SXSW: The Devil and Daniel Johnston

...Fortunately I made it in time to catch The Devil and Daniel Johnston. I didn't know anything about him, but the movie came highly recommended from a number of people. So I checked it out and was not disappointed. Daniel Johnston is a brilliant, yet troubled musician, who never really got things together, and never really got it together. He's supposed o be an Austin phenomenon, but I'd managed to miss him. However, now, I can recognize his iconography all around. Daniel made a habit of filming and tape recording his goings on from a very early age, so the filmmakers had an incredible library to pull things from, and it really showed.

Daniel showed an incredible ability to write songs and even make movies at a young age. However, his problems grew and grew and grew. It's really amazing to watch as Daniel grows and deteriorates. The first shot you see of Daniel in present day is like looking at a completely different person. The youthful Daniel shows promise, enthusiasm, current Daniel is troubled and uncontrollable. SXSW seems to be the festival for documentaries on brilliant yet troubled musicians - The Devil and Daniel Johnston, Be Here to Love Me (About Townes Van Zandt), Derailroaded (Larry "Wild Man" Fischer) and more showed at the festival. Makes you wonder about musicians in general. Daniel became obsessed with religion and various aspects of it. Demons became involved in his actions, they told him what to do, they did things instead of him in his eyes. As Daniel's problems become more and more, his popularity increases, due to endorsements from Nirvana. Daniel's story is heart-wrenching, when he's helped, he can't do what he loves, when he can do what he loves, he's a dangerous individual - even throwing an elderly woman out of a window. You can't keep him in line without destroying a large part of him. It's absolutely tragic.

What's really cool is that Daniel was in attendance. I went to the bathroom in the middle of the showing and washed my hands next to him. However, he managed to leave before the Q&A, before being "reunited" with his long lost love that the filmmakers had found. It made for an odd ending to everything, but the movie had done it's job. I was really impressed with the movie, from going through an incredible library of source footage to assembling a gripping tale for people who weren't even really familiar with the musician. Good stuff.
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