, the composition of the film is such that it allows the subject to speak entirely for himself, which is something seldom if ever seen in documentary works, made all the more striking by its posthumous status. Through this we both see and feel a steadily evolving soul, both outwardly confident but also isolated and internally uncertain, questioning more and more with age his own artistic progress and place in the world.
There is an arguable downside to the methodology employed by Morgen, which is that Moonage can at times feel meandering or rudderless, and at that it is arguable that the runtime, at 140 minutes, is ever so slightly overlong. However, were it to be done in any other, more traditional way then the true magic and identity of the project would have likely been lost. It at times leaves an impression of ambivalence or obscurity in the depiction of Bowie, but that in itself is a more real depiction of the man than a more structured and certain view of him would have been. In that way, shorn of a safer, more curated and derivative style, Moonage Daydream gives viewers a far more visceral vision of the person who left an indelible mark on music history and on the millions of fans who adored him.
