335. Moonage Daydream; movie review

 

MOONAGE DAYDREAM

Cert 15

135 mins

BBFC advice: Contains brief strong sex

"Nach fünf Jahren, zum ersten Mal, wieder auf der Bühne, DAVID BOWIE!"

A phrase which has stuck in the collective heads of me and my pals since we were students in Germany 1983.

It means that after five years David Bowie was back on the stage - in our case, at the Ruhr Stadion in Bochum.

Thanks to being prompted by Moonage Daydream, I found a recording of the concert and the intro was exactly as we remembered.

I am sure that somewhere in my loft I still have the poster of a night we will never forget.

Brett Morgen will prompt such flashbacks for those whose lives were touched by Bowie's music.

Indeed, his Serious Moonlight tour included a personal favourite, Let's Dance - a song that horrified many of his artier fans because it was such an obvious commercial hit.

They will be pleased that this documentary is how they and their hero would like him to be portrayed.

Thus, in between footage of his greatest hits are interview clips of him at his most cerebral and mischievous best.

But I have to add that much of the film is spent slipping away down very arty tangents.

This pleased a pal of mine who is a Bowie devotee but he admitted that his wife found it off-putting. Me too.

Morgen demonstrates how groundbreaking he was, recreating himself over and over and even moving countries to find inspiration.

It covers these sojourns to the United States and Berlin, accompanied by the wonderful songs he wrote there.

I fear a risk-taker like Bowie could not break through nowadays because studios don't seem to go for the originality which was the hallmark of the 60s and 70s.

Thus, we may never see his like again and that's what makes Moonage Daydream worth watching although it is ruddy weird.

Reasons to watch: Great music

Reasons to avoid: Very arty

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: Very brief

Overall rating: 7/10

Did you know? Bowie had anisocoria or a permanently dilated pupil which happened when he was 15 years old and got into a fight with his friend, George Underwood, over a girl.

The final word.  Brett Morgen: "It’s meant to be a mirror so that you, the audience, can see your own Bowie and reflect back upon your own life.." NME

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