Moonage Daydream is a 2022 documentary film[1] about English singer-songwriter David Bowie. Written, directed, produced and edited by Brett Morgen, the film uses previously unreleased footage from Bowie's personal archives,[4] including live concert footage.[5] It is the first film to be officially authorized by Bowie's estate,[6] and takes its title from the 1972 Bowie song of the same name.[7]
Moonage Daydream | |
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Directed by | Brett Morgen |
Written by | Brett Morgen |
Produced by | Brett Morgen |
Starring | David Bowie |
Edited by | Brett Morgen |
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Running time | 140 minutes[1] |
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Language | English |
Box office | $11.7 million[2][3] |
Moonage Daydream had its world premiere at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival,[4][7] where it received positive reviews. It was released theatrically and in IMAX in the United States on 16 September 2022.[6][7]
The documentary follows an art house film format for Bowie's biography using a montage-style editing format for extensively researched Bowie film clips and interviews from his full career.[8] The film starts with a 2002 quote of Bowie stating:
The film is divided into nearly two dozen 'chapters' in the DVD release with the first hour covering Bowie starting in London up to his departure to West Berlin. The second part of the film discussed and presents Bowie's extensive interests in the arts while in West Berlin outside of the music industry, such as his interest in oil painting and acrylic painting, as well as his interest in writing within the literary arts. Many examples of Bowie's portrait work in oils are presented showing the use of a modern representational style of portraiture combined with an experimental color palette for brightly lit representations in nearly kaleidoscopic color preferences for facial expressions. In his third phase covered in the last part of the film, Bowie emerges from a two year hiatus where he remakes himself in the image of a suave musical artist often dressed in tailored Saville Row double breasted men's business suits.
The first hour of the film begins with a long film clip of Bowie performing a live version of a largely narrated version of "All the Young Dudes" before singing the well-known choruses later made famous by Mott the Hoople's recording of the song. Bowie is picture in many clips from his glam years wearing heavily costumed outfits often experimenting with the signature transgender dressing associated with his early years. Bowie emerges from these pre-Berlin years as a significant roll and roll star on the London scene making an impact throughout much of Britain and the USA.
After moving to West Berlin, Bowie speaks in clips and interviews about the extensive impact which the aesthetics of German culture in West Berlin had upon his artistic sensibilities. Bowie is apparently deeply moved by the visual arts as he experiences them while in West Berlin, and this influences his own painting style in his own renderings of oil portraits and related efforts in his other oil paintings. The documentary's film style of montage also interlaces many film clips from over two dozen different films ranging from the silent era including the film Metropolis up to and including clips from Kubrick's Clockwork Orange" and 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Bowie's third phase is covered by showing him appearing in his tailored Saville Row double breasted business suits and appearing in duets with multiple established artists such as Tina Turner and others. He is depicted as having entered the height of his career and formed a new life style with his new wife Iman. At the age of 69 years of age David Bowie dies having dedicated his full life to the musical arts and the many other arts which were so important to him throughout his career.
In 2021, Variety reported that Brett Morgen had been developing a film based on David Bowie, "for which an official title has not been disclosed, for the last four years."[5] It is the first film to be officially authorized by Bowie's estate.[5][6] Working in cooperation with the estate, Morgen was granted access to an archive of five million different items, including paintings, drawings, recordings, photographs, films, and journals.[1][9] Tony Visconti, who spent years as Bowie's producer, serves as the film's music producer.[5][7]
An official teaser trailer for the film was uploaded to YouTube on 23 May 2022.[4] A full trailer was released on 27 July.[10]
Moonage Daydream had its world premiere at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival on 23 May 2022.[4][7] It was released in IMAX and theatres in the United States on 16 September 2022.[7] It is also expected to be released for streaming on HBO Max in spring 2023.[4][7] The documentary was released in DVD format on 15 November 2022.[11]
Moonage Daydream – A Brett Morgen Film | |
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Soundtrack album by David Bowie | |
Released | September 16, 2022 (2022-09-16) |
Label | Rhino/Parlophone[12] |
Producer | Tony Visconti |
Singles from Moonage Daydream | |
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To accompany the film, a soundtrack album containing music of Bowie's used therein was announced on August 25, 2022 (2022-08-25). An initial digital release was set for September 13, 2022 (2022-09-13), with a 2x CD version to follow on November 18, 2022 (2022-11-18) and a 3x vinyl record release at an unspecified point in 2023. The music on the album consists of rare or previously unreleased live tracks, as well as newly created remixes, interspersed with monologues from Bowie himself.[13]
All tracks are written by David Bowie.
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "Time… One of the Most Complex Expressions…" | 1:54 |
2. | "Ian Fish U.K. Heir (Moonage Daydream Mix 1)" | 1:10 |
3. | "Hallo Spaceboy (Remix Moonage Daydream Edit)" | 3:04 |
4. | "Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud (Live) (Stereo)" | 3:19 |
5. | "All The Young Dudes (Live) (Stereo)" | 1:38 |
6. | "Oh! You Pretty Things (Live) (Stereo)" | 1:43 |
7. | "Life on Mars? (2016 Mix – Moonage Daydream Edit)" | 3:46 |
8. | "Moonage Daydream (Live) (Stereo)" | 6:17 |
9. | "Medley: The Jean Genie / Love Me Do / The Jean Genie (Live) [ft. Jeff Beck]" | 7:48 |
10. | "The Light (Excerpt)" | 4:42 |
11. | "Warszawa (Live Moonage Daydream Edit)" | 3:56 |
12. | "Quicksand (2021 Mix – Early Version)" | 4:57 |
13. | "Medley: Future Legend / Diamonds Dogs Intro / Cracked Actor" | 3:57 |
14. | "Rock ‘n’ Roll With Me (Live)" | 4:47 |
15. | "Aladdin Sane (Moonage Daydream Edit)" | 5:03 |
16. | "Subterraneans (2017 Remaster)" | 5:37 |
17. | "Space Oddity (Moonage Daydream Mix)" | 3:39 |
18. | "V-2 Schneider (2017 Remaster)" | 3:09 |
19. | "Sound and Vision (Moonage Daydream Mix)" | 3:09 |
20. | "A New Career in a New Town (Moonage Daydream Mix)" | 2:06 |
21. | "Word on a Wing (Moonage Daydream Mix Excerpt)" | 0:12 |
22. | "“Heroes” (Live Moonage Daydream Edit)" | 5:52 |
23. | "D.J. (Moonage Daydream Mix)" | 3:48 |
24. | "Ashes to Ashes (Moonage Daydream Mix)" | 4:13 |
25. | "Move On (Moonage Daydream A Cappella Mix Edit)" | 0:17 |
26. | "Moss Garden (Moonage Daydream Edit)" | 1:03 |
27. | "Cygnet Committee / Lazarus (Moonage Daydream Mix)" | 4:49 |
28. | "Memory of a Free Festival (Harmonium Edit)" | 0:48 |
29. | "Modern Love (Moonage Daydream Mix)" | 2:59 |
30. | "Let’s Dance (Live Moonage Daydream Edit)" | 3:02 |
31. | "The Mysteries (Moonage Daydream Mix)" | 3:57 |
32. | "Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide (Live Moonage Daydream Edit)" | 4:12 |
33. | "Ian Fish U.K. Heir (Moonage Daydream Mix 2)" | 3:39 |
34. | "Word on a Wing (Moonage Daydream Mix)" | 4:26 |
35. | "Hallo Spaceboy (Live Moonage Daydream Mix)" | 3:12 |
36. | "I Have Not Been to Oxford Town (Moonage Daydream A Cappella Mix Edit)" | 0:12 |
37. | "“Heroes”: IV. Sons of the Silent Age (Excerpt)" | 2:21 |
38. | "★ (Moonage Daydream Film Mix Edit)" | 1:38 |
39. | "Ian Fish U.K. Heir (Moonage Daydream Mix Excerpt)" | 0:44 |
40. | "Memory of a Free Festival (Moonage Daydream Mix Edit)" | 3:03 |
41. | "Starman (Original Single Mix) (2015 Remaster)" | 4:11 |
42. | "You’re Aware of a Deeper Existence…" | 0:58 |
43. | "Changes (2015 Remaster)" | 3:32 |
44. | "Let Me Tell You One Thing…" | 0:18 |
45. | "Well, You Know What This Has Been an Incredible Pleasure…" | 0:24 |
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 92% based on 138 reviews, with an average rating of 8.3/10. The website's critics' consensus reads: "An audiovisual treat for Bowie fans, Moonage Daydream takes an appropriately distinctive approach to one of modern music's most mercurial artists."[14] On Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, the film has a score of 83 out of 100 based on 34 critic reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[15]
Owen Gleiberman of Variety wrote that "We've seen trippy documentaries before, but Morgen seems to have created this movie to be rock 'n' roll. [...] Watching Moonage Daydream, there are essential facts you won't hear, and many touchstones that get skipped over (in the entire movie, you'll never even see an album cover). But you get closer than you expect to the chilly sexy enigma of who David Bowie really was."[1] Corey Seymour of Vogue commended the film's editing and soundtrack, and called the film "astounding, bombastic, groundbreaking, electrifying, and among the best films about any artist or musician I've ever seen. [...] Morgen has [assembled] a mesmerizing collage of sound and vision that will entrance and enrich any Bowie fan and, presumably, make new fans of anyone lucky enough to have this be their first real encounter with his world."[9]
Peter Bradshaw, in his review of the film for The Guardian, gave it a score of five out of five stars.[16] He called the film "a glorious celebratory montage", and wrote favourably of how the film "shows that his fans, especially the ecstatic young people at the Hammersmith Odeon and Earl's Court shows, were not different from Bowie: they became Bowie. Overwhelmed, transfigured, their faces looked like his face."[16] Robert Daniels, writing for RogerEbert.com, praised the film's editing, and called it "a bombastic, overstimulating, poignant, life-affirming, and risk-taking summation of the artist's ethos and maturation as a person. In short, Moonage Daydream is the film Bowie would've proudly made."[17] Fionnuala Halligan of Screen Daily called the film "a pristine sensory voyage, with astonishing sound", and lauded its presentation as "skilled and satisfyingly unconventional".[18]
Entertainment Weekly's Joshua Rothkopf gave the film a grade of "A−", complimenting the remixed music by Tony Visconti and noting that, "Occasionally, Morgen's flow can feel belabored and imprecise, [...] But pruning would hamper the unencumbered risk-taking on display," an approach which Rothkopft writes "instantly vaults the effort to the top of the Bowie docs."[19] Siddhant Adlakha of IndieWire gave the film a "B+", characterizing it thus: "More sensory experience than straightforward recounting, [Moonage Daydream] is about feeling your way through a chaotic world with Ziggy Stardust as your anchor."[20] He concluded that, "As musical documentaries go, it's more ambitious than anything you're likely to witness for quite some time."[20] Paul Sinclair of SuperDeluxeEdition was more critical in his review, praising the film's integration of archival footage, animation, interview audio, and music while criticizing the pacing and length, describing the result as "oddly unmoving" and stating that "the film is at least half an hour too long, a feeling accentuated by the reuse of clips you've already seen on a number of occasions which gives a rather circular, haven't-we-been-here-before vibe to proceedings." Sinclair also criticized a perceived lack of sufficient coverage for certain periods of Bowie's career, singling out his tenure on EMI America Records and his membership in Tin Machine.[21]
Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
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Cannes Film Festival | May 28, 2022 | Golden Eye | Brett Morgen | Nominated | [1] |
Queer Palm | Nominated | [22] | |||
Critics' Choice Documentary Awards | November 13, 2022 | Best Documentary Feature | Moonage Daydream | Nominated | [23] [24] |
Best Archival Documentary | Nominated | ||||
Best Music Documentary | Nominated | ||||
Best Director | Brett Morgen | Nominated | |||
Best Editing | Won | ||||
Cinema Eye Honors | January 13, 2023 | Outstanding Editing | Pending | [25] | |
Outstanding Sound Design | Samir Foco, John Warhurst and Nina Hartstone | Pending | |||
Outstanding Visual Design | Stefan Nadelman | Pending | |||
Films directed by Brett Morgen | |
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