“I don’t know what came first, Bowie or puberty,” director Brett Morgen says, laughing. “But they both had the same impact on my life.”
Brett's new film don't call it a documentary Moonage Daydream is about the life and career of David Bowie.
Bursting onto cinema screens yesterday, the movie is a dazzling and stylistic combination of vivid pop art, unseen archival footage, and absolutely thunderous sound design that gives any of today’s big-budget blockbusters a run for their money in terms of cinema spectacle and experience.
But what gives it its power is Bowie’s philosophical musings on life, art and the artist’s role within it.
His inspiring ruminations elevate this brilliantly unconventional biography into an absolute must-see and one with a message that not just stays with you, but also has the potential to change your life.
"Almost everyone I know feels like Bowie came into our lives at the moment when we were transitioning from childhood to our teen years," Brett says of his introduction to Bowie. It was Bowie's 1980 album Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) that was his way in and the first record he purchased with his own cash.
"As a 12- or 13-year-old, Bowie introduced me to culture and ideas of identity. He made me feel like it was okay to be myself. Scary Monsters was so otherworldly and exciting, especially when you're, like, 12 years old. Amazing."
It was a true rabbit hole of an album and Brett willingly dived down, enraptured not just by Bowie’s extraordinary music but also by how present yet unknowable his presence was.
“Bowie, for me, is about mystery. Bowie is best experienced, not explained. With the film, I wanted to create a different type of cinematic experience that’s not so much information-based or fact-based but experience-based. Trying to construct a film that’s not about David Bowie but really without explaining anything gives you a deeper insight,” he says.
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Advertise with NZME.“I don’t think facts or information help one arrive at a better understanding of Bowie. What the film hopefully does is bring people closer to Bowie without deconstructing Bowie. Calling it a documentary sets up a false expectation in the viewer. I’ve been trying to contextualise it for viewers so when they come in they don’t expect a traditional biographical documentary.”
Proving that good things do indeed take time, Brett spent several years working on the film.
“Fifteen per cent of my life!” he exclaims, before adding, “I didn’t think it was going to be seven years when I started, I thought it was going to be one year.”
There are a couple of reasons it took so long. Firstly, he committed to watching every single frame of archival footage that the David Bowie Estate had, which was a whole lot as the musician had spent many years snapping up as much as he could.
“You start on the journey and you’ve gotta go with it,” he shrugs. “It’s Bowie, so no stone unturned.”
The other reason was the almost psychedelic presentation of the film.
“It was very difficult,” he admits. “Doing a more direct biography is easier, you go from A to B, to C, D, E, F, G. But trying to create something that’s more experiential and still has forward momentum proved to be quite elusive. A lot of time was spent running into cul de sacs.”
To create that propulsion forward he says he designed the movie like a theme park ride, twisting and turning and climbing and plunging away from viewer expectations.
“That to me is so fun. I like razzle-dazzle and sublime imagery. This was like, we’re going to light this s*** up for two hours and 20 minutes! You can get Bowie’s story at home but that’s like watching a roller coaster on YouTube vs being on the roller coaster.”
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It's the sound and vision of Moonage Daydream that blows you away, but it's Bowie's words, culled from decades of interviews, that leave a lasting impact as he discusses life, art and everything in between. "I love life," he tells a variety of interviewers over the years.
“David was always consistent,” Brett says. “The clothes may change and the styles may change but his interests philosophically and spiritually remained, and how he approached life stayed really consistent from beginning to end.”
He gives the example of Bowie’s massive Glass Spider tour of 1987, an 86-show world tour that was, at the time, the largest touring set ever.
“By the time I was getting to the end of watching all the footage, I think there were 14 shows from Sydney alone, I felt David had perhaps lost the script a bit. As someone who had spent months now in that section, I was losing my own script,” he says, smiling.
“But I remember at the conclusion of the Glass Spider tour, the next piece of media was David doing an experimental dance to Fame at The Institute of Contemporary Arts in London."
"My mind was completely blown. I couldn’t believe this was the same person. It was a total palate cleanser. He went from doing this big Vegas-type show to being almost naked on stage with professional avant-garde dancers. He was not on their level, but he put himself out there."
“That is truly, for me, the message of the film and the message that David gave us: experience life,” he says.
“We only have this brief moment so take advantage of it. The film tells us a lot about David Bowie but what David Bowie’s music did was tell us a lot about ourselves. I don’t know if by listening to David Bowie’s music you get a deeper insight into David Bowie, but you certainly get a deeper insight into yourself.”
Moonage Daydream is screening in cinemas now.
