Published: 9 September 2022
Last updated: 5 March 2024
BRETT MORGEN tells RACHELLE UNREICH how an intensely personal relationship with Bowie, from childhood onwards, drove his cinematic homage to the musician.
Brett Morgen’s first encounter with David Bowie did not start well. The pair met in 2007 to discuss a “hybrid nonfiction film,” but “it was a slightly contentious meeting,” remembers the US filmmaker. “I’m very sensitive to criticism. I was going to pitch him a project [but] before I could start telling him about it, he just launched into a total assault on my most recent film at that time.
“I don’t believe anyone had ever undressed me - who I wasn’t intimate with - in such a forceful manner!” Nevertheless, the pitch was discussed “and he really enjoyed it, which is how I ended up making this film.”
Having been given unprecedented access to Bowie’s archives for a documentary about him, Morgen took another 15 years to land his film, Moonage Daydream, on the big screen. Bowie died of cancer in 2016; two years ago, Morgen had begun the process of wading through Bowie’s footage, art collection and poetry when he had a heart attack.
“I flatlined and was in a coma for a week. That came about because I was out of control of my life. I’d been a workaholic from as far back as I can remember. Bad habits, lifestyle, that stuff. It was a wake-up call. And I didn’t heed the message.”
Yet, when Morgen emerged from his coma and saw the surgeon in his room, the first thing he said was, “I need to be on set on Monday! I’m shooting a very important pilot for Marvel!” The surgeon told him that he wasn’t going anywhere, but Morgen insisted: “You don’t know what’s going on! This is very important! IT’S FOR MARVEL!”
It was at this point that Bowie’s wisdom brought Morgen back to an even keel. When the 53-year-old director, best known for documentaries such as The Kid Stays in the Picture and the Oscar-nominated On the Ropes, listened to Bowie’s interviews, he discovered that the singer’s words and thoughts were not just comforting, they were life-changing.
“I was struggling. I have three children and I was haunted: what if I had died that night? What message would my children take from my life? Dad has been at work? I don’t know what dad said.
