“When You’re Strange” – New Doors film
Written by admin on April 14, 2010 – 9:01 pm -| The critically acclaimed Doors documentary, “When You’re Strange: A Film About The Doors,” is currently showing at a limited number of US theaters.
“When You’re Strange” was featured at the Sundance, Berlin, Deauville, San Sebastian and Santa Barbara Film Festivals, but Director Tom DiCillo has since re-edited the film and added Hollywood superstar Johnny Depp as the narrator.
The 90-minute documentary covers the key events in the Doors’ short history through archival footage from concerts and studio sessions. This is interspersed with footage of pivotal ’60s events that influenced the band’s direction, including Bobby Kennedy’s assassination. |
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Alongside the familiar footage, there are rare clips captured by Paul Ferrara, an old UCLA film school classmate of Morrison, and Doors organist Ray Manzarek, who documented the band for much of their career.
The real selling point of the film is the inclusion of outtakes from Jim Morrison’s self-financed 1969 film “HWY: An American Pastoral.” This footage is so timeless and unlike anything else featured in the film that it could easily be mistaken (and reportedly was by one distributor) for modern re-enactments using actors. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone believes these clips are “alone worth the price of admission” and that “new fans and old will find the experience hypnotic.”
Narrator, Johnny Depp, echoes this view:
| “Watching the hypnotic, hitherto unreleased footage of Jim, John, Ray and Robby, I felt like I experienced it all through their eyes. As a rock & roll documentary, or any kind of documentary for that matter, it simply doesn’t get any better than this. What an honor to have been involved. I am as proud of this as anything I have ever done.” |
“When You’re Strange: A Film About The Doors” – trailer
A soundtrack album has been released, featuring a good balance of live and studio tracks. You can sample the songs below.
Tags: Jim Morrison, The Doors, When You're Strange - A Film about the Doors
Posted in American Rock, Films, New releases |
