If there's one thing this film stands out for, it's its originality. The idea to make a portrait of a rock musician by filming his 20.000th day on earth is quite unique, and it works well. After spending 24 hours with Nick Cave (crammed into 97 minutes, of course), you think you know the man a lot better than you did before.
We see Cave waking up, visiting his psychiatrist to whom he tells a lot about his childhood memories, visiting the studio where he rehearses and jams with his fellow musicians, and visiting an archive where he remembers the days with his former band The Birthday Party, and shows pictures about the various stages in his career. In between, we see him driving around Brighton, chatting with some 'ghost passengers' from his past, including Blixa Bargeld and Kylie Minogue.
It is quite entertaining and original. But it's also a bit self-indulgent, because this is not really a 'fly-on-the-wall' documentary, but a fully scripted and rehearsed fictional film. To hear Cave philosophizing about his work as if it's something out of his own control, comes across as a bit over the top. These are rock songs, for heaven's sake, not literature! (Although Cave might argue that these two categories don't exclude each other).
So my feelings about this film are a bit mixed. On the one hand, it's a nice way to dig into the soul of a rock singer, on the other hand you've got to be really interested in the person Nick Cave to enjoy the whole movie from start to finish.
We see Cave waking up, visiting his psychiatrist to whom he tells a lot about his childhood memories, visiting the studio where he rehearses and jams with his fellow musicians, and visiting an archive where he remembers the days with his former band The Birthday Party, and shows pictures about the various stages in his career. In between, we see him driving around Brighton, chatting with some 'ghost passengers' from his past, including Blixa Bargeld and Kylie Minogue.
It is quite entertaining and original. But it's also a bit self-indulgent, because this is not really a 'fly-on-the-wall' documentary, but a fully scripted and rehearsed fictional film. To hear Cave philosophizing about his work as if it's something out of his own control, comes across as a bit over the top. These are rock songs, for heaven's sake, not literature! (Although Cave might argue that these two categories don't exclude each other).
So my feelings about this film are a bit mixed. On the one hand, it's a nice way to dig into the soul of a rock singer, on the other hand you've got to be really interested in the person Nick Cave to enjoy the whole movie from start to finish.