With “Moonage Daydream”, director Brett Morgen offers a unique cinematic experience in the world of David Bowie. The film required more than five years of work, a period during which the filmmaker almost lost his life. Meet.
With Moonage Daydream, Brett Morgen has pulled off a crazy gamble: creating an immersive journey into the world of David Bowie. A unique work that required seven years of production and relentless research work in the five million archives provided by the rockstar’s heirs. This production, the director speaks of it as a crossing “traumatic” and “lonely”, to the point of losing his health.
Far from being a classic documentary, the film focuses on a very specific period. It began in 1971, with the creation of Ziggy Stardust, Bowie’s alter ego, and continued until 1985. On screen, it was a real visual firework that took shape, between psychedelic effects, an avalanche of new colors, videos and drawings with, of course, the artist’s songs as a soundtrack.
Brett Morgan insists: the film is not intended to be a biography of David Jones – real name of David Bowie. “It is a film very attached to mythology and presented as such”, he specifies.
Navigating through the millions of archives available is a perilous mission. Beyond the quantity, the hardest part was remembering everything. “I was alonesays Brett Morgen. There was no one else to do this vigil with me. I had to have a few scans because I was worried that I had dementia praecox. The doctor told me I was trying to ingest too much media.”
Universal Pictures The psychedelic effects of “Moonage Daydream” are a sight to behold on the big screen.
In January 2017, Brett Morgen suffered a heart attack. He remains in a coma for a week. This near-death experience became inseparable from his experience on film. “Since my heart attack, I haven’t had a moment without Bowiehe says. I feel like Moonage Daydream made me want to enjoy what little time I have left.”
Brett Morgen points out that without the support of his wife, none of this would have been possible. “She was there to encourage me in my darkest hours, when I felt like I was aimless, directionless and unable to find my way.he continues. She reminded me that it was part of the experience and not to panic.”
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Brett Morgen goes wild on the Cannes Film Festival red carpet during the presentation of ‘Moonage Daydream’.
The reward for all this hard work? The presentation of Moonage Daydream in Midnight screening at the 75th Cannes Film Festival. Brett Morgen is not about to forget his entry into the large Théâtre-Lumière where the film was screened for the first time. “I ended up dancing on the red carpet, when I never usually dancehe recalls. It was a spontaneous, out of body experience that is not like me at all.”
Interview by Thomas Desroches, in Paris, September 2, 2022.
Moonage Daydream, in theaters September 21.