I've never really been a Bowie fan, as such, although he's always been in the background, and there's some songs I truly love. However, when Moonage Daydream came out at the cinema I decided to go, because if you're a music fan, then any kind of biopic is really interesting, giving you insight into an artist that you would never have ordinarily gotten. I loved seeing Bowie in his various characters, his incredible fashion and style, his dashing good looks and wondering when he'd finally get dentures as he had terrible British teeth through much of his early career. I thought sharing this one for 
Image Source
Directed by Brett Morgen who spent five years pouring over footage provided by the Bowie estate, it's an absolute odyssey at over two hours long. There are no talking heads that detail their experience of the star, only his own voice and a kaleidoscope of live shows, music, and collages that give a snapshot of the marvel that was this incredible artistic, individual, extraordinary man.
Attending with my pregnant daughter in law, I wondered at my grandchild squirming around to the extremely explosive, loud opening where Ziggy Stardust prances across the screen. The soundscape is incredible - a noisy assault interspersed with calmer moments as Bowie walks through landscapes in Singapore, Thailand, LA - and even mundanely hands his passport over at an airport or sips milk in the back of a cab in LA.
Thematically, it is Bowie's essence - a life dedicated to challenging himself emotionally, artistically, creatively - and believing in change and transformation as essential. There is much of his philosophy in candid interviews and voiceovers. There is a little of his childhood, the loss of a brother from schizophrenia, concern about his own mental illness, and his relationship with his parents.
Much, however, is missing. Whilst it is an absolutely gorgeous biopic that distils Bowie's essence, it does miss other details - you'd be forgiven if you thought he didn't have a love life at all until Iman (who he was married to for twenty years) when in reality he had an extraordinary amount of affairs befitting of the rock star he was. Similiarly, his affair with cocaine is not even mentioned. There's nothing on his children or his first wife, and nothing on how he ended up just all of a sudden exploding into being as Ziggy Stardust. But perhaps that is for other biopics on Bowie - there's certainly a lot of material to work with!
What we loved, however, was learning just how artistic Bowie was - it wasn't just music, but theatre, painting, film and more. Here was a man who lived to create and did so uncompromisingly - although a kind of compromise was suggested as he was accused by a reporter at one stage of doing it for the money. Certainly they skip over the more mainstream ventures such as The Dark Crystal and Tina Turner - I was a little bit glad for this as it wasn't the type of work I liked from Bowie.
Did I like the documentary? Yes. It was dazzling, extraordinary, beautiful, a prayer to a man who made an incredible impact on the world. I'd recommend it even if you, like me, may not be a huge Bowie fan - watching it, you'd gain a new appreciation and tap your feet to some of the tunes you realised you liked more than you thought.
Watch the trailer here:
Are you a Bowie fan? Have you seen the film? What are your favourite Bowie tunes?
With Love,
Are you on HIVE yet? Earn for writing! Referral link for FREE account here