The Devil and Daniel Johnston

This film take you on a journey into a creative genius' struggle with life. Daniel Johnston recorded his entire life on cassette tape and his early life on film. Later he appeared on MTV, and in venues in Austin, TX on film and video. These provide the film-maker with a wide array of media for telling this story.

Jeff Feuerzeig weaves this material seamlessly into what is one of the most emotionally wrenching films I've seen in the last year and one of my favorite documentaries ever. It is hard to compare this film with documentaries like those of Michael Moore which are comedic and topical, or those of Errol Morris, which tend to focus on issues and facts. This documentary brings emotional threads and creativity into play in a way that dissolves the usual harsh contrast between a story and it's telling. You forget you are watching a documentary film, and become immersed in Daniel's life. Daniel's effect on those around him is interwoven with his own recordings. His family and friend are there to add to his story to show how his life is reflected upon them. Feuerzeig use of Daniel's parents narrative is simply masterful - it provides important information, and at the same time illustrates the the emotional turmoil his illness causes in the lives of those that love him. Daniel's family is portrayed from the early period of his illness when they have no idea what mental illness really means, to the present time when they become his supporters and advocates. Eventually, family and friend's are shown coming to terms with Daniel's mental illness, and experience their own emotional growth as well.

It deservedly won the Directors Award at Sundance 2005, and I think it would have won the audience award if it had a different play schedule.

I watched this knowing that I am not a big fan of the music of Daniel Johnston, but found it ceaselessly moving and fascinating. No just because of Daniel's unstoppable creativity and heartbreaking slump into ever increasing circles of mental illness, but because of the honesty of people around him. Saying that they were scared, that they just wanted him to go to hospital and get better, the truth... I really thought this film would be a bog standard "worship the romantic tortured genius" thing, but it actually gave you a really authentic feeling of how terrifying and uncontrollable mental illness truly is. Also, let's see more Daniel Johnston cartoons, the bit with the eye ball flying out of the head on the stack of comic books was absolute genius.

Biodoc about Daniel Johnston, a multitalented man, a compulsively prolific cartoon artist, song writer and performer, whose bipolar disorder and drug abuse led to episodes of severe mental illness and destructive behaviors, beginning in his early 20s, in the 1980s, problems that stifled his career for many years, until consistent psychiatric care and kindly parental oversight effected a more stable course for him more recently. Now approaching age 45, Johnston has made a comeback of sorts, reaching a level of artistic self control and productivity that has swept him toward unprecedented recognition.

This film charts Johnston's life and family, ingeniously assimilating materials made by Johnston himself as a kid and young adult - super 8 and video footage; cassette audiotapes; still photos – as well as contemporary video interviews and stills. By mid-adolescence he was holed up in the basement of his family's home, staying up all hours, writing songs, drawing, making tapes almost nonstop. By his mid-20s he had run away to Austin, Texas, and made a splash on the pop music scene there. But within a year or two, abetted by lots of marijuana and LSD, he began a series of horrendous manic and depressive episodes that scuttled his career, even as he was beginning to receive recognition locally and on a national level.

For much of the next 15 years Johnston was hospitalized frequently after extremely dangerous manic episodes (he seriously injured one acquaintance with a lead pipe, and later interfered with control of his father's small aircraft, leading to a crash landing that, luckily, both survived), zoned out on medications, and vegetating at the family home in Waller, Texas. But in the past few years his course has stabilized.

He's obese, the result of his mood stabilizing medications and inactivity no doubt, and he's no longer the flamboyant, zany free spirit that titillated and frightened so many of his followers in the past. But the film shows us that he is now in better control of his drawing and singing performances than he ever was years earlier. He has been helped immensely by his parents, Bill and Mabel, now in their early 80s, his agent and owner of a small recording company, Jeff Tartakov, and an Austin music journalist, Louis Black, all of whom have worked hard to help sustain and enhance Johnston's reputation as a creative artist.

Their loyal efforts have been well rewarded. The film demonstrates the success of a show of Johnston's more recent drawings at Gallery Zero One in Los Angeles, where over 90% of the works were sold to a single collector before the exhibition even opened. In 2003 Johnston sang before an audience in Sweden that obviously worshiped him. Cartoonist Matt Groening is a fan of Johnston's. Tom Waits and Beck, among many others, have covered his songs. And just a few weeks ago (subsequent to the film) the Whitney Museum in Manhattan announced that Johnston's works would be included in the 2006 Whitney Biennial.

From a psychiatric perspective, a good case can be made that Johnston does suffer from bipolar disorder. But he was compulsively creating art years before his first episode of mood disorder. Like Vincent Van Gogh and some other compulsive artists, Johnston may also have Asperger's Syndrome.

This film is very well crafted until near the end. Actually it seems as if the filmmakers really didn't know how or when to end it. There are a half dozen moments in the last 20 minutes when they could have done so. See more, including examples of Johnston's art work, at these websites: www.museumoflove.com and www.rejectedunknown.com/feature.htm. My grade: B+ 8/10.

I had the opportunity to see this film several days ago while working at the American Film Market, and I have been telling everyone I know to see it. I'm not sure what the deal is with a wide release, but everyone who loves documentary should see this one when it comes out.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the title character, Daniel Johnston is a manic- depressive artist/musician who currently resides in Waller, Texas with his elderly parents. I had been a fan of his music for sometime, and also having lived in Austin, had been aware of his status as a local fixture, but there was so much fascinating information divulged in this film that I never knew about. The film spans the life (up to the present) of this incredibly complex person, who truly resides in a world of his own creation. It's clear that the filmmaker has a deep appreciation and love for Johnston's work, and his world is painstakingly brought to life through animation, recreation, and wonderfully edited home movies and audio cassette tapes. His friends and family also offer insight into the various events which were pivotal in Johnston's life.

The wealth of self-documentation that Johnston has created over his life, starting from childhood, is one of the things that makes this film truly magnificent. Over the years, we can literally see this person change before our eyes, as though gradually being claimed by a dark force. The "dark force" in this case is manic depression; metaphorically The Devil for Johnston, who is a devout Christian. Johnston's struggle to connect with people he loves through the fog of his illness is devastating. While this can be difficult to watch (at least for me), there is the powerful reward of the music and drawings that Johnston has produced throughout, both in spite of and as a direct result of this struggle. That something heartbreakingly beautiful in it's simplicity and honestly can come from such a terrible struggle, is what makes this story and this film remarkable.

I saw this at the SXSW movie festival. This movie portrays the legendary song-writer (fans of his consist of: Sonic Youth, Curt Cobain, Beck, etc.), Daniel Johnston's roller-coaster life: through his early recordings in his basement to being on MTV to his battles with manic depression(which caused him to have delusions) to his art and comics and ending up in mental hospitals. Throughout the movie the film looks at Daniel's life through friends and family. Honestly, even if you aren't a fan you'd enjoy it. Even the way it was filmed and put together is so unique it was amazing to watch. A must see for any Daniel Johnston fan.