Genius.
Firstly, having lived with relatives who have suffered various forms of this disease, both now & in the past, i found this documentary on Dr Feelgood's main guitar mentalist, Wilko Johnson, both cathartic, heart-breaking but above all inspirational & transcendental in the best traditions of poets like Blake et al.
Wilko might look like a lunatic, but underneath the Canvey Island local rough n tumble exterior lies a soul of truly visionary proportions. His ability to express his journey (an appalling word to use i know but.....), along with Temple's outstanding visual sense, has provided the world with one of the most immersive, harrowing but ultimately inspiring pieces of documentary film-making i've ever seen.
The heart of the film both addresses & captures the otherworldly loneliness Wilko experiences after his initial diagnosis, something a family member empathized with greatly. His ability to reference & pinpoint some of the most profound works in English literature, combined with his "Berserker" approach to proper r&b, underpinned by Temple's editing in of excerpts from Tarkovsky's "Stalker" etc, provide a truly epic tale of our place in the unfolding realms we call reality, life & the universe.
As a past aficionado of lsd-induced explorations, my only regret with the film was learning that Wilko was an ex English lit teacher - if only my own teachers had had half the attitude and balls of this man, i'd have read far far more of the extensive works he cites throughout the doc before experiencing them through chance.
What a bloke and what a tale. Immense film making.
11/10
Firstly, having lived with relatives who have suffered various forms of this disease, both now & in the past, i found this documentary on Dr Feelgood's main guitar mentalist, Wilko Johnson, both cathartic, heart-breaking but above all inspirational & transcendental in the best traditions of poets like Blake et al.
Wilko might look like a lunatic, but underneath the Canvey Island local rough n tumble exterior lies a soul of truly visionary proportions. His ability to express his journey (an appalling word to use i know but.....), along with Temple's outstanding visual sense, has provided the world with one of the most immersive, harrowing but ultimately inspiring pieces of documentary film-making i've ever seen.
The heart of the film both addresses & captures the otherworldly loneliness Wilko experiences after his initial diagnosis, something a family member empathized with greatly. His ability to reference & pinpoint some of the most profound works in English literature, combined with his "Berserker" approach to proper r&b, underpinned by Temple's editing in of excerpts from Tarkovsky's "Stalker" etc, provide a truly epic tale of our place in the unfolding realms we call reality, life & the universe.
As a past aficionado of lsd-induced explorations, my only regret with the film was learning that Wilko was an ex English lit teacher - if only my own teachers had had half the attitude and balls of this man, i'd have read far far more of the extensive works he cites throughout the doc before experiencing them through chance.
What a bloke and what a tale. Immense film making.
11/10