Moonage Daydream Review

David Bowie was one of the most celebrated musicians of the modern era. He was known for making many great songs, like “Space Oddity,” “Life on Mars” and “Lazarus.” The Bowie estate authorised a documentary with the celebrated filmmaker Brett Morgen directing.

This documentary looks at Bowie’s work, inspiration, and philosophy throughout his career, from the early Ziggy Stardust days to the latter days of his career. All this is told through archive and personal footage and a montage of footage from other media.

When it comes to music biopic documentaries 2015’s Amy was the gold standard. It was a comprehensive documentary that looked at Amy Winehouse’s life and career, had a strong thesis, and was told using archive footage, recordings, and interviews. It was a visually distinct film because it was told only using the archive footage with only the occasional graphic.

Moonage Daydream seemed to be going down a similar path. It opened with footage of David Bowie preparing for a concert and his fans being interviewed about why they loved him. There were interesting points in the film like when Bowie talked about the influence of his older brother and his mental struggles, and Bowie’s creative drive which resulted in him taking up different artistic pursuits and moving from city to city. However, this wasn’t a deep dive into Bowie’s life and career like Amy was about Amy Winehouse.

Being commissioned by the Bowie Estate it would have been unlikely for Moonage Daylight to be a warts-and-all documentary. However, the documentary would have had a wealth of material most people wouldn’t have access to like behind-the-scenes footage, home videos, demos, and notebooks. It could have given audiences more insight into Bowie’s creative process.

In the documentary Bowie states that he liked to push musical boundaries and be distinct. Morgen tried to take that approach when making this film. For large portions of the film Moonage Daydream felt more like an art installation or an extended music video than a traditional documentary. There was no narration, talking head, or even a narrative or thesis.

A good comparison that could be made is with would be with The Tree of Life. Morgen seemed like he wanted to replicate the “Universe Sequence” from the 2011 film because it was visually mesmerising and had great music but had little narrative purpose. It was a collage of imagery, from paintings, concert footage, music videos, and clips from other media like classic movies. With a run time of 140 minutes, it did drag.

The music was fantastic, as it would be considering David Bowie. I was mouthing the lyrics to some of my favourite songs when they played. However, this ends up being an issue because if anyone wanted to listen to Bowie’s songs they could listen to the albums, if they wanted to see a live performance then they could go onto YouTube. Whilst the music was great it’s not enough to sustain a film unless it had an unseen live performance, alternative versions of songs, and behind-the-scenes footage.

Moonage Daylight was a film made for die-hard David Bowie fans. It was more of a mood piece than an insightful documentary.