ALLAN HUNTER at the Movies

THERE ARE some music fans who consider Daniel Johnston to be a genius. He struggles to play an instrument. His voice is an acquired taste. His lyrics sound like the kind of thing Phoebe might have written in the tv comedy ‘Friends’.

Despite all those drawbacks, there is a raw emotion in his work that comes straight from the heart of a tortured soul. A much better understanding of the man, his music and even his soul is provided by the documentary ‘The Devil And Daniel Johnston’.

An affectionate portrait of the artist, the film is pieced together from old home movies, concert footage and revealing interviews with Johnston’s friends and family.

It shares some of the discomforting voyeurism that has marked recent documentaries on dysfunctional family life like ‘Tarnation’ and ‘Capturing The Friedmans’. You wonder if people across America are now blessing or cursing the day they made home movies and decided to keep them for posterity.

A happy child who became a manic-depressive adult, Johnston comes across as a genuinely talented artist, ambitious musician and deeply troubled man. We are privy to all the swings in his fortunes, from the success of his early public performances to the times when he became disconnected from the real world and increasingly obsessed with satanism.

This is a life of extremes in in which Johnston is just as capable of award-winning music as he is of causing physical harm to his relatives. There are some similarities between Johnston and the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson: both men appear to be clinging to the wreckage of shattered lives.

You may resist the claims made on behalf of his music but there is no deny the poignancy of Daniel Johnston’s story.

Selected nationwide release
Director: Jeff Feuerzeig
Stars: Daniel Johnston, David Thornberry, Gibby Haynes, Bill Johnston.
Certificate: 12A
Running time: 109 mins
Country: US
Year: 2005

© Allan Hunter, 2006