KatsPajamas
KatsPajamas
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The Devil and Daniel Johnston

Posted over 5 years ago
Who else has seen this? Watched it on Friday night. I thought it was very well done. Would love to hear your take..............
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Comments (8)

  1. Spencer Owen
    Spencer Owen says It can be difficult to depict an outsider artist that has a pretty strong circle of admirers calling him "genius" without making it seem overblown, or making the talking heads in the film seem like a broken record, and I commend this film for doing exactly that well. It's compelling and empathetic without being an "oh, poor genius" movie; it's honest, and the people in the movie are honest people with stakes in the game. It also reminded me how much I love some of his early songs. I really do.
    Permalink posted 11/20/2006
  2. Bawston Sean
    Bawston Sean says That movie blew my mind. I've been a fan since "Fun" came out way back when, but I don't think I really understood DJ's music until I saw that movie. It was an intensely emotional movie that shed a great light on one of america's best songwriters. Four Thumbs Up!
    Permalink posted 11/20/2006
  3. nik3787
    nik3787 says I've wanted to see it, I have an album full of Daniel Johnston covers by Bright Eyes, Mercury Rev and Death Cab and others, and I love it... so naturally I want to see this... and I want my brother to see it, he's convinced that Daniel Johnston wasn't an artist of influence on today's music, and I'm really out to prove him wrong...ha.
    Permalink posted 11/20/2006
  4. KatsPajamas
    KatsPajamas says I was really surprised by how affected I was by the movie. I had heard of Daniel's name, but wasn't really familiar at all. So when my husband PPV'd it, I wasn't expecting much. I wasn't even planning on paying attention. But I was so drawn in, and went from laughter to tears. WOW.
    Permalink posted 11/20/2006
  5. Bawston Sean
    Bawston Sean says the way they assembled all of the archival audio/footage is incredible. the filmmakers did a great job of showing the very modern humanity documented by Daniel's very modern insanity. You should also check "Be Here to Love Me", the Townes Van Zandt movie - it's another heartbreaking/uplifting tale of genius/mental illness. Required veiwing really.
    Permalink posted 11/20/2006
  6. etcvisitor
    etcvisitor says i was amazed at how much footage from his childhood there was. its almost like somebody said "ok, in X number of years, we're gonna make a documentary". both this film and "be here to love me" blew my mind and made me really think about what i do as an artist... and as a human being.
    Permalink posted 11/20/2006
  7. thewizardinblack
    thewizardinblack says i just saw that movie over the weekend. in the past, i never really got into D.J.s music, but i was definitely familiar with it. i had no idea that he was _that_ mentally disturbed, though. overall i thought the documentary was very well done, and it was nice to see (and hear) such rare footage. i was also surprised that the length of the documentary did not lend to any boring moments. very emotional in some parts, too. rated it 4 stars for my netflix queue.
    Permalink posted 11/20/2006
  8. Emily
    Emily says I second "compelling and empathetic without being an “oh, poor genius” movie; it’s honest, and the people in the movie are honest people with stakes in the game." It was well put together and it dealt with the mental illness deftly. One of the more interesting aspects was how actively Daniel Johnston was documenting his own life in his art and music. "Story of an Artist" breaks my heart a little bit every time I hear it.
    Permalink posted 12/09/2006

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