The Devil And Daniel Johnston – DVD Review

Film, Reviews

Available at Amazon.com

Sony Pictures Classics present The Devil And Daniel Johnston. Written by Jeff Feuerzeig. Running Time: 110 minutes. Rated PG-13 for thematic elements, drug content and language including a sexual reference.

Director:

Jeff Feuerzeig

Cast:

Daniel Johnston”¦”¦”¦.Himself

The Movie:

Daniel Johnston has been a musician in the Texas music scene since the early 80’s. He came from out of his brothe’s garage with his homemade tapes and forced himself into the limelight. His simple awkward songs come off as noise at first, but as you continue to listen the heart of the songs come through and they start to become endearing.

So what? There are a lot of musicians out there with heart. What makes Daniel Johnston so special? Simply stated: he’s insane. That’s not to insult him; he’s truly certifiable, specifically he’s manic-depressive. Johnston spent a lot of his time from the late 80’s to the early 90’s in and out of asylums. He spent that time making a name for himself to the point where Elektra and Atlantic where competing to sign him while he was still in a hospital.

Johnston spent a lot of time recording himself throughout the years, keeping an audio diary and jumping in front of a camera as much as he could. The film is filled with these archival recordings giving a very intimate portrayal of who Johnston is and where he’s coming from. Surrounding this footage is interviews with family, friends and business associates who all clearly care for Johnston.

The audio recordings and archive footage alone make this this a well put together documentary. But with the interviews, these people take us through rollercoaster life of Johnston from working as a janitor at McDonald’s to forcing his way onto MTV in its early days and earning a reputation and gaining a small loyal following.

Johnston’s story is a tragedy in every sense of the word. Every time he takes a step forward he ends up taking a few giant steps back, mostly due to his own mental instabilities. To list off the events of this film would be to do them a disservice. One needs to see the film for themselves to truly understand the troubled life this talented man has lead.

Johnston ran with several great musicians during the 80’s. At a Butthole Surfers’ concert Johnston was slipped his first hit of acid. In talking about the night in question, Gibby Haynes, for some reason, is being interviewed while getting a tooth drilled. After his first stint in an asylum he spent a couple weeks in New York hanging out with Sonic Youth. It was during this time when his obsession with Jesus and fear of Satan came to the forefront. He was arrested at the Statue of Liberty for drawing hundreds of Jesus fish on the wall in the stairwell.

Johnston is still around, still recording his music, still making a go of it and this documentary is a fantastic introduction to his strange and scared world. Even if you don’t like his music, Johnston’s story is one worth seeing.


A young Daniel Johnston showing off his latest tape and Johnston now.

The DVD:

The Video:

The film is presented widescreen 1.85:1. Due to all the old footage the variety film quality varies. All the new interviews look fantastic and the film is quite an experience.

The Audio:

The Devil and Daniel Johnston is presented in Stereo. The sound in this film is, for the most part, really good. With many of Johnston’s recordings, they are so old that subtitles are provided so you get all that he is saying.

Extras:

Deleted Scenes: These are good scenes, but once you see the film, you’ll understand why they were cut. Worth watching, nonetheless.

Sundance World Premiere Featurette: This is interesting because you get Daniel and his parents reactions to the film after seeing it for the first time.

Laurie and Daniel Reunion Featurette: A big part of Daniel’s story is Laurie, the girl that got away. Here they are reunited for the first time since they were in high school. It’s touching and kinda creepy. Daniel is still crazy here, but much more stable than he used to be.

Legendary WFMU Broadcast Featurette: I don’t know how “legendary” this is, but it’s entertaining. Johnston hosted a radio program and this is a recording of it. No interesting visuals to go with this, just the program.

Cinema Of Daniel Johnston These are three short films Johnston shot when he was a kid. They’re pretty good for home movies.

Daniel’s Audio Diaries: Daniel recorded thousands of hours of audio diaries through his life. Some of the diaries are used in the film, more of them appear here. Interesting insight into the mind of someone like Johnston.

Audio Commentary with Director Jeff Feuerzeig and Producer Henry S. Rosenthal: These two men obviously love their subject, Daniel Johnston, and care for him and respect him greatly. However, they don’t have much insight into the film. This is an avoidable commentary.

The DVD Lounge’s Ratings for The Devil and Daniel Johnston
CATEGORY
RATING
(OUT OF 10)
THE MOVIE

8.5
THE VIDEO

7
THE AUDIO

7
THE EXTRAS

8
REPLAY VALUE

7
OVERALL
8
(NOT AN AVERAGE)

Mike Noyes received his Masters Degree in Film from the Academy of Art University, San Francisco. A few of his short films can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/user/mikebnoyes. He recently published his first novel which you can buy here: https://www.amazon.com/Seven-Days-Years-Mike-Noyes-ebook/dp/B07D48NT6B/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1528774538&sr=8-1&keywords=seven+days+seven+years