When You're Strange

Well, being a huge fan, knowing quite a lot of people in the Doors (full) circle and having been everywhere from Pere Lachaise to Rothdell Trail to Fairhaven Memorial... I have to say I did turn this on with a slight sense of anxiousness as to whether it would be another destruction of James Douglas Morrison's entire character as both the Oliver Stone horrorshow and the numerous vacuous "rockumentataries" have done.

However, I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised in the main. If you're a hardcore Doors fan then despite the claims of previously unseen footage, you will have seen most of this, few people have been to Paris without bumping into the likes of Rainer Moddeman and other well connected superfans and blagging bootleg stuff and HWY and Feast of Friends have been pretty easy to secure for a long time now as have tapes of Critique etc. But, I was quite impressed with what Tom Dicillo did with the footage, not only was he sympathetic and judicious with it but he accented the narrative with it almost as good as Densmore accented anything Jim did. Clearly, for the eagle eyed, he used footage from other events to underscore a point on an entirely different event but that's just me being picky - ultimately, there is a finite amount of footage that could be trawled. He avoided a lot of the glaring pitfalls one could easily make in such a documentary - for example he didn't get too caught in the trap of juxtaposing events in the 60's with the events of the Doors (there was some of this but it was measured and relevant) and I thought Depp was okay with his voice-over although he was a little dour and the script was at times a little prescriptive and compartmentalised. I do however appreciate that the film has to be appeal to more than the hardcore afficianados and that a balance has to be struck so I think the film really does work well both for those who only have a loose interest in The Doors (or even those just interested in the era) and those more fanatical about The Doors.

I know that Ray (at least) backed this film vocally which gives it credibility from the get go and I you have to give the guy credit for using only original footage. That said, this probably reduces the "filmmaking" to that of an editor so I don't want to be too gushing but still, give the guy his due, the end product is enjoyable, reasonably balanced, it maintained interest and it definitely had some nice touches in it which as I said derived from clever use of the stock material. It wasn't just the choice of footage; it was the more the way it was deployed and paced.

Maybe if budget (or sensibilities) had allowed, the film could have encompassed some other original footage (or other stock footage even) for those Doors fans who want to learn more about the Doors landmarks - be it shots of Venice beach or Rue Beautreillis but what I am glad of is the fact that they stayed well away from including interviews with the usual crowd like Grace Slick etc. which I think would have corrupted the output.

I'll watch it (and review it) sober again and see whether I feel the same but all in all, to quote the Velvet Menace himself, "pretty good, pretty good, pretty neat, pretty neat".

"When You're Strange" is a music Documentary, which takes you through the short career of a world famous 1960's band, The Doors.

For this alone, the documentary is worth watching. That said, this is so interesting to watch, because it is a story with so many levels, mainly because it took place in a time, when things were changing.

It was the 1960s. A still growing group of people invented in the 50s, namely the young, could and would not be ignored any longer. As Morrison put it: 'we want the world, and we want it now' To them things were not black and white anymore. Men and women were not men and women, but human beings. The solution was definitely not war, but the absolute opposite. On the other hand the parents, and older generations, were stubbornly holding on to the old order and its values, and a larger and larger gap was growing between these two fronts.

The spotlight in this film is heavily focused on the Doors most famous member, Jim Morrison, and for a good reason. Jim Morrison became a clear symbol of the new, and the young, mainly because he wanted more out of life than the norms allowed, and simply went for it. On top of this, Jim had an interesting background, which is a prime example of the generation gap. Jim Morrisons father George Morrison was an admiral in the navy, and was involved in the Vietnam war. He was against Jim's involvement in rock music, wanted his hair cut, and to get an education. Jim ignored his parents to such an extend that he claimed his family dead, when asked by journalists.

If you know the story of The Doors and Jim Morrison already, this will be a stringent summary of the events with a well written and good narration by Johnny Depp. There is nothing new in the story itself and thankfully no conspiracy theories about Morrisons death. Where this documentary really shines and adds yet another level, is through the footage and the way this is put together. Some of this footage has never been shown before, and parts of it is still so crisp and clear that it's eerie. It is bound to send you on an emotional ride, if you were a fan when it mattered the most - when you were young.

So in conclusion this falls two stars shy of ten because of the only fall through i noticed. When a letter from Morrisons father is brought up, it mentions only one paragraph of this well meaning letter, and uses it out of context to create drama. This is a 2 star fail in an otherwise clear cut and to the bone fact telling documentary.

"When You're Strange" recounts quite well the history of the 1960s rock band "The Doors" and its famous, charismatic vocalist Jim Morrison. Using archival and backstage footage, some early home pictures of Morrison, and integrating a history of the band's roots and rocky ride with then-current social upheavals, the film conveys all the chaos, change, and creativity that marked that turbulent era.

Some of the narrative retells information that the band's devotees have known for decades, like the origin of the name "The Doors", a reference to Aldous Huxley's 1954 book "The Doors Of Perception". And the very first song Robby Krieger wrote was "Light My Fire". But old details can be informative to new fans.

The film's choppy structure probably had some symbolic significance. But the first five minutes seemed unnecessary. And I could have done without the scenes of Morrison driving a car through the desert, which seemed irrelevant and out of context.

As someone who has been mesmerized by The Doors for a long time, I don't think I learned anything new. Yet, the never-before-seen visuals, Morrison's on-stage performances and backstage personality, combined with all that strange music, at times carnivalesque and at other times bluesy, were enormously interesting. About midway through, Morrison comes across best, as he sings "Touch Me", accompanied by an orchestra.

What's disconcerting is the change in Morrison. He starts out innocent and shy, then quickly morphs into an outrageous showman. His indulgence in drugs and hard drinking did him no favors. However, that over-the-edge artistic style was common in the 1960s. And death arrived at the early age of 27 not only for Morrison, but also for Janis Joplin, Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, and Morrison's girlfriend, Pamela Courson.

Forty years after his death, Jim Morrison still fascinates people. Part of that derives from his untimely death. But I think he and The Doors resonate today because they were musical poets, social revolutionaries who saw the inhumanity and evil in the world, and tried to change it, through music. With maybe a couple of exceptions, we do not now have comparably influential poets. Jim Morrison and The Doors call to us from the past.

I'm a big fan of The Doors and pretty much knew the story before watching this film. And yet I found Johnny Depp to be a very convincing narrator (usually I find narrators to be quite annoying in documentaries!), and the film was quite fluid and easy to watch. Some really cool footage as well! For anyone who's interested, Oliver Stone's 1992 film The Doors is a good and fairly accurate non-documentary worth watching, if you haven't seen it already.

I was able to see this at Sundance this morning. What an outstanding film!! By weaving original footage from many sources including takes from a movie Jim Morrison made himself Mr. DiCillo presents an intimate view of all the DOORS in the context of the 60's and early 70's. An intimate look at the complex relationships between Morrison and the other members and hugely entertaining. DiCillo spoke at the end of the movie and during the Q&A's he mentioned one critic accused him of "recreating" footage in the film. The supposed recreated footage was actually Morrisons own film starring himself. This rumor is extremely frustrating to DiCillo as it is spreading via the internet. See for yourself, this is a excellent movie. I asked DiCillo if he had cooperation from Morrison's family. He said he had a lot of help from Morrisons family especially on the relationship between Jim and his father. I hope someone picks it up for distribution. I'd go again.