'Moonage Daydream' presents David Bowie as an otherworldly rock icon

Brett Morgen’s “Moonage Daydream” concedes that figuring out David Bowie is an impossible task.

There’s no attempt to understand where Bowie's artistic motivation came from, how his natural gifts were nursed, or what impact the world he lived in made on his work. Rather, the film presents Bowie as a force of nature, a figurative Man Who Fell to Earth who shaped culture and art by sheer force of ego and confidence. This is a film about the experience of David Bowie, even if David Bowie himself remains a mystery.

In some ways, this suggests an imposed creativity in Morgen’s approach. In interviews, the filmmaker decries most musical documentaries as “visual Wikipedia pages” that go through routine beats of biography. If you’re familiar with Morgen’s other work, this isn’t surprising.

Perhaps you saw his Kurt Cobain portrayal “Montage of Heck” at True/False a few years ago. Or his features on the Rolling Stones, Jane Goodall or Hollywood legend Robert Evans. Maybe you’ve even seen his ESPN “30 For 30” about the consequential day of June 17, 1994. It might be one of the best sports docs I’ve ever seen.

One thing you notice — in all these works — is the lack of interviews specific to the piece. There are no “talking heads.” In “Moonage,” Morgen doesn’t use time stamps to indicate when things happen. There’s no narration. Everything relies upon archival footage or previously-captured interviews.

All conscious decisions by the director with a disorienting effect — there’s no guidance for the audience to understand historical context. “I want to present the past as a present event,” Morgen has said.

Whether or not you appreciate this approach will affect your appreciation of his film.

Morgen presents Bowie as an artist who intentionally obscures himself from inquisitors; begging off questions on television with frustration and charm. Bowie’s work over the decades shifts from progressive rock to pop. He would also paint, produce videos, and act on stage and in film. Journalists refer to these shifts as evidence for the “restlessness” of a creative mind. Rather, under Morgen’s hypothesis, Bowie simply has all these ideas in his head and just divines them on his own schedule, no matter the expectations of reporters or commentators.

If any one theme emerges through the film, it's the idea that a higher force is at work behind Bowie’s output. While the artist himself rejects the idea of God — rather he articulates a belief in an “energy force” — he speaks to a fluidity in spirituality. One that may be “focused on Nietzsche on Tuesday and Buddhism on Thursday.” Seemingly conflicted, this portrait of Bowie argues the philosophical chaos and uncertainty becomes its own consistent ethic.

Bowie refers to himself as a “god” multiple times, and indeed calls his rock ’n’ roll contemporaries deities. “…(G)ods that will go to hell, for the first time in our history,” Bowie tells an interviewer with a gleeful laugh. If he is not a god, Bowie has the ego of someone mere mortals may not recognize.

Talent is unknowable, Morgen argues. Talent at the level embodied by Bowie is celestial. Some might argue this is a cop-out; an easy way for the film to avoid digging deeper. For me, a musician’s talent is hard to understand. Why some songs hit my eardrum differently than others. If it’s got a good, catchy beat, I consider myself satisfied. Perhaps a great iconic musician is someone you know when you hear them. Any level of analysis simply does no justice.

“Moonage Daydream” presents an immersion into Bowie’s talent. The film brims with concert footage and music from every period of Bowie’s career. Morgen presents it not so much as a documentary or even a concert film, but as a collage of the David Bowie experience. It is more of an index of its subject. The stage performances stand next to frames with Bowie’s artwork and clips from his movies.

That too undermines how skillful Morgen is in presenting this portrait. "Moonage” almost seems to be a film Bowie himself would offer. It is a stunning bit of creativity in and of itself.

At the end, our understanding of Bowie isn’t clear. But the sheer force of his personality is amplified. If anything, “Moonage” provides a vivid rendering of his impact on music and culture in general.

If this is a maddening review to read, I consider it consistent with the experience of watching “Moonage Daydream.” Context and cohesion are secondary to sensation and aesthetic. But this suits its subject; someone no journalist or filmmaker ever understood.

If you want a traditional documentary that hits all the beats, you will be frustrated. If you want a sense of an artist's aura, to get down to their essence, “Moonage Daydream” cannot be matched. A daunting task to understand an artist made all the more impressive in that the film gets pretty close.

"Moonage Daydream" comes to Ragtag Cinema Friday.

In real life, James Owen is a lawyer and executive director of energy policy group Renew Missouri. He created/wrote for Filmsnobs.com from 2001-2007 before an extended stint as an on-air film critic for KY3, the NBC affiliate in Springfield. He was named a Top 20 Artist under the Age of 30 by The Kansas City Star when he was much younger than he is now. 

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: 'Moonage Daydream' presents David Bowie as an otherworldly rock icon