The Devil and Daniel Johnston
Director: Jeff Feuerzeig

I think that ‘rockumentaries’ are really hit and miss for me. Typically, you get a bunch of self-important music critics claiming that they were there from the beginning, struggling to convince the naysayer’s that they just discovered genius. The focus seems to drift away from the artist and falls into the lap of the scenesters, retelling the story as though the entire world revolved around them. Well The Devil and Daniel Johnston does fall into the same trap at times, but the tale is so bizarre and the music so unusual that I think that their belief in Daniel’s talent was truly sincere and the story is definitely worth retelling.

For those of you that don’t know, Daniel Johnston is one of the greatest songwriters of all time. Well, according to his biggest fans and supporters at least. But I think there’s no denying that behind his somewhat messy musicianship are very beautiful pop songs that are both catchy and classic. Daniel is a self-admitted Beatles fanatic, and it definitely comes through in his music. But this film isn’t just about his talents. Daniel Johnston suffers from a severe mental illness; diagnosed as manic-depressive, he’s spent a majority of his life in and out of mental institutions and heavily medicated. Throughout it all, Daniel kept cassette tape diaries detailing his ups and downs and his love for a girl named Laurie, the main source of inspiration for his music. We watch Daniel growing up as a defiant and somewhat lazy kid who felt that as an artist, he had the right to spend his days drawing and making super 8mm films rather than answering to his religious mother who called him an unprofitable servant of god. Eventually Daniel set up a home recording studio in his brothers garage, made up of an organ and two cassette recorders. It was there that he began writing a series of albums, including ‘Hello, How Are You?’. I’m not about to give an record review here, but I must say that Daniel’s early material is borderline unlistenably raw but instantly catchy and memorable. Right up my alley.

After recording six albums, Daniel somehow ends up on MTV plugging his cassette tapes and hanging out poolside with some Austin, Texas scenesters. In one of the most genuinely touching moments of the film, Daniel sends out a message to his best friend on national television, visually excited and nervous, saying ‘Look at me, I’m on MTV.’ Lewis Black, a music critic and friend, tells of his first meeting with Daniel. He was approached by this weird nervous kid who handed him six albums of original music. He says that to him this was like Bob Dylan handing over his first six albums and saying he has more in the works. I’m sure ten million Bob Dylan fans who have never even heard of Daniel Johnston would disagree whole heartedly with this comparison, but this film isn’t about Bob Dylan. Eventually through a series of coincidences, Daniel plays his first show and begins to receive the attention of the local music critics. While working at McDonald’s, he’s contacted by several record labels and music magazines who think they’ve discovered the next big thing. Eventually he’s invited to New York to record an album with Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth), Maureen Tucker (The Velvet Underground) and Jad Fair (Half Japanese). After an incident at the Statue of Liberty (Daniel actually tape recorded himself being arrested for drawing hundreds of Jesus fish on the inside of the national monument), Daniel goes missing. Members of Sonic Youth (including Thurston Moore) end up scowering the streets, armed with a video camera, searching for the man in white. Eventually they find him and an audio tape captures the argument that ensues as Daniel accuses Steve Shelley of wanting to turn him into his parents screaming “They’ll put me in a mental institution! Is that what you want?”.

As the film goes on, the incidents only get worse as Daniel is arrested for breaking into an elderly woman’s house during a delusional episode in which he thought everyone was possessed by the devil. After a stay in yet another mental institution, he’s approached by Elektra Records with a record deal, and eventually begins to play shows again. Although unbeknownst to those around him, he purposely stopped taking his medication before his performances because he figured the more crazy he was, the better the show would be. The ups and downs continue in insane detail as we’re provided with audio and photo records mixed with present day interviews with family and friends. Audio recordings and drawings give us a sometimes uncomfortable amount of access to Daniel’s personal struggle with the Devil and the imaginary demons. His Father painfully retells a frightening moment where his son’s delusions almost killed the two of them when Daniel decided to snatch the keys from his Dad’s airplane in mid-flight and throw them out the window. The incident occurred after one of his biggest and most successful shows. We hear director Jeff Feuerzeig’s shaking voice re-affirming the fact that Daniel was a star that night, but all the Father can think about is crashing his plane into the trees.

This film worked for me on so many levels. It’s visually stunning, the music is great and the story is told with amazing honesty. The records Daniel kept are inspirational and an invaluable tool in telling a story that otherwise couldn’t have been told with such genuine passion and sincerity. The Devil and Daniel Johnston is both tragic and uplifiting, a love story and a success story, and an intimate look into the inspirational art and frightening insanity of one of the world’s most underappreciated songwriters. This is one of the best films I’ve seen in a long time.