“I drink so I can talk to assholes. This includes me.”
This expression, one of three books’ worth of poems written by lead singer of The Doors Jim Morrison, sums up much of the later realities of the band’s existence. The intricacies of the So Cal ’60s/’70s band that rocked its way to stardom before crashing in 1973 with Morrison’s eccentric and unlawful behavior and untimely death, have been compiled and revealed in artistic audio-visual form with “When You’re Strange,” a documentary written and directed by Tom DiCillo. The plot goes chronologically from the original bohemian band-members’ chance meeting at Venice Beach, to their shaky start playing at clubs, to their quick jump to international stardom with hits like “Light My Fire” and eventually to cover, in-depth, Morrison’s heavy drinking and personal problems — the tension of which caused chronic headaches for the other band-members on- and off-stage.
The acting for “When you’re Strange” was done exclusively by real, salvaged historical footage of the band itself, and DiCillo found a big-name actor to do the narration in the form of austere heart-throb Johnny Depp (“Alice in Wonderland”). The film faced some initial controversy — The L.A. Times reported a reviewer at Sundance Film Festival leaving the screening theater in a huff — because the introductory scene, and several others throughout, appear to feature a scruffy stand-in to portray Morrison. However, these scenes create perhaps one of the most interesting aspects to the film, as they are remastered clips from an eerie, self-produced short film Morrison made in 1969, with himself in the lead role as a wayfaring hitchhiker on the road to self-discovery.
DiCillo also got his hands on and incorporated a film Morrison made in his short education at UCLA — a kitsche compilation of seconds-long clips that apparently earned the future rock icon a barely passing grade. To remonstrate the acting would essentially be to denigrate Morrison himself, so no real complaints there, but “When You’re Strange” could have done with some added star power (such as peer film “The Runaways” utilized with Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning) simply to move the plot along, which is not entirely accomplished with salty tones of Depp’s voice.
If it was not clear from the aforementioned fact that DiCillo’s production crew was able to remaster amateur footage from ’69 so flawlessly as to fool a Sundance affiliate that it was shot and recorded with 2010-era technology: The effects in “When You’re Strange” easily met contemporary standards for a film, especially a documentary drawing from days long before digital recording. Many creative entrances and exits were used, which was timed and blended well with The Doors’ music.
There may not have been enough variety of songs out of the band’s nine albums for the most obsessive of fans, but it was enough to not detract from the story being told. That was one thing about “When You’re Strange;” DiCillo did not wholly attempt to appease The Doors’ following by cutting and pasting the available footage and historical sources to depict Morrison as a god of rock ‘n’ roll. He gave fair airtime to drummer John Densmore, keyboardist Ray Manzarek and guitarist Robby Krieger, especially considering that they helped compose a considerable amount of the songs — and covered for Morrison when he would make eccentric scenes, going off on inappropriate, irrelevant, LSD-enthused tangents while onstage.
A documentary, in general, is a work of history as well as art and film. It is meant to capture an era as a whole as well as record the lives of its main focus. DiCillo has done so to a moderate extent, creating an audience that is bound to feel a slight pull of yearning to be back in a decade when a stay at the Morrison Hotel, or any hotel for that matter, only cost $2.50, as depicted on The Doors’ 1970 album named after the real hotel in Los Angeles. The writer/director also leaves many mysteries remaining unsolved within. One in particular, introduced early on, begs the question: When interviewed for an artist bio, why did Morrison tell reporters his mother and decorated army-officer father, who both outlived him, were dead? The question was never truthfully answered by Morrison himself, who held an air of mystery as a key component to his fame, and the refusal by the documentarist to leave this question and more unconcluded is his best thematic achievement. For a Doors documentary, “When You’re Strange” serves its very unique focus, to illuminate the very gritty details of Morrison’s life, especially amid surrounding idolatry.
3 1/2 stars out of 5.
