Forget everything you know about documentary cinema

A year after Bowie’s death, the documentary “Davie Bowie: The Last Five Years” (Davie Bowie: The Last Five Years) was released, which traces the last years of the world-famous and brilliant musician’s life, following the album “The Next Day” and “Blackstar”, as well as for the creation of the musical “Lazarus”. With interviews with musicians, designers and directors who worked with Bowie during his final projects, he reveals the creative force that made Bowie one of the greatest artists of the 21st century.

And the most recent performance, in which Bowie can be seen, is the documentary film “Moonage Daydream” by director Bret Morgen. Morgen, just like Bowie himself, took a non-standard approach to his latest performance (previously Morgen created a Kurt Cobain documentary “Montage of Heck” – find out more here!). Why not interview people who knew or loved him to explain its significance in the 20th century? Instead, Morgen absolutely relies on the endless possibilities of image, music and editing to create something that doesn’t explain Bowie, but channels his energy into a new form.

The film took five years to make, and the director had access to Bowie’s personal archives, including all of his recordings. While researching available assets, Morgen came across over 100 hours of unreleased 35mm and 16mm footage.

The resulting project is described as “an artistic and celebratory film that takes viewers on a journey through Bowie’s creative life”.

In the HBO documentary, the only voice we hear is that of Bowie: these are archival interviews. Excerpts from the interviews are mixed with archival concert recordings, news, footage from music videos, photographs, animations and films with Bowie.

Although “Moonage Daydream” doesn’t always explain events clearly and touches on some lesser-known periods in Bowie’s life, it is a new experience in documentary cinema. Just as Bowie’s album isn’t “just an album”, this isn’t “just a documentary”.

Watch the movie trailer!

The article was written in collaboration with “LMT Viedtelevizija”.