Browse all reviews by letter     A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 0 - 9

USA 2016
Directed by
Jim Jarmusch
108 minutes
Rated M

Reviewed by
Bernard Hemingway
4 stars

Gimme Danger

Synopsis: A history of The Stooges.

Iggy Pop has been a cultural icon for a long time now and much of Jim Jarmusch's history of Iggy and The Stooges is a familiar retelling of the legend. What makes it well-worth seeing, at least for 'pop' music aficionadi, is firstly, the level of detail which Jarmusch brings to his subject and secondly, the Igster’s relaxed but intensely articulate analysis of his performance style and career highs and lows in an extended interview that ties everything together. Indeed his recall and capacity for insightful reflection and analysis is, given his many years of drug and physical abuse, quite remarkable

Starting at the beginning in Ann Arbor, Michigan during the early ‘60s with James Osterburg’s high school band, The Iguanas, for which he played drums we get a blow-by-blow account of The Stooge’s rise, beginning as an "experimental" garage band called The Psychedelic Stooges, and fall, after three now-classic albums, ‘The Stooges’. ‘Fun House’ and ‘Raw Power’, into a drug-addled mess in 1974.  We then jump forward over Iggy’s solo career to 2003 when the band got back together and wrap up with the band's 2010 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (with the death of drummer Scott Asheton in 2014, Iggy is now the sole surviving member of the original band).

Using a fascinating array of archival footage, still photography and ephemera such as concert posters along with original animations by James Kerr, Jarmusch, whose association with the singer goes back to 1996’s Dead Man (Pop also appeared in Jarmusch’s 2004 portmanteau film Coffee And Cigarettes) builds what can only be described as an endearing portrait of a man who for better or worse has made the adage “to thine own self be true” his mantra.  The result of that exceptional commitment is one of the most significant bodies of work in the history of rock music and a reputation that exemplifies his statement at the Hall of Fame Induction that "Music is life and life is not a business”.

It would have been interesting to know more about Iggy’s patchy solo career and particularly his association  with David Bowie who gets no more than a mention or two here (Pop has nothing good to say about Bowie’s British manager, Tony DeFries).  Hopefully, if it is ever told, it will be as well as this.

 

 

back

Want more about this film?

search youtube  search wikipedia  

Want something different?

random vintage best worst