Review of "The Devil and Daniel Johnston"

Daniel Johnston's artwork

The Devil and Daniel Johnston, directed by Jeff Feuerzeig, is a 2005 documentary chronicling the life of Daniel Johnston, an American singer-songwriter and artist, and his experiences with schizophrenia and how that manifested itself as satanic obsessions. Genius and art and music are all concepts that have historically had close ties with mental illness. This film emphasizes the question whether great artists always have to "tango with the devil."

The film begins with archival video and audio tapes that Johnston has recorded himself throughout his music career starting from his very beginning all the way to his success with his album, "Hi, How Are You," a span of over 20 years. Johnston is introduced in a folk club in his hometown, Austin, Texas, as "the greatest singer-songwriter alive." His sound is a lo-fi folk that is as raw as an artist can get, voice quivering and squeaking like a pre-pubescent and lyrics appealingly simple. Johnston starred on MTV for a short time and gained a sort of cult fanbase. Kurt Cobain hailed him as "the greatest living songwriter." 

Cobain wore a T-shirt with Johnston's iconic frog drawing, featured as his "Hi, How Are You" album cover, sparking a great interest among Nirvana fans for Daniel Johnston. His popularity exploded.

Following his relative success, Johnston experienced severe personality and mood changes, becoming completely obsessed with satanism and "the devil." He refused to sign a multi-album deal with Elektra because he was convinced that Metallica, also signed with Elektra, was possessed by Satan. He also put his manager in the hospital with wounds to head caused by a lead pipe and, believing himself to be Casper the Friendly Ghost, nearly killed his father and himself in a plane crash. 

The documentary shows interviews of Johnston's mother and father, manager, and close friends. They wear very natural costumes and makeup to emphasize the music and stay true to the theme. The cinematic effects such as the overlay of kaleidescope snowflakes over the archival footage shown in the film represent the disillusions of Johnston during those times in his life. Also, at about 47 minutes, there is a scene of the mental hospital to which Johnston was admitted. The building is white and beautiful but in this particular scene the sign on the building is broken and hanging ajar, perhaps underscoring that there is always a strangeness in beauty.

The Devil and Daniel Johnston shows just how intimate the relationship between artistry and mental illness can be and I enjoyed the film immensely. Whether you are a Johnston fan or dub him overrated, the film is creative, enjoyable, and fascinating in nature. 

Dystopian Trailer Critique

Never Let Me Go. Mark Romanek. R. 2010

In an alternate history, Kathy (Carey Mulligan), Ruth (Kiera Knightley), and Tommy (Andrew Garfield) are students at Hailsham House, a boarding school for clones. At one point they are told that their existence is merely defined by transplant patients, as they were created and raised to be organ donors, destined to die, or "complete", in early adulthood. Never Let Me Go is a coming of age story of love, loss, and truth, as the three face their grim fate, posing the question: What makes us human?

The trailer for the dystopian film, "Never Let Me Go"

The trailer for "Never Let Me Go" clearly exemplifies a dystopia and is effective in sparking interest in viewers by utilizing tasteful editing, convincing actors, and establishing a clear background for the plot. In this trailer, the director, Romanek, uses a voiceover done by Mulligan while scenes of the three children grow up are shown in a montage, establishing the premise and themes for the film. Romanek also uses simple white text. The editing is minimalistic and does not overwhelm the viewer, while still presenting the necessary information, such as explaining the role of clones in this alternate dystopian history. One of the most compelling scenes shown is of Tommy (Garfield) getting out of a car, howling in frustration and distress, his face contorted in pain. The actor's convincing portrayal of the character contributes greatly to the overall quality of the trailer. I plan to use the same minimalistic yet effective editing style for my group's trailer and also hope to convey the emotions of the characters to the best of my abilities. A voiceover will probably used as well. There are many aspects of "Never Let Me Go"s trailer that I plan to incorporate into our project.

Almost Famous (2000)

FILM REVIEW; With Sympathy For the Devil, A Rock Writer Finds His Way by A. O. Scott

Scott commends director Cameron Crowe for not just using rock music as a decoration to his film, Almost Famous, but as more of a window into the souls of his characters. Scott gives some context to his review by describing Crowe's film style and immediately highlights music as one of the main themes in the film. He gives a synopsis to the plot and outlines the main characters. Although not much critique is given on the staging and costuming, themes and motifs are discussed abundantly. Scott writes with a light tone and is very matter of fact, viewing the film with a fair and unbiased eye. I think this is very important when critiquing literature. The ending of the film is not given away and Scott ends the review by saying that the film could have been better, but it is nontheless remarkable and a sex and drug filled film that you would be happy to take your mother to see. 

The structure of this movie review was easy to understand and overall organized nicely. I think that in class we should take elements of it and incorporate it into our own writing styles, but I do not think that there should be a format engraved in stone. We should be allowed creative freedom. However, with that being said, there should be a few rules such as:

1. not giving away the ending

2. including basic points such as plot, characters, motifs/themes, and recommendations

3. critical yet unbiased critique of cinematography, acting skills, and other aspects of film

photo cr: to owner


Movie Review:
http://diigo.com/0sv94