Monday, December 13, 2010
LIT HIS FIRE
Today's film was Tom Dicillo's documentary
about Jim Morrison and, tangentially, the Doors.
Morrison was a might myth maker. This film seems to be much closer to the truth.
He was a very troubled alcoholic who had a lot of talent and managed to hold it together during a time when he and the Door's fit the zeitgeist.
This is not to minimize him or his contribution but to simply tell the truth.
The truth is important because truth is hard to come by in the world we see in this doc. In some ways, it is a familiar arc. The rise and fall of an idol. But it is interesting to see how everyone stood back and enabled this guy's demise because they did not want to jeopardize the show, the business, the record. Whatever.
He is dying and killing himself and they sit and watch, sometimes for days, for him to come out of it.
This is a remarkably good documentary. It does not use talking heads. It shows what is going on behind the scenes. The Doors left an enormous store of tape, movies, photos and their own narratives about their times.
You can see all of it. The great performances and the troubles. The times and their fit to the Door's artistry. Morrison's tantrums, his drunken condition in the studio, his collapses in concerts.
Johnny Depp narrates unobtrusively.
There is a film that Morrison made of a long ride in the desert. Right near where I am at the moment. It is crazy beautiful. Like him.
I would gladly see this film again.
I will give this a 4 out of Netflix5.
Labels: films
