Brett Morgen's 'Moonage Daydream' Captures Bowie in all his Colourful Complexity

 

Brett Morgen's impressionistic documentary on rock legend David Bowie hits its' mark, capturing a complex human and diving deep into what motivated him.

"Never play to the gallery (laughs). But you never learn that until much later on, I think... I think it's terribly dangerous for an Artist to fulfill other people's expectations. I think they generally produce their worst work when they do that. The other thing I would say is that if you feel safe in the area you're working in, you're not working in the right area. Always go a little further into the water than you feel you're capable of being in. Go a little bit out of your depth. And when you don't feel that your feet are quite touching the bottom, you're just about at the right place to do something exciting." - David Bowie interview from the 1990s'

Director Brett Morgen's Moonage Daydream Paints David Bowie in broad strokes while revealing a warm, humane philosophy of life

Moonage Daydream, a film collage exploration of David Bowie's career, begins with cold space. Specifically the surface of the Moon and a crumpled, empty Astronaut's uniform with a smiley face on the chest plate. As this image fades out, there is a fade-in of Hallo Spaceboy. And just like that, we're plunged into the action.

Director Brett Morgen assumes his viewers are familiar with Bowie's signature achievements and outsize impact on popular culture. So in making the film, which has a rubber stamp from the Thin White Duke's estate, he goes for a splashy neon collage of a movie that explores major themes in the man's life and body of work. 

Narrated mostly by Bowie himself, Moonage Daydream covers well-known events in Bowie's life from approximately 1971 (Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars) through the early 1980s' (Let's Dance). His last album, 2016's Blackstar, and Bowie's death shortly after the album's release is barely touched on. 

Which is a good thing, in my opinion. By allowing Bowie to narrate the bulk of the picture his philosophy of life is explored - both the light and the dark. Alienation and Isolation - well-known Bowie themes - are covered here in his emotionally distant relationship with his parents. His family suffered from, "an awful lot of emotional-spiritual mutilation," in the Artist's words.

We also get to see him offer his own version of spirituality. There are surprisingly warm reflections about the importance of travel, being connected to other human beings, and the pure joy of a life filled with a large variety of experiences. 

I particularly identify with his desire to make every day count. The man hated wasting time. When answering a 'Proust Questionnaire' in 1998, to answer the question: "What do you consider to be your greatest achievement?," Bowie responded: "To have discovered the early morning." That time of day when it feels as if the world belongs to you, and you alone. 

Though I am familiar with his work, and own all of Bowie's albums, I was still surprised by the intellectual playfulness and flexibility he displayed. It's well articulated in the audio and video clips Morgen chose to use.

While overall an excellent ride, I do have two criticisms of Moonage Daydream. Firstly, the lack of context and chronological progression could be off putting for viewers who are not well versed in David Bowie's work and personas. (There was a lot of work - in addition to the albums, Bowie painted, acted on stage and film, sketched, and made sculptures in his spare time.) Watch for a clip of Bowie acting in a Broadway staging of The Elephant Man. Morgen uses it quite effectively - it's a very emotional moment. 

My second criticism is that, though they use clips from the music video again and again, we never hear The Heart's Filthy Lesson from 1995's superb Outside album. This song is my favourite David Bowie song. It addresses mortality and the danger of wasting time. 

In the best part Bowie sings, "Paddy will you carry me? I think I've lost my way. (Heart's Filthy Lesson, Heart's Filthy Lesson.) I'm already five years older, I'm already in my grave. I'm already." The song is more potent than ever with the News being filled with natural disasters of all shapes and sizes. 

He's telling us to get on with it. It's a message I've taken to heart.

So for all the Bowie-philes and longtime fans, go see Moonage Daydream. In IMAX, if possible. The sound is intense and wonderfully overwhelming at times. You will enjoy yourself. 

For people who have only a vague idea of the man's career and significance, best to take a pass on this one.

The End of 'Us'; Society's Failing Social Cohesion

Reading The Globe and Mail last Saturday I came across an excellent essay by Michael Valpy. Titled, 'Is this the end of the age of our social cohesion?' Mr. Valpy theorizes that the metaphorical 'glue' holding Canadians together is falling apart. According to Mr. Valpy, our sense, "of common purpose and belonging together is disintegrating."

It's a pretty simple thesis really. And the evidence is all around us.

No longer do we read the same information. Traditional media outlets - newspapers, television stations and radio, are being picked away at by specialized online media and blogs (not mine, you understand, but all those other blogs) As clever entrepreneurs figure out new ways to generate profit from the Internet, advertising money, the lifeblood of media that rely on the old model of doing business, is drying up.

As one academic points out in the Globe essay, in the past reading a newspaper was similar to attending mass at Church. Everyone reading The Globe and Mail on a Saturday gets the same information as anyone else who reads that day's edition of the paper. Doing this gives people something in common, and also provides excellent kindling for conversation. (Sample pick up line to a stranger: "Did you see the story about Michael Ignatieff's election platform for the Liberals in today's Globe?")

But that's changing today, and several traditional media outlets — and I'm looking at The National Post specifically here, are on the verge of shutting their doors. The Post stopped publishing for one day a week over the summer. Imagine, a national paper that's forced to cut costs so drastically they decide to cancel a full day of coverage. If we lose these outlets, we lose something we have in common (at least, those of us who read the papers)

And it's not just the media landscape that's changing, although this situation is definitely a high point of interest for me. The way people socialize is also undergoing a dramatic shift.

Some anecdotal evidence: When I go out on a Friday or Saturday night, the bars seem less crowded, ditto the streets. True, this could be due to any number of factors. Mass acute alcohol poisonings, long weekends (such as the Labour Day weekend that's right around the next bend) or bad weather.

But last time I checked, it's still summer in Toronto and the weather (for once) is as good as it's going to get this season. Putting on my amateur sociologist hat, I think the change is because more people are drinking at home plus the people going to bars to pick up are looking after those needs online. I'd like to conduct some actual scientific research to find out how many people who cruise online (gay and straight) end the night with bloodshot eyes and a sticky keyboard instead of another warm body to curl up to in bed.

I think David Bowie's excellent song 'Fall Dog Bombs the Moon' from his 2003 album Reality comes the closest to capturing the spirit of our times. The album version is quite good, but I find this live version recorded in France much better. I consider David Bowie the final word when it comes to artistic expression of feelings of alienation and isolation.

BTW: If you're reading this David, please put out another album.

One last thing I want to mention in this entry. Monday, August 31, 2009, marked the last day Pages bookstore on Queen West was open. At the end of last Monday, this much loved and respected independent bookstore shut its' doors for good. You can read BlogTO's article on Pages' last day here.

I admit that I didn't buy much from Pages over the years, as most of my scarce extra spending has gone to Glad Day Bookshop (598A Yonge St.), which is hosting the next edition of its' Proust & Company reading series on Saturday, Sept. 12 from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. (wink wink, nudge nudge) Fab magazine's Paul Bellini will be one of the readers at the coming event — not to be missed.

But I loved Pages because I think all independent bookstores provide value added and then some to the neighbourhoods they occupy. They're not just stores people, they are cultural hubs that have been nourished by strong individuals with years of experience who love books and knowledge as much (and sometimes more) than they enjoy turning a profit.

For anybody who wants to say goodbye to Pages, on Sept. 8 there will be a celebration called, suitably enough, Afterword at The Gladstone Hotel (1214 Queen Street West) from 7:00 p.m. onward. And it's free.