Ryan McNeil
It’s amazing to see what happens to rock stars through the lens of passing time. At the time they can seem like no talent hacks driving kids into a frenzy; twenty years later they’re icons of their genre…the bar against which all up and comers are measured. This transition makes it interesting to pause every once in a while and take a long hard look at how things actually happened. It’s important to set aside what you know for a moment, and instead look and listen without preconception.
Such an approach makes WHEN YOU’RE STRANGE: A FILM ABOUT THE DOORS a fascinating watch. For starters, the film – narrated by Johnny Depp – breaks down the components of The Doors’ music. It compares the music’s unorthodox chemistry, and frenetic sound to a carnival. Quite an apt allusion as we can easily envision freak-show barkers, and twirling merry-go-rounds when we hear Ray Manzarek’s oragn line on songs like “Love Me Two Times”.
Something we all might have forgotten about is just how deep The Doors were able to cut in such a short amount of time. The band was playing The Whiskey and other such fine establishments on The Sunset Strip by 1966, but it would take another year for the rest of the world to get a listen to them with their debut album in 1967. The band was ended by Jim Morrison’s death in 1971, the same year their final album “L.A. Woman” was released. Four years was all they had to make their mark. One can only wonder what might have been if the band got just four more.
The other detail that has been forgotten…over-written…mythologized…is the Christ-like iconography of Jim Morrison. The name evokes mental images of a shaman, an antichrist, a complete rebel. What we forget, and what this film reminds us with its very truthful photography, is that Morrison wasn’t much more than a kid. He sometimes looks like he wasn’t old enough to shave, and often wore a facial expression of a lost child. It makes one wonder whether the hell he continually kicked up was the only way he could cope with his fears and nerves.
WHEN YOU’RE STRANGE gets held back by a puzzling re-enactment-like narrative that dots the archival footage. Likewise, there isn’t much new information here for die-hard Doors fans. But for even with those mis-steps, the film is a compelling watch. It provides us a moment dedicated to four boys we raised up into rock & roll icons. It gives us a moment to climb up on to the pedestal we built for them, and see them for the humans they actually are.
WHEN YOU’RE STRANGE plays North by Northeast on Thursday June 17th – 8:00pm at The Hyatt Regency (370 King Street West).
Was really looking forward to seeing this, then I heard mixed reviews, but now I'm intrigued again. Big Doors fan, I think Morrison's a fascinating dude even though I still need to see Stone's THE DOORS and don't know much about him other than that he was one hell of a frontman. Good review, man, gonna have to check this one out.
THINK FAST: Favorite Doors song?
I pick Roadhouse Blues live.
I heard Robby Krieger interviewed on local radio last night, he mentioned this doc and said it was really good, telling the true story of the band not the myth and it includes some old footage that he hadn’t even seen himself previously. The main reason for the interview was to say that they are on tour next month playing Doors songs with a full orchestra, sounds interesting.
I got to see the doors a few years back (I think it was 2002) under the guise of The Doors of the 21st Century. That was when Ian Astbury was singing with them. His voice was perfect for the job, he was able to sing in his own voice but it fitted the songs perfectly, far better than if someone tried to impersonate Jim Morrison.
Aiden, Favorite Song: The End
@ Aiden… This film will be hitting dvd very shortly. I'd say start with it first, and then move on to oliver Stone's (rather good) bio-pic.
Favorite Song: A lesser known ditty named "Love Street"
Oh oh! musicians I've heard of! :P. Sounds like an intriguing film. I quite enjoy band documentaries. Not too keen on re-inactments, but I do like The Doors so I could see myself giving this a view.
By the way I feel like a broken record but congrats on your 3rd Lammy! You brainiac you. You know, if you planned on winning all the LAMMYs you could have told me ahead of time 😛
I have been wanting to see this for a long time, mostly cause I'am a huge Doors fan. Looks good, although not as good as it could have lived up to.
@ Fandango… It certainly seems more down to earth than a lot of the mythological Doors tales we've been told. As for the unseen footage, some of that might be what made Morrison seem more human to me.
@ Univarn… Thanks for the congrats! The re-enactments are easy enough to get past as they're really not the centrepiece of the film. If nothing else, they are momentary pauses for pretty pictures.
Track down this dvd and give it a watch.
@ CMrok… With a doc like this, it's hard to call it "not as good". With a band like The Doors, how much could possibly be left unsaid thirty-some years later?
Throwing out that piece of criteria means we're left with how well it tells the story, and WHEN YOU'RE STRANGE tells The Doors' story quite well!
Saw this movie – did a great job at showcasing the whole band and not focusing on Morrison. Must've had an impact because I started listening to them again after keeping them on the shelves for far too long. A very informative film.
BTW, congrats on the Lammys – I added your site to my own Blogroll as I read it often and came here from other blogs. Will comment more often from now on!