Sixteen years after its official release, The Doors 2009 documentary, When You’re Strange, is finally making it to theatres.
Though director Tom DiCillo tells me the film was always meant for the big screen, the producers sold the rights, upon release, to PBS and it went straight to TV.
The film will show this Thursday (December 4) and Saturday (December 6). I spoke with DiCillo and Doors drummer John Densmore about the film and why they are so pleased it’s getting a second life.
John Densmore: I’m really pleased that When You’re Strange, The Doors doc that Johnny Depp narrated is being shown in theatres, and the actual director is with us, Tom DeCillo. This movie got screwed. They spent a million bucks making it and zero on promoting it. Thousands of theaters are doing this. That’s good. Anyway, Steve, it’s great to see you and we’d love to just hear what you want to talk about.
Steve Baltin: I watched it again on Saturday night. And it’s fascinating to me how time changes our perceptions of things so much. All great art, of course, mirrors the times. And when this film originally came out, it was the beginning of the Obama administration. It was a happy, prosperous time for many. Now we’re living in really f**ked up times to be generous. So, the film seems to be more reflected in the times. Did you identify it in a different way? And in talking to fans, do you see that they maybe identify it in a different way?
Tom DiCillo: I’ll just jump in real quick and then let John talk because he was older than me, not by much, but directly involved in whatever was happening in the country. I was around 14 or 15 years old when this stuff really was happening. But the one thing that I will totally agree with you with Steve is that what impressed me in making the movie and really filled me with a real passion was the way the student movement had a viability and a power and that that the kids in the universities actually came together and addressed the f**ked up world that you’re talking about and made a change in it. I think about that today, and I think about how we’ll look at this and still say this means something to me, but I wonder what kids our age think about the idea of change and that young people can change things.
Densmore: Having lived through it, I will say for sure, it wasn’t easy, but the people stopped the Vietnam War. This s**t is possible. I don’t want to go any further with that. But when Tom made this, I was really pleased. Oliver Stone made a wonderful movie about a tortured artist, but it didn’t have much of the time, the ‘60s. This one does.
Baltin: This film was now made 16 years ago. In those 16 years I’ve interviewed many people, and I’ve watched Amy Winehouse pass. I’ve watched friends of mine like Chester Bennington, Chris Cornell and Taylor Hawkins all pass. And what I was thinking about watching the film on Saturday night was I have said for years now that fame is the most dangerous drug there is. It was very interesting watching this film because I realized back then no one really understood what Jim was going through, that amount of scrutiny and attention of wanting to be an artist and having everybody want you to be this bad boy and be on the cover of teen mags. Do you see it now in a different way because we now understand things in such a different way after 60 years of this?
DiCillo: One thing I will agree with you is that I think fame is probably the most addictive and destructive and dangerous intoxicant because that’s what it is. It intoxicates you. And it takes a really strong person to take a hit of that and not be affected by it and not crave it again. Because of that first hit, you want it over and over and over. It becomes part of your survival. Honestly, I still think that’s going on today.
Densmore: The phrase fortune and fame f**k you up. I would put fortune first. I would say money is the most addictive drug there is. Why do we have billionaires and a zillion poor people? It’s nuts. But fame. I always joke that spotlight on the lead singer is dangerous. And I only got singed because I was on the side. And then there’s substance abuse. Let’s put that at number three. AA was around since the ‘50s, but it wasn’t cool. Eminem and [Eric] Clapton weren’t on board. So, we didn’t know Jim had a disease. And I used to say if Jim was around to day, he would never clean up. I’ve changed that answer the last few years to, “Yeah, he’s a smart guy. And he would have cleaned up.” But it’s a different time.
Baltin: Watching it, I just realized when you say it’s a different time, there was just so much less knowledge about it because now we have 50 plus years of watching what happened to all of these people.
Densmore: Yeah. In one of my self-centered books, I quoted Galway Connell, Pulitzer poet, who said, “Oh, there’s this theory that it doesn’t matter how f**ked up the artist is, the poem, the sonnet, the book, the novel, whatever is the important thing.” And Galway said, “No, I think maybe the art might have been even better if the artist wasn’t so f**ked up.” And I’m down for that. But in Jim’s case, self-destruction and creativity was just glued into the same package. And he wasn’t Picasso living to 90. So, so be it. I just cherish his words.
Baltin: Has the film changed for you over the years?
DiCillo: What I was trying to do with this movie was to simply present and to take away the myth that you talked about and see what is the power of truth underneath the myth? And shouldn’t that be enough to interest people? So, I wanted to show how this film wasn’t just about Jim Morrison and his self-destruction. It was about the band, all four of them. If you look at it, you’ll see that I was really interested in seeing what John’s contribution, his particular jazz drumming contribution was to this sound. How did the sound arrive? Robby’s flamenco guitar, Ray’s kind of blues piano, classical influence. So that did not change, nor did anything change that influenced what I was trying to say with the film, that this was a wonderful magical cohesion that happened something by accident almost. And it ended up with one of the most singular sounds in American rock and roll history. That’s all I was trying to do. I wasn’t trying to solve any mystery of how he died or what. In fact, I left that completely alone. That’s not the story for me. The fact that the students and the young people were influenced by this and The Doors influenced them and made a very lasting and specific change in our consciousness. Think about it. That whole period, which was about enlightenment in a certain way. Now, it eventually became leaning towards drugs and stuff to help you get there. But the original idea was, “Let’s look at something a little differently. Let’s not think like our parents. Let’s look at the world in a new way.” And I think that was a really powerful thing. And the way the film goes together, using only the original footage, I have to be honest with you. Nothing has changed in it for me. It came together and I think it still stands.
Densmore: I hate it when they say the ‘60s have failed. The seeds of civil rights, feminism and peace were planted in the ‘60s. They’re big seeds, they take maybe a hundred years of watering for full fruition. So, stop dissing, get out your watering can. Anyway, we showed Tom the footage and Jim had made this Highway movie of him being a hitchhiker. And Tom brilliantly wove through that without any explanation and it’s kind of like Jim, the hitchhiker, is the narrator to the film. Now, a little backdrop, Tom, you probably didn’t know this, but Jim grew the beard because he was tired of that bright spotlight. He gained a little weight. He wanted to morph into something. He knew there’s a trap there. And so subliminally, he was addressing that in a way. Pretty cool. I just love that. Correct me if I get this story wrong, screening at Sundance, some critic runs out after the first few minutes, and Tom chases him down, what’s your problem? And he said, “You cast Jim as an actor playing Jim.” Sorry, bud, that’s Jim. I know. And there it is. That’s him trying to get out from that spotlight and search for something new.
Baltin: Why do you think people are picking up on the film again now?
DiCillo: I don’t know what to say. It always was meant to play on a big screen. That’s why I made it. And if you’ll notice in the film, almost all the songs play out. It’s not just like little three-second snippets of every song. I wanted to let these brilliant artists be seen playing their music. And it was all live. These were all live performances. Nobody was lip synching when you think about it. And so a decision was made early on by the producers to make a sale to PBS, American Masters. It completely eliminated the theatrical release because no theaters wanted to show the film after it had been shown on television already. We put so much work into the sound, Steve, and the images. I always thought that this movie would play the best on 70 -millimeter with surround sound. That’s the way to see this movie.