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Sundance Review: When You're Strange

by Scott Weinberg Jan 19th 2009 // 10:02AM

Filed under: Documentary, Music & Musicals, Sundance, Theatrical Reviews



The sad irony of the new Doors documentary When You're Strange is this: While it'll almost definitely appeal to old-school fans of the legendary band, it's that precise fan-base that'll probably finish with the flick and think ... yeah, but I knew all that stuff already. Informationally speaking, there's next to nothing here that a loyal Doors fan doesn't already know, which in a way makes When You're Strange come off as little more than a glorified DVD supplement.

The big selling point of the film is that When You're Strange contains a ton of archival video footage that's never been seen before. And if you're a serious fan of this excellent band, then of course you'll want to see the scratchy old clips of Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, Robby Kriger, and John Densmore as they ascend the ladder of rock stardom. So while this recently-unearthed material may prove to be a gold mine for the fans, the documentary is also saddled with a generally flat voice-over narrative that doesn't add much to the final product. If the selling point of this documentary is this previously-unseen video footage (and it is), then just lose the Cliff's Notes narration and simply chart the band's trajectory using only the videos and the music.

If anything, the endless voice-over nuggets just gave me more respect for the research that Oliver Stone did when he made his Doors movie back in 1991. In other words, I'm just a casual fan of The Doors, but even I knew most of the trivial tidbits that are offered within When You're Strange. Written and directed by Tom DiCillo (a fine filmmaker* who, in my opinion, should probably stick to the narrative projects), When You're Strange was clearly a labor of love for the filmmaker (and his team deserves high praise for tracking down all this old footage), but one can't help but wish he'd been a little more "experimental" on this project.

The scratchy old footage of The Doors playing gigs and hanging around backstage is pretty fascinating all by itself, but the images are often upstaged by DiCillo's over-reliance on lecture-style narration. The film is also completely lacking in the "retrospective" department, as you'll find not one "talking head" interview in When You're Strange. And really, I'd much rather hear anecdotes from Ray Manzarek or some journalists than from a disembodied voice that speaks over the top of some really solid rock songs. Sure, a bunch of interviews could be just as basic as a voice-over track, but at least you'd be getting some different shades from some pertinent people.

A relative disappointment but (yes) still recommended to the hardcore Doors fanatics, When You're Strange is jam-packed with cool video clips that you've never seen before -- and of course the documentary is knee-deep in great Doors tunes -- but the voice-over "Doors for Dummies" narration track sucks a whole lot of spontaneity out of the film. Frankly I think you could just yank the narration straight out of the movie, telling the story in only songs and pictures, and When You're Strange would be a much better film. Especially for those old-school Doors fans who don't really need a refresher course.

* If you've never seen them, I'd definitely recommend Delirious, Johnny Suede, and especially Living in Oblivion.

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Tags: sundance, when youre strange, WhenYoureStrange

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